Clash of the Elements Chronicles
by mewmaster93
Summary: In the aftermath of Justek's defeat, the heroes enjoy a time of rest and uncertainty regarding their future. What is there to do now that one of their greatest threats has been bested? These are the many tales in the present, that will pave the way towards a greater future...
1. Prologue

_The legacy of the Elemental Overlord. Shrouded in mystery. Clad in darkness. The hero of this tale has long been dead, but yet the story continues onward._

_Those close to him remember what he'd done. The rest of the world remains ignorant. _

_The Dark King was slain the day he returned, his power remaining trapped within the hollow shell of a fragile, vengeful boy. _

_The would-be emperor Gravitus was torn apart, his people freed from underfoot. _

_The betrayer Justek found peace in death at long last, satisfied with those who inherited his friend's will. _

_And sadly, the first successor, Alex Whiter, perished in the raging flames of his own design, taking the soul of the hero along with him. _

_The world stared into the eyes of chaos many times yet blindly stayed ignorant of it all. Time moves on. The heroes who inherited the Elemental Overlord's legacy are enjoying a well-deserved rest. _

_But just because the threats have passed doesn't mean the story can pause. New possibilities have opened forth from Justek's demise. The future is unknown. And for one in particular, that unknown scares him more than the black abyss he's stared into many times before..._

The ivory moon. One of few places in the entire universe guaranteed to be blessed by silence. The sun's blinding light could be a bigger pest, but not today. Not for this person.

There was no light that could reach the blackened, tangled mess that was Joe Dark's soul. He sat directly in the center of a deep crater of his own making with his knees at his chin and his arms loosely wrapped around them.

His gruesome red eyes were dry and devoid of emotion. His skin was pale in an ugly way, like he had one foot in the grave. His knuckles wore torn skin and darkened muscle tissue like it was a natural part of him.

He has been here for two days. Not that he knew that. When his body moved, it was only his arms, and his joints creaked like breaking lumber.

He glanced out from the corner of his eyes at his right hand and saw it shaking. Space is hostile. Its cold. Poisonous. Lonely. But this wasn't hurting him. The cold never bothered him anyway. And loneliness? Nothing new.

A voice, faint yet cruel in its echo, reappeared in his head: _"It is because deep down you remembered who he was to you...A bond, that could never be broken by distance or time. A bond...of brothers."_

Squeezing his hand into a fist brought a light shade of color back into his skin. Once, these hands had been clenched in fists of rage for the one man he avowed to kill. But now, they held nothing...

He pulled his head back and peeked up at the blue-green planet that was his home. Or...was it, really? He hadn't set foot there in so long, and the reasons to do so had just gone from one to zero.

"_Brother...?" _He laughed no louder than a whisper, _"Why should I believe him." _

His arms tightened around his knees and his face sank, _"...Why DO I believe him?" _

It was impossible to ignore. Once the seed of possibility had been planted, it grew and stretched itself around his subconscious, absorbing his long buried memories through its roots. Fragments of a mother with fair azure hair, a father with black hair like his, and a crib shared by two, were no longer in doubt...They were as real as the discomfort in his stomach.

"_I-I am the son of the Darks...!" _Joe Dark dug his fingernails into his tattered jeans and made his whole body tremble, _"Whiter is my enemy...!" _

His vision turned darker shades of red the deeper the memories of his conflict against his hated enemy went. Then it began to crack in a shade of black.

"_He is not my brother...!" _Joe Dark's mind shattered, his torment no longer capable of being contained in thoughts alone.

"I DIDN'T WASTE MY TIME...JUST TO ACCOMPLISH LESS THAN NOTHING!" He screamed, his body erupting in a black haze that forced him onto his feet, and filled the crater full of darkness.

And there his screams would be drowned out, yet felt within the moon's surface, which cracked outward on all sides of the crater.

But just as soon as it started, it was over. The darkness vanished. His eyelids sagged. And he sat back down. The bottom of his eyes were wet, and their trembling couldn't wring much more out of them.

His head sank between his legs and a muffled whimper came out. This was what he deserved. This would be the perfect end to his miserable life. May God or the devil or whoever the hell runs this ram-shack universe be quick in their judgment.

Fate simply laughed.

"J-Joe Dark...?"

It had been too long since he'd heard any voice but his own that his first instinct was to interpret them as hostile. His right hand snapped back, dagger drawn in a streak of black and silver right into the nape of his "assailant"...

They'd be a bleeding mess on the ground right now...If they had a neck that is. The blue-cloaked, limbless, floating alien known as Mr. Reality had been denied one for a while now. Not like the lack of a fatal wound would make the thick, gooey drops of sweat on his face retreat anyhow.

Joe Dark exhaled a loud gasp of air and his pupils shrank. The eye on the alien's thumb-shaped head was wider than the rest of his face, and filled with worry.

Joe Dark withdrew his head and dagger and muttered weakly, "...I didn't know it was you."

"You look terrible. What happened?" The alien responded back, putting one hand towards Joe Dark's shoulder.

"None of your business..." Joe Dark replied while brushing the hand away.

"...I see." Mr. Reality took his hands to beside his cloak and floated over beside Joe Dark to say, "Well, I'm just glad to see you're alive."

"_Are _you?" Joe Dark spat in disgust, and mildly shook his head.

Mr. Reality closed his eye and knew he was treading a minefield with his comrade. He turned to look up at the lip of the crater, and the Earth shining beyond it, and said, "So this is the Earth you came from?"

He tried waiting a bit for an answer before pressing on, "I need to find Mew, since Justek didn't work out. Do you know where he is?"

Joe Dark pulled his head up for a moment and drew his hand out towards the planet, his voice barely audible, "On the northwestern part of that continent you'll find his home in the mountain range...Its not hard to find. Nobody else is _stupid _enough to put a house there."

As he put his head back down Mr. Reality chimed in by asking, "Are you coming with?"

He froze and something on his head snapped, leaving a lasting effect on the atmosphere. He glared up at the alien and muttered a firm, defiant, "No."

He slowly rose to his feet, muttering on and on without an end in sight, "I'm done with this...this pointlessness! No more Elemental Overlords. No more Dark Kings, or Justeks...And especially no more goddamn Whiters!"

He lurched over Mr. Reality with a feral crimson in his eyes glaring him down, and clutched his ravaged fist close to his chest, "For once...in its GODDAMN LIFE, the universe can do me a favor...AND JUST LEAVE ME **THE** **HELL** **ALONE**!"

The alien stood there, the rabid breaths his comrade took painting fog on his helmet, and felt like he had a heartbeat again.

Joe Dark's hand then unraveled and drooped to his hip. Mr. Reality looked him in the eyes as they turned away, and asked him in a slow, careful tone, "Please. I'm here to lend a listening ear."

Joe Dark turned all the way around and rattled his head.

"You might not think the same, but I consider you a friend Joe Dark. You didn't have to offer to help me, a random stranger in a galaxy far, far away...But you did. And if that-"

"You want to _help_?" Joe Dark gruesomely retorted and sharply twisted his body back, the grittiest grit in his scowl, "Then use your powers to send me far away. I don't care where I go! ...Just as long as its as far removed from this place as physically possible."

"...Ok," Mr. Reality raised his hands and an abnormal energy starting waving around them, "Are you sure?"

Joe Dark had to hold his hand up to give the alien some of his darkness to silence the parasites in his mind, "You never should have met me. People like _**him**_always succeed, while I..."

He squeezed his eyes shut with a shiver of disgust and then blurted out angrily, "Just get it over with!"

Mr. Reality shivered and nodded. With an effortless thought, and a snap of the fingers, the alien made Joe Dark disappear from sight. He then dropped his hands and with a slow sigh remarked, "...Sorry Joe Dark, but you shouldn't have given me free reign like that. I hope where I sent you will give you an answer to what's bothering you."

One woosh of the cloak later, and the alien faced the planet Earth, "But right now, I need to find _my_ answer."

He began to make his way to the surface, slowly but surely...

_A distressed boy, consumed more by despair than darkness._

_An alien, seeking redemption and salvation._

_A boy, robbed of his arm, his purpose in life challenged._

_A pair of sisters, seeking to be reunited._

_Two fledgling gods, robbed of their father, wishing for vengeance._

_A mother, robbed of her cursed sight, and the trust of her children._

_Two warriors, stuck together. One strives to save his sister, the other seeks blood._

_A girl. A phantom. Longing for a body that she may never see._

_A samurai, freed from one past, yet chained to another._

_Three heroes, united to a single cause, yet separated by differing pasts._

_A woman and her wife, tethered together within a spiral of Greed._

_A king denied his throne, his purpose, and even his sense of right and wrong._

_And a hero, to help them all. _

_Many threads of fate lie separated, waiting to be intertwined. The future is unknown._

_Shall we begin this new journey together? I'd be delighted to take you along._

**CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS CHRONICLES.**

**Prologue: A Fading Dark**

_Next Time: A New World Opens_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Sonata of Solitude**

_Edelgyre, a planet in the Eastern quadrant of the universe. It is smaller than the Earth, with far less water and much more plantations. Magic fills the air, breathing life into whatever or whoever feels weak. The humans of this world live in harmony with the native elves to keep the magic, their livelihood, maintained. _

_Society has lived like this for thousands of years. There's been no discoveries of technology, or even electricity. Their lives are relatively normal, by their standards. But what will it be like for their unexpected new guest? Lets find out, shall we?_

Faster than he could blink, Joe Dark went from seeing white and black to seeing many more luscious colors. Rampant greens bordered the top of his eyesight, while streets of brown houses made of stone and straw surrounded the rest of him.

He had wound up teleported into the middle of a crowd of villagers, all of whom were shorter than him. Even the tallest of them barely reached his chin, while the shorter ones with pointed ears barely reached his chest.

The humans were dressed in old clothes taken straight out of the Medieval days. The pointy-eared midgets were a little fancier in their garb, probably to compensate for their pasty white skin and abnormally glowing bodies.

Immediately all eyes were on him and Joe Dark had to grumble, "I HAD to say anywhere..."

He flung one arm out to the crowd and exclaimed, "What are you staring at?! BEAT IT!"

After a prolonged period of his growling while the crowd gossiped, they resumed their routines. Joe Dark calmly put his hands in his pockets and slouched forward, taking a look around the village.

"Phh...What is this place anyways?" Its not like he _cared_, but after all this time he couldn't just shut off his survival instincts. And the first thing that tells him to do is get a lay of the land.

Humans were towing wheelbarrows full of giant fruits and vegetables. Apples the size of their head, corn ears as tall as they were. Even the smallest grapes were as big as their fists.

Elves pounded away at hot metal atop iron anvils not to make weapons, but farm tools. Children of both races gathered around a brick well and took turns splashing each other with buckets of water.

The sky was bright blue, with a hint of green to it. The sun was a light shade of yellow, and smaller than the one from his galaxy. And hundreds upon hundreds of oak trees surrounded most of the village.

Joe Dark sniffed the air and grimaced immediately. He wasn't used to such clean air. It was almost too _sickeningly _perfect, just like everything else he was seeing.

But there was no technology, which meant no humans would be stuffing their faces in phones and filling the air with their noise pollution.

So they could have their damn fairy tale life. As long as they keep him out of it.

For the first time in a while, Joe Dark felt he could sigh and relax. A few people still stared at him, so first things first he needed a place to be alone.

He headed forward and glanced around stiffly. He was the only person here with red eyes. They probably thought of him as a demon. Maybe it'd fun to give them a quick scare?

"...Forget it."He muttered, turning his head forward and slumping even further.

After a bit more walking he found himself glancing to the left almost on instinct. There was a gap between houses reminiscent of an alleyway. The dirt there was dank and there were traces of moss on the walls. He could smell a foul odor from within. Probably someone's trash.

His eyes slanted out of a sad longing towards the "alleyway". He closed his eyes briefly and saw himself, much, much younger, sitting with his back against a brick wall with only a newspaper to keep him warm. He shivered as the cruel rain dripped down onto him with a touch as painful as bitterfrost.

And in the present, the skin of his arms became riddled with goosebumps. The feel of rain was just as fresh and just as cold now as it was then.

Joe Dark looked at the "alleyway" a little longer and then walked towards it. His almost bony body easily fit inside, even when he went to sit down with his back hunched against the wall. He had to bent his legs up against the other wall, but it felt...comfortable.

No one batted an eye at this boy sitting alone in the damp, desolate, darkness as he stared at the opposing wall without moving, not even to blink.

After an undetermined amount of time had passed, Joe Dark looked to the left and saw a half-eaten apple on the ground. It had a few small holes burrowed through it. The worms had enjoyed a good feast. Now he reached out towards it, to partake in what was left.

The moment he picked it up a flashback of him eating something _slimy_ jolted his brain like a million volts of electricity and flushed the color out of his face. His cheeks puffed up, and he tossed the apple to the ground to cover his mouth completely.

After a long, _revolting_ swallow Joe Dark rammed the back of his skull against the wall and let out a moaning wail. He bit his teeth down hard enough to make him tremble, and then let his eyes slowly close. With a fading whimper, he forced himself to rest...

_Three hours later..._

A pair of new facers meshed in with the usual crowd of villagers. They were a tall, sturdy man with an impeccably sharp beard, and a somewhat short, ebony-dressed girl carrying a lace violet parasol.

That the humans and elves didn't say a word suggested they were common visitors to this village, while keeping their distance told another story.

It was hard to blame them for any caution held towards the man. He was built like a basketball player with muscles chiseled from stone and pupils that looked borrowed from a wolves'. And they were constantly wide, unable to blink, and thus unable to miss a thing. He wore a dark green military vest with a row of five knife filled pockets on each side. His pants were made of black-gray fur and extended down to his sharp-toed boots. He was balding near the forehead but the remainder of his messy black hair spread over the sides of his head.

But the girl seemed harmless. She had pale, but fair skin, which contrasted lovingly with her ebony dress. Violet-red frills extended from her small shoulders down to her waist both front and back, with little dark red buttons arranged down the center of her chest. Her thin, delicate hands were protected by dark-violet bridal gloves with backs shaped like the tips of rose petals. An inverse cross brooch dangled from her neck with a dim golden sheen that reflected in her red eyes, while her dark-violet hair reached down to her waist like a curtain of silk.

The bottom of her dress bloomed out like a tulip. A portion of it in the front was see-through, revealing her spindly legs covered in thigh-high stockings, while her feet were guarded by black stillettos. A series of dim, violet rose prints completed the ensemble.

They walked in a straight line from the south of the village to the north and never turned a degree of course. The man was a constant presence a couple feet behind the girl, his foot and a half difference in height over her casting an oppressive gloomy shadow.

After a bit of time strolling through the village the girl's pace slowed and her parasol brushed up the chest of her guardian. She made a stiff turn to the right and fully faced a certain gap between the houses.

"Princess," The man growled through clenched teeth, "Stay. On. _Track_."

Yet he fell for the same curiosity that enticed her not a moment after. There was a boy between the houses with clothes unlike anything worn in this world. And he _reeked_. Of garbage, obviously, but also of darkness.

And that scent alone flipped the man's scowl upside-down and made him remark, "On second thought...This one warrants investigation."

Not that the girl needed prompting. She had already walked over to the boy, and the man slid up behind her a second later.

She quietly gazed upon his sleeping form and nudged his legs with a couple light kicks.

Joe Dark's eyes opened halfway and glanced at the two uninvited guests. He mumbled to himself in irritation and then closed them back up.

The girl stood there for a moment and then kicked him a few more times. Joe Dark's face scrunched up the more she kicked him until ultimately unraveling into a wide-eyed glare towards her.

"_What_." He said with great impatience as he stared into the still eyes of this strange girl. She merely stood there and stared back. It didn't even look like she was breathing.

"Psss...!" Joe Dark bit his teeth down and turned his head away, "Creepy mannequin."

"You...!" The man's voice became unshackled by his sheer disbelief at what he had heard, "You ignorant whelp! How dare you address the princess like that!"

Joe Dark peered at the man through the narrow slits of his eyes and told him bluntly, "Buzz off razor beard. I'm not in the mood."

"GRRR...!" The man bore his teeth and nudged forth, stopped by the gentle raise of the girl's hand. She then fully gripped her parasol and looked the boy one more time in the eyes.

"What is your name?" She said in a slow, dreary tone of voice.

Joe Dark curtly responded, "Piss off."

"I see," The girl then said in a sincere tone, "Piss Off, I would like to formally invite you to my castle for dinner."

"W-_What?_" Joe Dark stuttered, which continued to throw him off for a bit after, "M-Maybe I'm not being **clear **enough."

He opened his eyes just a little more so that their glow would be as clear as could be, "Take your furry man toy, turn around, and get the HELL out of my sight."

But like the mannequin she was, the girl did not budge an inch. The man behind her, however, did quite the opposite. After gently pushing her aside the man effortlessly ripped Joe Dark off the ground by his shirt and grinded him against the wall, his long, lanky body stretching out between the houses as the would-be Dark King found himself suspended just an inch below the roof.

"Listen _here_ you grimy, human filth! You should be honored that the princess even gave you the time of day. Now apologize to her before I rip your skeleton from your body and feast on your meat!"

Joe Dark clamped a hand against the back of the wall and his fingertips cracked into it. He tightly scowled at the feral man and a black haze began to surround his body.

"You have _no idea_ who you're fucking with, do you? You'd better reconsider your place if you value that head on your shoulders, razor beard."

"_Try me...!_" The man spat back, his pupils widening like rounded diamonds while his fingernails began to length and sharpen.

"Fine." Joe Dark began to curl his fist to draw his dagger when a strange gurgling sound came from within.

Its sudden emergence broke down the tension between the two feral fighters and made the man inquire with a guttural growl, "What was THAT?"

"_You've got to be shitting me...Now?! Even my innards betray me..." _It was a rarity nowadays but Joe Dark was hungry. And to be human is to be hungry...Or something like that.

"Ghhh...!" And now his stomach was being a better hostage taker than this man ever could be. He COULD easily kill this man and be done with it, but then the villagers probably wouldn't take too kindly to him being around.

So as much as it pissed him off. Like, really, REALLY pissed him off, he'd have no choice but to accept the mannequin's invitation if he wanted to shut his stomach up.

"_I'm depressed, not suicidal!" _After a louder, angrier growl Joe Dark spat in the man's face, "Ok FINE I'll accept her stupid invitation. Now let me go!"

The man cracked a wide, satisfied grin and muttered "That's more like it, mutt" before throwing Joe Dark against the wall and letting him slide back down to the ground.

Joe Dark stood up, brushed his shirt off, and watched the man turn around and glare at him over shoulder, "Now, follow us. If you're even a foot behind-"

"Yeah yeah, you'll kill me. Whatever." Joe Dark's abrupt dismissal and downward handwave made the man growl some more before promptly carrying on ahead.

The mannequin lagged behind for a moment and pulled back her parasol to look Joe Dark in the eyes. He had to lower his head a bit to do the same. Without the footwear she'd be a foot shorter than him, maybe an inch or two more.

That vacant stare of hers was starting to get under his skin, prompting him to remark, "Will you cut it out already and just go?"

Thinking it'd speed things up, he decided to follow after the man. The girl kept pace after a momentary pause, and remained at his side throughout the remainder of their time in the village.

After going to the northern end they turned around and headed back south towards a barren dirt partway that leads out onto a hilltop filled plain.

Joe Dark tucked his hands deep into his pockets and his shoulders and chin were in a slump. The best thing he could say about right now was "Its what I asked for..." in the deepest, growliest voice he could muster.

He suddenly felt a gentle tug on his right arm and a bite of cold pinching the skin. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the mannequin girl examining his arm in great detail.

He ripped his arm away and left the girl's hand floating and longing. She looked up at him and pondered quietly, "Are you a human?"

Joe Dark turned his head away and his eyes sagged. He could feel the man staring icy daggers at him. So with a spotty scowl he muttered "I guess" and rolled his shoulders.

"You are...odd for a human, Piss Off." She replied with a straight face.

"Ok first of all," Joe Dark abruptly turned to face the girl and the two of them stopped right there, "My name's not Piss Off. Its Joe Dark."

The girl leaned her head to the right and said, "That's not what you told me before."

Joe Dark's eyelids felt like anvils and his eyes nearly rolled all the way back into his skull while he growled at her, "I was telling you to leave me alone."

"Oh," The girl murmured, "Then why didn't you just say that, Joe Dark?"

A vein popped out of Joe Dark's forehead and he promptly turned forward and kept getting a move on while mumbling aloud, "Bite me."

The girl closed her eyes and proudly remarked, "You don't look very tasty, so I won't."

Joe Dark grimaced, pulled his head back and proclaimed, "Will you cut that out?!"

"Cut...what out?" The girl gave a genuine look of confusion towards him.

It was at that moment Joe Dark was starting to feel a hint of pity towards the mannequin, and withdrew her from his sight before he started caring anymore than that.

"Forget it," Joe Dark lazily waved his hand around by his side and muttered, "If you're going to demand my name then you can at least tell me yours."

She paused for a short yet unsettling long time before responding with, "My name is...Alura."

"Alura" rolled cleanly off the tongue for Joe Dark. He then figured if he got that far, might as well learn about the other guy, "And what about bad hair day over there?"

Alura stared at him a blank expression and then slowly bobbed her head right. Joe Dark pulled his head back and sighed, "Your furry bodyguard?"

She tilted her head in the other direction and Joe Dark mumbled "Good god..." before pinching the space between his eyes in frustration.

He would have to do something he'd never done before in his life. He'd actually have to **think before he spoke**. He pointed his other free hand at the man's back and said in a defeated haste, "That guy. What is his name?"

"Oh," Alura spoke, "He is my father's trusted lieutenant, Grimmley."

"Lieutenant?" Joe Dark said while rubbing his hand down his face and mustering up the urge to give a rat's ass, _"Fur face was calling this mannequin a princess. Then that would make him a member of the royal guard?" _

A princess and a kingdom would fit in perfectly with this world's fairy tale atmosphere. And boy, would her royal upbringing go miles to explain her sheltered behavior, Joe Dark thought.

But then again...Grimmley's choice of clothes were even more out of place than his were! Like he had been invited for a Furcon, but forgot to take part of his suit off before going to work at an army base.

Then there was also his harsh tongue and bloodthirsty attitude but really, who was he to judge?

"_Bah, I just need to get my free meal and it'll all be over anyways..." _Joe Dark thought as he continued to walk all hunched over like a gargoyle.

It took a mile before Joe Dark saw anything other than grass or dirt. Once over the largest hill he looked straight ahead at a huge stone castle worn down by a slugfest with father time. It was dark, gray, and surrounded by a moat. That was it. Nothing else stuck out.

"What an ugly place..." Joe Dark commentated with a scoff.

"Yes," Grimmley uttered full of pride, "Our home is perfect."

Him and Alura strolled down the hill ahead of Joe Dark, who took a moment to register what had been said. He slanted his eyes and slowly muttered aloud, "O...kay?"

He kept up with them down to the moat and the raised bridge, which was about as functional looking as half a car. Grimmley reared his head back and bellowed with a feral growl in his voice, "**OPEN**."

Two stone gargoyles perched on the sides of the bridge loosened their grip on it and gave it a "gentle" shove. The bridge then slammed down before the three and gave them a way to cross over to the other side.

"Come..." Grimmley then said to Joe Dark as he made his way onto the bridge.

Joe Dark had his eye on the moat as he followed. There wasn't a single drop of water to be found, but plenty of bones instead. Joe Dark quickly turned away and picked up the pace into the castle's courtyard. Beside the stiff wind there was no activity in this place besides them.

He looked around some more and saw armor both melted and shredded along the ground, with a few skeletons attached to them.

Joe Dark raised a brow and then swiftly stared ahead when it felt like he was being watched. A small shiver crept up his spine and made him think, _"I should've figured this is what this was leading up to. I'm walking straight into a den of monsters."_

But that too fit all this fairy tale bullcrap. And if Joe Dark was being honest, he didn't give a shit what dangers awaited him up ahead.

"_If they try anything I'll kill them all...And take their food." _

The stony courtyard eventually led into a dark entryway for the main part of the castle. The sunlight vanished behind them, devoured by the dank darkness. And in its place the faint glow of a hundred candles appeared in the air.

Joe Dark leaned his head back and shook it. Dark foyer, dim lighting, the smell of musk and decay in the air? He'd seen AND smelt worse than this already. This was like a kindergartner's attempt at creating a spooky environment for Halloween.

Alura closed her parasol, brought it down to her waist, and then turned to Joe Dark to say, "Wait here, Joe Dark, father will wish to meet you."

"Yeah yeah..." He responded with his arms crossed at his chest and his eyes looking up elsewhere.

Alura wandered off down the "creepy" corridor straight ahead and that left Joe Dark with Grimmley. The man growled as he looked at him, but Joe Dark didn't have to play his game. He was hardly worth his time.

"You don't need to hide anymore..." The furry man said in a grizzly tone of voice, standing within breath's reach of him. He placed one hand on his shoulder and slowly scraped down his back, garnering less than a shiver from Joe Dark's spine.

"You're at home here. Shed your bonds of sickening human flesh and show us the _monster_ buried underneath."

Joe Dark did a full 180 and smacked the man's wrist, taking a couple steps back while giving him a nasty glare. A few puffs of air visibly exited his mouth and his eyes cast an orange gleam through the shadows of his hair.

"Hahaha...What's the matter? Scared?" He huffed.

"Of your bad haircut? Please," Joe Dark firmly held his arms together and closed his eyes, "You have the wrong idea about me."

"Do I now...? I am no stranger to darkness and you...You are filled with darkness, second only to my master," Grimmley's teeth flashed with a silver hue and a fanged point to them, "There are few mortals who would willingly dare to stuff themselves full of darkness, and none of whom I would call human. So quit playing dumb...Its not like you can escape now."

Joe Dark tensed his right fist up and scoffed in a deepened tone of voice, "Want to bet?"

Grimmley's fingernails began to sharpen again and his grin turned into a half-crescent moon. The inevitability of their battle would have to wait a little while longer, for as soon as Joe Dark thought of drawing his weapon he felt a gentle prick on the back of his neck.

He swung back and saw nothing was there. Another prick on his neck and he turned back around. One more time, and this time he widened his eyes and forced some of his dark power loose to paralyze his fleeing assailant.

He stood face-to-face with an eight foot-tall brown trenchcoat tightly wrapped around a lithe figured body, which was hunched over with an unnatural curve to its back and staring at him with a face completely consumed in shadow. A small top hat was propped on their head, and their sleeves wiggled like a cloth in the breeze. At their cuffs were black, plastic gloves with a slime crusted needle attached to every fingertip. They had no show of feet, and smelled like they'd been shit out of a skunk's ass.

Joe Dark rubbed the back of his neck and felt tiny wounds and some blood trickling out. He grit his teeth and scowled at the wiggling shadow man as they squealed in a gurgling tone of delight.

"What a faaaascinating test subject our dear _princess_ has brought back this time...Your blood is human. AB positive. Perfect immune system. Host to much, much darkness..."

Joe Dark threw a punch at the man and they wobbled ten feet back in a second, the wind from his blow ruffling his coat.

"Ah ah ah don't be so angry."

"If you infected me you will soon be wishing you hadn't. I'm not in the mood for mercy." Joe Dark warned with a dark gleam in his eyes.

"Of course not," The squirmy thing wiggled their needles around by their face and muttered, "Not YET anyways."

Then they clamped the needles together in perfect unison and a bit of slime could be seen salivating down the neck of their coat, "Oh the tests we will run. I am ea-germ to see how a body such as yours degrades in the face of an inscrutable horde of viruses."

Grimmley towered over Joe Dark and clamped his hands down on his shoulders in order to say, "Back off Plagueis. He belongs to the princess."

The wormy man slid their pointer needle under their chin and remarked, "She has claimed a toy for her own? Or...perhaps this is merely her long dormant libido finally exploding into being like the spread of the Black Plague. Her and this curious boy do share similar blood..."

They slid on over and lurched their head down within inches of Joe Dark's face, spewing slime across it as they purred, "And I can see the cause for attraction..."

"_I'll kill them all right now all of them, every last one of them. Dead, slaughtered, like animals." _The veins thickened in Joe Dark's forehead to the point it was giving him a headache.

"Why is there all this..._commotion_, in **my** castle?" A deep, haunting voice shook the walls of the castle and forced the monster men off Joe Dark and towards the passage Alura had gone down. They dropped to their knees in a second and clutched an arm under their chests.

Joe Dark felt a bead of sweat trickle down the left side of his face and his head trembled as it creaked and turned to face the source of this commanding voice.

And it was here that he found that he had grossly misinterpreted the presence of monsters in this world. The castle had its master, but it was no beast or sorcerer, but a king of a domain all of its own. The nastiest lord of the foulest demons and monsters and the subject of folklore across a thousand world, stood directly in Joe Dark's presence without having ever set off his senses.

Joe Dark took a couple steps in retreat and cricked his neck back to stare at all 7'3" of the night lord's body. His mealy skin was almost dead, grayer than the darkest thundercloud. His yellow eyes hungered, glazed by a thin shade of fog. The blackest night had been ripped from the sky and knitted into a coat for his behemoth body, while the light of the full moon had been torn down and made into his undershirt. His cravat reeked of blood, and was as red as the liquid in his goblet. His thick cuffs were lined with upside-down crosses, and his hazelnut hair was an untidy mess that stretched down to his shoulder blades.

This man, this monster, chomped his blood-filled goblet and gnashed the glass shards down with merriment and then bellowed out a gargling sound after it all went down his throat.

"So...you're the one who grabbed Alura's attention..." They said, a gleam peering down from the shadows surrounding their eyes, "Joe Dark, was it? Or, should I call you by your _real _title?"

The forever king of twilight. The bane of God. The eternally stirring nightmare. A craven monster, born to feed his blood-starved gullet with spoils of the devout he hunts under moon's light.

"_This is no longer funny..." _Joe Dark bemoaned with hardly the energy to care what fate befell him. For lo, did he stand in the dominion of Dracula, the greatest monster spawned by mankind's sinful hand...

_Next Time: A Banquet in Blood_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Banquet of Monsters**

"_Well, this'll teach me not to be more specific..." _Joe Dark grumbled in his head as he stood surrounded on three sides by some towering terrors.

To his left, a man who wasn't the least bit subtle that he was a werewolf. On his right, some wiggly..._thing_ in a coat that got off to germs. And before him, hypnotic in his bold, monstrous appearance, was the one who reigned them all in.

"_I just wanted to be left alone. So why, OH WHY, am I now stuck in the set of a B-Tier horror flick?" _Joe Dark spent the next few seconds cursing Mr. Reality out in his head while slowly tucking his hands back into his pockets.

The Lord of the Night was a surprisingly patient monster, compared to his hungering mooks. But that was a boon that was not meant to last. His presence demanded that he not be ignored.

"I am speaking to _you_, human." He bellowed, the lump on his throat visibly shaking.

Ignoring that he was **Dracula** for a moment, there was something particularly...abnormal about him that Joe Dark couldn't quite put a finger on. But he sure had a lot of balls demanding something from **him**.

With his eyes crossed in a crass fashion Joe Dark raised the side of his lip and scoffed, "So what?"

The growls of Grimmley and the shocked gurgles of Plagueis were bearing up his sides right after. Dracula simply pulled his head back and let out a deep chuckle.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Fine, cling to your defiance like a safety net. You have nothing to fear from me. Peculiar humans like you are more than welcome in my dominion, _Dark King_."

"Son of a...!" Joe Dark bit his teeth down.

"What?!" Grimmley perked up in a proclamation of disbelief, "This scrawny whelp is the infamous Terror of Dark Descent?! Impossible!"

Joe Dark tensely gripped his fists in his pockets, close his eyes, and grumbled in response to these accusations, "No...! You've got the wrong person. I am...nobody."

Though he felt a little sad after. This was the wrong place to expect any sympathy though.

Dracula's creasing smile was terrifying thanks to his stature, but it his behind his shoulder as he turned to face Alura. She had just been there the entire time, hidden behind his right leg.

"Your efforts today bore very ripe fruit, Alura." He muttered.

"Thank you, father." Alura cooed, closing her eyes and giving a very subtle nod.

"_Father?!" _Joe Dark's eyes perked up and he started internally slapping himself in the brain for not realizing the obvious facts sooner.

Though really, he just didn't give a shit earlier to notice. He suddenly froze up and forcibly looked up to see Dracula staring down at him. He swung his meaty, mangled hand towards the sky and proclaimed loud enough for all in the castle to hear.

"Our newcomer shall be granted full honors! So says I!"

"What?!" Grimmley exclaimed. Dracula's gaze swung his way, boring the man's courage away until he whimpered like a pup, and bowed his head further.

"A-As you wish, master."

"Good..." The entire castle began to rumble, and Joe Dark felt his heart start to sink. His eyes widened, and he glanced around wildly to seek out the source.

"_What the HELL was that?!" _

Dracula gripped one hand over his stomach and rubbed it around. A growl, similar to the way the castle shook, slipped between his lips.

"Your arrival couldn't have been more perfect. Joe Dark...For it is time, to **feast**!" Dracula turned his eye on Grimmley and murmured, "Grimmley...Let the others know."

"It shall be done, master." Grimmley stood and rushed off down the castle corridor on all fours, his body starting to grow black fur that blended him in with the darkness.

"Plagueis-"

"I know master. You shall receive only my finest cuisine." Plagueis quivered like gelatin as Dracula bore his gaze, and the squirming plague doctor quickly redetermined his position, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to inter-"

Dracula's gaze narrowed so much that Joe Dark was feeling targeted too, "My stomach withers away in agony with every second you waste speaking."

"Ack-ne!" Plagueis got up and scurried like the dickens out of sight. Dracula then inhaled deeply through his thick, triangular nostrils and let out a gasp of satisfaction.

"A lovely appetizer, as always," He then swung to the right and remarked, "Alura. Escort our guest to the dining hall, if you would."

"Yes father." She replied obediently, and then the man's body phased through the floor.

She then turned her doll eyes upon Joe Dark, who shook his head slightly and muttered, "What bullshit have I gotten dragged into this time?"

"Come with me, Joe Dark." Alura said, speaking as if he had no choice in the matter which to be fair, his stomach helped make sure of that.

Escorted by a mannequin vampire. He could write a novel full of the unbelievable crap that's happened in his life.

"_Oh well, better her than the other two," _Joe Dark counted his diminishing blessings and then shook his head, _"Eat. Leave. Eat. Leave. Eat. Leave." _

He repeated this while approaching Alura, unaware that his face was scrunching up and making her tilt her head. Only when he rammed into her and stumbled a couple steps back did he take notice of her. Taking his whole chest to the face didn't make her flinch.

"What **are** you doing?" He grumbled before fluttering a hand out like dealing with an overly attached puppy, "Go on. Hurry up already."

If Alura hadn't blinked he was going to lose it. Not because he cared or anything stupid like that. She turned around without a word and plodded along down the corridor. Joe Dark trailed behind and grumbled, "Honestly..."

He strained a bit to see after leaving the candlelight behind. The walls were black, black, more black, with oh, some gray for variance. There was moss, but it was sooo old that its mold had mold. At one point he swore he saw something crawling out of the shadows to nibble on it.

"Urgh." His mouth quivered.

This castle had to be standing through its master's power alone. There was no other explanation for this ancient ass place not collapsing from a sneeze. When they entered the throne room the master's seat wasn't even half-standing, and it lacked a regal carpet leading up to it.

They quickly turned out of here and descended down some stairs. Joe Dark tensed up. The quietness was suffocating. The mannequin was so stoic that sound didn't even care that she was walking.

But talking to her was just as suffocating.

Yet between both options Joe Dark found he'd rather deal with her than go crazy talking to himself. He knew he was making a mistake but open his big mouth anyways.

"Hey. You," He growled between his teeth, "Mind telling me why you dragged me to this rundown monster house?"

Shocked. She didn't even stop to react. Joe Dark slanted his eyes and grumbled, "Good god there's sheltered and then there's robotic."

He took a couple steps faster and firmly grabbed her left shoulder, "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

He turned her around and stared straight into her blank eyes. And they told him one thing: "Error!"

Not LITERALLY, of course. She looked like she didn't know how to register his question.

Joe Dark kept repeating his priorities while a part of him deep, deep, _deep_ down tried slapping some common sense back into his brain. And to his annoyance, common sense prevailed. With a huge sigh Joe Dark took his hand off her and said slowly, "Why...did you bring me here?"

"Oh", Seemed to be the indicator that she understood him, "Because you're interesting, Joe Dark."

"What?" He muttered.

"Lets not keep father waiting." She said as she turned without a missing a beat, and continued down the stairs.

Joe Dark hung back for a moment, kicked a foot up, and tossed his head to the side to say, "Interesting? Hmph, not me..."

A few more steps later and they were at their destination: A grand banquet hall half a mile long, with a faded gold table that filled half of that space. No chairs on either side, but there were plenty of filled plates in front of where they'd be.

Plagueis scurried along to plate the last few dishes while his master stood at the tail end and bided his time with a mouth full of drool. But when his guest first stepped foot inside his head lurched back and his voice bellowed across the room.

"You're late, Alura."

"Sorry, father." She said with the tiniest bit of sheepiness.

"Joe Dark. Come," Dracula laid his hand flat beside the plate to his right, "Stand by my side."

"I prefer to eat alone." He replied with a snide smile. Now the furrowed brows that cowered the plague doctor were aimed his way, sending a slight chill down his spine.

"Nonsense," Dracula growled as if personally insulted, "All who dine in my castle eat together. Now **come**, stand by my side."

Joe Dark's arms sent an uncontrolled shiver from his shoulders to hands. He grit his teeth and grumbled "Fiiiine..." as he made his way down the table side.

Alura now stood behind as they walked, and along the way many, many more monsters filled the hall with Grimmley taking the lead over the rest.

The shaggy man stood parallel to Joe Dark and eyed him across the table with his teeth snarled. Joe Dark looked at him for a second and then turned forward and kept walking. Grimmley perked up and smashed his elongating fingernails into the table top, tearing down towards the edge.

Joe Dark stopped at the back left corner of the table and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, throwing his shoulders up and remarking bluntly, "So what...no chairs?"

He felt a little slime on the back of his neck as Plagueis leaned over his shoulder and pulled a ladle full of red meat out of a stinky, slightly rusted cylinder.

"Eat up, 'esteemed guest'." Said ominously as he slapped the meat down to fill the plate, and retreated with a quiet chuckle.

He then scooped some more meat onto Alura's plate and patted her on the head, taking on a delightful tone as she reacted with some steady blinking, "And some tendons for the young mistress, as always."

"Mmm hmm..." She curtly replied and bowed her head.

The monsters had all finished assembling. Joe Dark noticed a mummy, a plant creature, and a few other folk. Standard affair for this kind of place. None of them looked dangerous. The only one he had to keep an eye on, was the big man in charge.

He turned and glared at Dracula, finding that his eyes were glazed over from the sight of the meat tower that rose up to directly before his face.

Joe Dark sniffed and felt his appetite go down the drain in seconds. And no wonder, he had been served raw meat like he was an animal.

"What the hell is this slop?" He muttered aloud.

Red and pink, mushy. If Joe Dark dared to touch it he felt it'd start wrapping around his finger. It stunk of trash and he couldn't tell if that was normal or because of Plagueis' distinct touch. This meal was truly a miserable pile of secrets that he'd probably be better off not diving deeper into.

I carved this up personally from the local livestock, Grimmley said from across the table, eyeing Joe Dark with a sinister smile across the face, 鉄o you better eat _every. Single. _**Bite.**

Hmph, Joe Dark crossed his arms and put his foot firmly down, 的 refuse to eat your uncooked slop.

Eat your meat and squeal piggy, Grimmley growled with his nails digging deep into the table, 釘efore I make mincemeat out of YOU.

Dracula, surprisingly, raised his hand towards him while stuffing his face full of meat with the other. Between the bites some kind of sentence tried to come out saying, 的f that's how he wants to eat, then let him.

He snapped with the sound of breaking glass and the ground began to shake. The temperature around Joe Dark's general area rose and as he turned his arm scraped up against big, hard, and hot enough to turn his skin red.

A bulky, clanking suit of knight armor towered over him. Every inhale of its sounded like death, every exhale an inferno.

WHAT, NO! Plagueis suddenly voiced his outrage and put all eyes on him, 泥ON'T COOK IT. IT'LL RUIN THE GE-

Joe Dark widened his eyes with immense fury and the air grew still around only the plague doctor. He spat up some slime and shrunk to half his normal size, crumpling the coat. He propped one needle up and remarked, 敵-G-Genuine hard work I put into preparing iiiiit...?

And with his silence resumed the feasting of the others. The hot knight slapped his gauntlet down on top of Joe Dark's dish and cooked it to a fine, brown crisp in five seconds.

They then let out a painful gasp and retreated into the shadows. Joe Dark returned to his plate, glanced over his shoulder and murmured, ..Thanks?

He turned and tried to touch the meat only to get a burnt finger for his troubles. He shook it off and cooled it down by sucking on it for a moment.

He got a sneak peek at the flavor of the meat from that. It had a bit of bite to it, sort of sour? Joe Dark waited a little while longer before taking his first actual bite. He chewed carefully. The meat broke up just fine, though it was a little tough in some parts. Had decent fat content.

_How long has it been since I've had meat? _One look down at his skinny body and the answer was, 典oo long.

He kept going at it nice and slow while everyone else gobbled down their plates like vacuums do dirt. Grimmley ate meat AND bones, Plagueis ate trash, the mummy consumed dead locusts in a decaying breath, and so forth and so forth. The only people eating the same thing as him were Dracula and Alura.

And much to his surprise, the mannequin devoured her meat with the same fervor as the other monsters. Her cheeks were getting stuffed full of meat faster than she could digest it. Bits of it stuck to her lips and slid down her chin.

Pffft...! He chuckled before casually biting into some more meat.

Alura peeked out from the corner of her eyes and finished her bites before saying, 展hat was that noise just now, Joe Dark?

A laugh, Joe Dark said with some of the laughter lingering in his voice, 添ou're a real riot, mannequin.

I don't see how I'm an angry mob, Joe Dark. Alura calmly replied and then resumed eating.

Joe Dark's face slowly slumped and as more meat hovered before his face he mumbled, 展ay to take the wind outta my sails...

The dining hall was overloaded with feral gobbling from these rabid beasts and when they weren't stuffing their faces they were stuffing their ears with gossip regarding him. A lot of it seemed to go silent when their master's daughter came up, however.

Joe Dark had to try just to avoid getting any of the flying bits of carnal flesh on his skin. This was disgusting, but it beat eating out of garbage cans.

By the time the vast majority of the monsters had cleaned their plates, or eaten them, he had gotten halfway through his plate.

Is something the matter, Joe Dark? Alura remarked, her pale face red with meat juices.

No...? He responded right as he was about to take another bite of food.

But you're eating slowly, She said, turning her head with a creak and then giving it a slight tilt once she laid eyes directly on him, 的s it not good?

...Eating slowly is normal. Joe Dark's quick, though puzzled response, made no sense to the girl.

...I see. She said nevertheless.

Joe Dark froze mid-bite, pulled the meat out of his mouth and mumbled aloud, 展hy do I feel like I'm being judged here?

A couple bites later and while everyone else had finished, Joe Dark looked at the sizable chunk of meat filling half his plate and decided, _滴__mph, that's enough of that._

He pulled out from the table, tucked one hand in his pockets, and headed out the way he came. He put little effort into waving goodbye and hastily told the monsters, 展ell it was fun while it lasted. Later.

_Now to leave the castle and go find another planet to mope around on... _

Ah, heading to bed already? Dracula stirred with an abnormal sense of humor in his tone of voice.

Joe Dark peered over his left shoulder and muttered, 哲o you blood-sucking gremlin. I'm. Leaving.

There was silence. Then there was rupturing. The lungs of these beasts split in twine to fill the banquet hall with laughter. Hyenas, the lot of them, smashing their appendages on the table like a herd of wild monkeys. Joe Dark narrowed his eyes and a dark haze hissed to life around his body.

But it wasn't his aura that made them yield. A single raised hand from their master was more than enough. Every beast went motionless as the Lord of the Night sunk into the shadows and reappeared directly before Joe Dark in seconds, towering over him with a presence great enough to make his defiant eyes lock up at his face.

Leave? The monster king chuckled and his voice turned hypnotic, 展hy? When you are welcomed here?

Grrr...! Joe Dark snarled his teeth and held his ground against this face of terror, 的 am not one of you. I used you to get a decent meal. That's it.

Aaaah... Dracula took a deep breath in through his nostrils, unnerving Joe Dark by the kneecaps, 的n five seconds...Rain will fall outside.

Oooh, real scar- Joe Dark's heart skipped a beat at the same time lightning roared with thunder up above, shaking the castle slightly. He twisted his head back and could hear the faint pitter-patter of raindrops.

Dracula planted his wrinkly fingers along his shoulder and paralyzed him from the touch. He then dropped his head down a little lower and whispered in Joe Dark's ear, 添ou are more than man, but not more enough...Suffer in the cold, wet rain. Alone. Unwanted...Or be with us. Be with your kind. For as long as you are in these walls, you will be **my**_ honored_ guest.

Listen here you fanged freak- Joe Dark turned to look the man in the eyes and what he found was a reflection on himself in those ghastly pupils. He sat alone, in rain so thick his tears mesh in with them. He was a child, weak, and tired.

It shook him to the core. Perverted his sense of privacy. Brought his blood to a boil. He bit his teeth down in a deep-knit scowl and then told the man plain as he possibly could, 的 want a room all to myself. If I hear even a growl from your little pets, I'll blow this whole castle sky-high.

Hrrmm... A pleasured smile crept across Dracula's face as he stood to rise, and snapped his right fingers by the waist, 鄭lura. Escort our new guest to his room.

Yes father. She said, having slipped up next to Joe Dark unnoticed.

She turned for the stairs while Joe Dark took a second to collect his thoughts. He then put his taut fists into his pockets and grumbled his way up the stairs. The monsters had a laugh at his expense until he was back on the first floor, where he'd give even less of a shit than he had already.

They went back to the entrance and then down the left hallway. Joe Dark didn't bother making conversation this time. There was no point. At the corner of the castle they went up two flights of stairs and then down another hall. The walls were open and Joe Dark confirmed that the rain was real with his own two eyes.

Having fought **him **enough, he didn't sense anything unnatural about the rain. It was cold and wet, and drowned the fading sunlight in its misery. A hint of the nearly full moon could be seen rising in the distance. This would be an early, but much needed rest.

We're here. Alura murmured, giving Joe Dark a mild heart attack. He placed a hand on his beating chest and watched as the mannequin slowly opened the door.

He grew sick of her glacial pace and shoved the door open with his foot, leaving her hand hanging in the air and her eyes in a perpetual state of blinking.

He slid under the door frame and looked around. His room came with a small unlit fireplace, a medium-sized mattress...And that was it. But it was clean. And that was enough.

He walked on over to the end of the bed and pushed his hand down. It sunk in slowly, and wrapped around his skin like soft silk.

Ooooh yeah... He moaned as he rested his butt down and leaned back, _的__ts been too long... _

He smiled and had this serene look that sadly there was no mirror around for him to see. He glanced over at the fireplace and whipped his dagger into his hand, then flung it straight for the top of the bricks above the wood. Enough sparks were generated to get a fire going, and the dagger was withdrawn into the darkness.

As Joe Dark started to lie down on the bed he found Alura standing over him at the corner of it. She stared into his eyes and quietly closed hers as she commented, 典he moon's beautiful tonight, isn't it, Joe Dark?

Joe Dark fluttered his eyelashes and scoffed quietly, 泥on't get **too **excited on me. Wouldn't want your heart to burst.

Alura looked down and laid a hand on her chest, her brows sinking in concern. Joe Dark stopped his descent into comfort and rose upright with a growl.

Seriously. Stop taking everything I say literally.

Alura lifted her head and her hands draped to the sides of her dress. She then closed her eyes and murmured, 添our way of speaking is weird, Joe Dark.

Joe Dark felt at least ten blood veins popping at the exact time in his brain. He pulled himself forward in one powerful motion and exclaimed through gritted teeth, 徹K YOU CAN GO FUC-

He paused in place, sucked his lips in, and glared straight into Alura's motionless eyes with disinterest, ..Why aren't you scared, mannequin?

You're not scary, Joe Dark. Was the bluntest thing she had ever said.

Gck...! Joe Dark tensely contorted his face and thought 滴ave I lost my touch? only to start considering the possibility that he probably never had it to begin with.

He tapped his fingers along the edge of the bed and looked to Alura once more to ask, 典hen why am I interesting? You mons-...Don't you only care if I'm scary?

You're...different from other humans. Alura's lips appeared to pucker and her eyes sagged, and though Joe Dark expected more from her that level of detail seemed to be beyond her.

Joe Dark had a massive headache and it was only to get worse by the second if he kept this up. With a long sigh as he fell upon the soft bed, he gave the mannequin one more glance and said gently, 敵ood night, Alura.

Alura bowed her head and remarked, 敵ood night...Joe Dark.

And she left the room, just like that. The door shut on its own, keeping Joe Dark alone with his thoughts, and the warmth of the nearby fire.

He laid his cupped hands atop his chest and stared up at the ceiling. A ceiling...Why did it make him relaxed to see it?

In fact, save for a few tense moments, he didn't necessarily feel out-of-place in this den of night terrors. He ate with them. Talked with them. Was it really so wrong to be here?

_Maybe...Mr. Reality didn't make a mistake after all. This...might just be my new home. _

It was a hard pill to swallow. And it had been a long, long day. At least, that's what it felt like.

_A good night's sleep will do me good... _He said as he laid his head down all the way and let his eyes sink down into slumber. It would be his first comforting rest in more than a decade...

_Next Time: The New Life_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Twilight Girl**

Joe Dark lied on his side with a smile on his face. His chest breathed in-and-out at a steady pace, while his body sunk an inch into the mattress. His cupped hands acting as a makeshift pillow.

No dreams. No nightmares. Just him and the quiet snores he released. This was a prime example of how a good rest does the body good.

And in the blink of an eye he was grabbed by the hip and yoinked right off the mattress like a sheet that needed cleaning.

He woke up only after hitting the cold floor, the jolt to his brain scrambling his limbs onto all fours. He did a few hard pants before registering his compromised position.

He then heard a rough guffaw from behind and turned his head aside with a glare to find Grimmley standing beside the bed flashing his silvery fanged smile.

Joe Dark was quick to rise and rub his scraped arm. His good mood, soured. His tone of voice, pissed.

"You better have a damn good reason for waking me up, mutt."

"All monsters are to attend every meal. No exception." Grimmley growled with the firm bite of a general.

"I am not one of you." Joe Dark insisted, which was reflected back into his face by Grimmley's curt laugh.

"Hehe, sure..." Grimmley clawed the air beside his face and stated, "You are our master's 'guest'. Count your blessings that you have his and the princess' favor, or I'd gladly turn you into his next meal."

Joe Dark's eyes turned a bright red and looked bloody as he narrowed his glare, "I could kill every one of you in the time it'd take for you to breathe your last breath."

Grimmley guffawed and folded his arms across his chest, "Nice fangs. We'll make a good monster out of you yet."

Joe Dark loosened up a little and sighed, "This must be a daily occurrence around here."

"Good," Grimmley muttered ominously through loose lips as he walked past Joe Dark, "You're adjusting quickly."

When the furry man vacated the room Joe Dark rubbed the back of his scalp. He felt like going back to bed, except...

It wasn't really necessary. He was only sore where he landed on the ground and in his head for obvious reasons. The rest of his body had the vigor and freshness of a young child.

He could roll his wrists with ease, stand up straight without feeling a crick in his neck, and his stomach...growled. He rubbed his belly and murmured, "Well what the hell..."

He'd have to be thankful to a mattress made by monsters? Sure. Why the hell not? He gave it a light bow and then exited the room to head for the dining hall.

The night rain had cleansed the air and gave it a crisp, fresh morning smell with the sun's help. He didn't look out too long however, cause it was incredibly bright.

Joe Dark had to remind himself multiple times that he was in a den of monsters as he noticed how calm and peaceful his walk was. The castle was still ugly as sin though. No amount of sunlight would fix that. But for now maybe, just maybe, he'd be willing to let that slide.

A short couple of minutes later Joe Dark arrived in the dining hall and appeared to be the last to get here. Some of the more impatient monsters, Dracula included, were already stuffing their faces full of the same slop from last night.

And the Lord of the Night couldn't have the decency to stop as he projected his voice across the room, "You're late, Joe Dark."

"Is that why you sicced your guard dog on me?" Joe Dark smiled at the foul growl Grimmley gave him as he rounded his side of the table.

"You could've mentioned this last night. You night crawlers are the last group I'd expect to enjoy breakfast."

"All meals hold equal value in my domain," Big words for a monster treating his plate like a trough, "You will learn to understand in time."

"Yeah yeah..." Joe Dark whispered and rolled his shoulders. As he passed by Alura she pulled away from her plate to say, "Good morning, Joe Dark."

"Mornin'." He said in a haste. He stopped at his plate and found that his meat had already been cooked.

"Huh..." He scooped some up and stuffed it in his mouth, "How about that."

It tasted roughly the same, maybe a little grittier. Taste's nothing to complain about, but...

"Can I at least have some eggs or toast with this?" The monsters had been accommodating to his demands so far so this would be no different.

"Hahaha!" Grimmley laughed, "You eat what you're served, whelp. Bake it, broil it, fine...But don't expect any sides or drinks.

"Though if its eggs you want, I have plenty right here!" Plagueis said, unveiling a row of vile, bubbling boils along each finger. Fly eggs. It nearly made Joe Dark throw up.

"Ghh! Take your piss larva and shove it!"

"Oh! Don't mind if I do!" And thus Plagueis consumed all those eggs in one slime-ridden bite.

Joe Dark's mouth shoved off to the side of his face in disgust and he put all eyes on his meal, though ate much slower now. This time around he managed to eat just a little bit more, and the remains went to Dracula.

After two meals and a good night's rest it seemed as good a time as any to head out. Of course things couldn't be that simple.

"Joe Dark..." Dracula bellowed behind his back.

"Haaaaa...**What**?" Joe Dark said as he lazily looked over his shoulder.

"Today, you will escort Alura on her walk through the village." He said without pause.

"Him?!" Grimmley tried to express outrage but was frozen midway by Dracula's gaze.

"For once I agree with razor beard," Joe Dark tucked his hands in his pockets and faced the Lord of the Night, "I'm no one's errand boy. Get one of your mooks to fulfill your request."

"**I do not make requests**." Dracula's word dripped out an arctic chill that dropped Joe Dark's body temperature to sub-zero levels.

He stuttered, and could see his own breath as thick as fresh morning fog. He tensed his fists and remarked, "F-Fine! I GUESS I can escort that mannequin for a bit."

The temperature returned to normal at the pace of Dracula's nostrils inhaling. He smiled and whispered, "That's **good**."

"Don't have too much fun at my expense..." Joe Dark grumbled and turned to Alura. She wiped the meat juice from her face to her gloves and stared blinking at him.

"I need to get my parasol, Joe Dark, can you meet me at the gate?"

"Oh no take your time, I'm in no rush." He snipped with a roll of the eyes.

When she gave a worrying nod he quickly growled back, "D-Don't take that seriously! Grab it fast and lets get the hell out of here!"

She stared for a prolonged period, nodded again, then finally departed. Joe Dark sighed all the way to the staircase. For better or for worse, Joe Dark chose to wait for her at the front gates.

The bridge was up when he got there and no amount of his usual yelling got the gargoyles attention. Sure he could've flown over it but he just didn't feel like it. So he took residence up against the wall and closed his eyes for some goddamn peace and quiet.

He got through three minutes before facing the castle and grumbling, "What's taking her so damn long?" And why did he even care?

He lurched his head back to look up at the sky, "I should just leave."

His body flinched and he suddenly turned to face the corner of the castle grounds. His eyes locked on the deep dark shadows and he summoned his dagger directly after flicking his wrist.

A speedy flash of white emerged from the shadows and pulled a fanged knife that caught the dagger under hook right as they landed. It was Grimmley, wearing his usual beastly grin.

"Too slow, whelp." In another second the feral man appeared directly in front of Joe Dark and had his own dagger shoved against his neck. Joe Dark pulled his head back a bit, and eyed the man with little concern.

Grimmley's grin stretched. Joe Dark returned his weapon to the darkness and said dismissively "What do you want **now**?" with the lump on his neck grazing the edge of the blade.

Grimmley slid the knife cleanly into his vest and remarked, "I thought you'd appreciate a warning about your given task."

"Hmph, your handler wasn't very clear was he now?" Joe Dark said with his eyes closed.

"Master can have a bit of a one-track mind when it comes to certain...tastes," Grimmley said, nervously eyeing the interior of the castle and dulling his voice down to the quietest whisper, "But that's where I come in. To keep newcomers like you in line."

Joe Dark's eyes rolled in the darkness and he pulled a bit off the wall to pretend like he gave at least one percent of a shit, "Fine. What."

"The Princess will be taking a walk for a few hours. You are to stay within five feet of her at all times. She is not to touch anything but her parasol. And you are not to touch anyone but those who may attempt to bring her harm."

"So I'm a bodyguard. No big deal." Joe Dark said with a shrug.

"Confident are we? You better be, because **we'll **be watching," Grimmley snarled his fangs into a smile, "So don't think you can contaminate her with your humans fluids."

Joe Dark slanted his eyes and slowly asked, "What are you implying?"

"You're human. Its in your nature to breed." Grimmley said without a hint of shame.

Joe Dark's body pulsed with darkness and he growled very, very quietly, "You're **disgusting**."

"Just remember...Every shadow holds eyes." Grimmley backed away slowly, then vaulted straight up onto the walls. By the time Joe Dark tried to follow, he had already vanished.

"...Who the HELL does he think he's talking to?" He murmured, ignoring the slight shiver up his spine.

"I'm ready, Joe Dark."

"GHHH...!" Joe Dark bit the tip of his tongue turning around. Alura was standing there, parasol in hand, more quiet than a mouse.

With his heart racing he muttered to himself, "This girl I swear..."

She tilted her head momentarily and then looked up at the gate. All it took was a whisper of "Open" for the bridge to drop. She then made her way across and Joe Dark followed close behind, rubbing the back of his head. Instead of going straight to the place Joe Dark started off, Alura veered to the right.

"Uhhh, where are we going?"

"There's another village this way that father wants me to look at." She slowly replied.

"Hmph, guess the world would feel pretty small if there was only one village..." Joe Dark had to admit, he was a little curious about something, "So you take these kinds of walks every day, mannequin?"

"Every day for the last year we've been on this planet."

That wasn't the answer he was expecting, "You're...not native to this world?"

He could see her head shake slightly. "Huh," He muttered with a pinch of curiosity in his voice, "Could've fooled me."

"Joe Dark," Alura suddenly turned around to face him and leaned her parasol back, "When do I get to ask you questions?"

For her, that was rather shrewd. It must've been cause he was in a good mood, otherwise his reply of "Fine, go right ahead mannequin" would've stayed locked up in the back of his mind where it rightfully belonged.

"I see..." She closed her eyes and had to think for a bit, all the while continuing to walk backwards, "I told you my name. Its Alura. Not 'mannequin'. Why do you call me that?"

"_For a sheltered girl she gets right to the point..." _And so Joe Dark felt he could do the same, "A mannequin is a type of doll people use to display clothes or other less..."

He diverted his eyes and muttered to himself with red in his cheeks, "Pleasant things..."

He quickly looked back at Alura just in time for her head to tilt, "A-And their most noticeable features are their pale white skin and lack of emotions."

"Well my skin is pale..." Alura said, "But I do have emotions, Joe Dark."

"Oh yeah? Give me a smile, right now."

Alura pressed her lips together and wiggled them into a tiny smile. Joe Dark's heart skipped a beat, like a tiny arrow had gotten through his cold exterior.

"Gck...!" He exclaimed while clutching his chest and his eyes widening in panic.

The woefully ignorant Alura settled her expression and remarked, "Was that good, Joe Dark?"

"Y-Yes..." He stuttered, and then composed himself, "You can smile. Big deal. Did you feel _anything_ doing it?"

Alura's face froze up and she didn't notice the back of her stilettos colliding with a rock in the road. She began to fall back and Joe Dark rushed over to catch her on the backside with one hand.

Her eyes hadn't widened a millimeter as he stared into them. He gently put her down, punted the rock many yards away, and muttered to himself, "Guess that answers that question..."

Alura tilted her head slightly and remarked, "Thank you, Joe Dark. I don't normally miss that rock..."

"Pfft, whatever." Joe Dark tucked his hands into his pockets and looked away from her up at the sky. But when she started moving out the corner of his eye he quickly bit his lower lip and caught up.

Alura dropped any further questions and the rest of the trip went smoothly and quietly, just the way he liked it.

When they got to the village he was surprised by how big it is. It was more like a modern day city on Earth. This may very well be this planet's capital. And the people were bouncing around in cheer and dance. Elves pooled their magic into filling the sky with bright, dizzying fireworks. Some simple wooden stalls lined the streets in service of all whom had gathered.

"Oh I get it," Joe Dark snarked Alura's way, "You wanted to come out and party."

She was silent in all but her movement through the streets. Maybe she didn't hear him. The crowd was being a little loud and obnoxious.

"What are these fools so happy about anyways?" He said, sickened by the intoxication brought only their hyperactive happiness.

"For one week every year the people gather in Edelgyre's capital and give tribute to the source of all magic in exchange for a good harvest." Alura dryly exposited.

"Those aren't considered GOOD?!" He spat, pointing at the engorged apples, "Shit no wonder they're happy. They're drunk off all the vitamins!"

After a brief cough he shifted topics back to, "So why're we here if we're not celebrating with them?"

"I'm just checking on them, like father asked." It was an answer. A vague one, but an answer nonetheless.

But as long as he was here, there wasn't any harm in sampling the food. What the hell knew when he'd get another chance at fruits or veggies.

He tucked a hand behind his back and looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then he slipped his fingers into a dark portal with the intent to "borrow" their produce...

"Hello there young man!" A jolly call gave him his third shock of the day. He faced a portly man in blue suspenders and red plaid shirt, with cheeks as pink and warm as peaches.

Joe Dark narrowed his eyes at him and couldn't shake a feeling of deja vu, "Have...have we met before?"

"Hmm, can't-a say I have," The man's sudden Italian-like accent only deepened the feeling Joe Dark had to an uncomfortable degree, "But it'd be against my upbringing to ignore a famished soul."

He reached into his straw basket and pulled out one of his plump, juicy apples, "Here, on the house."

Joe Dark slowly took the apple and lowered it by his waist as the man pulled out another, "And one for your lady friend. Enjoy the Harmony Harvest!"

Joe Dark had a "deer in the headlights" look as he grabbed the other apple and then looked to the right. Alura was about to slip away into the crowd.

"Damn it all...!" He rushed off, not before turning back and throwing out a whisper of "Thanks" to the man.

Fortunately he caught up in the nick of time and tapped her on the back with his knuckles, "Yo what's the big idea?"

She paused and turned around, glancing wistfully at the apple he held out for her, "You don't ignore someone when they're being generous."

Alura stared at the apple for a few seconds before all of a sudden swatting it out of his hand, where it was caught up in the feet of the crowd and rendered inedible. Joe Dark glared at Alura and found his heart racing madly, and the rush of blood blinded him as he momentarily raised his hand.

She stared up and had no reaction. Joe Dark curled his fist, tucked it deep into his pocket, and closed his eyes.

"Those apples are poisonous Joe Dark." Alura murmured.

"Poisonous? Give me a break!" Joe Dark exclaimed and then bravely chomped down on his apple. He stood there and chewed long and hard on it, and took a very deep swallow.

"See?!" He remarked.

"Can you even be poisoned, Joe Dark?" Alura gave a surprisingly sharp comment.

Joe Dark's eyes sunk in disinterest before he bit back with an even sharper remark, "Can YOU? You're the daughter of the Lord of the Night!"

"...I won't take the risk. Humans can't be trusted." She quickly remarked.

"But I'm the exception." Joe Dark didn't feel comfortable about that in the slightest.

"Yes. You're different. You're...inter-"

"Stop. Stop that shit now!" Joe Dark exclaimed and swung his hand out at the crowd, and Alura visibly flinched, "You don't _feel _anything. You can't explain WHY I'm interesting!"

He bit his teeth and huffed and puffed until he was start to feel out of breath. And after all that the mannequin told him, "You're quick to anger, Joe Dark."

"I...!" Joe Dark gripped the side of his throbbing forehead and shook it. He grumbled aloud, "Just...its none of your goddamn business ok?"

He turned a little away from her so she wouldn't hear him say, "I don't know why I'm entertaining this babysitting job."

"Haaaaa..." He turned back at her and told her a little more calmly, "Whatever rotten ideas your father has planted in your head about humanity-"

"Humans killed my mother," Alura said with her eyes shut, and Joe Dark turned deathly silent, "They are a cowardly, murderous, judgmental lot, and I will never forgive them."

There was a dim sense of rage in Alura's tone of voice but it made her feelings her own. Joe Dark tried to take one step closer when suddenly his surroundings looked a lot different.

He was inside of a house of an even older build than the ones in this area. The atmosphere was wavy and grainy but what he stood on felt real. He pushed his foot a little forward and a rug on the ground moved in response. He looked ahead at Alura and saw a faint gleam in her eyes.

"My mother was a bar maid of an old world that was high on religion. She had lured my father in with her natural beauty...Is what father told me." Alura turned her head slightly to the left and Joe Dark followed. There, in a slightly busted rocking chair, was a woman with her face completely erased off and replaced with a miniature swirl. She cradled a small, quiet baby in a blanket and fed it with her own teet.

"My father was absent for the first years of my life. Mother raised me on her own, but had to keep me a secret from the villagers." As Alura spoke the faceless woman's position constantly shifted around this abode, while the baby grew into a young violet haired child wearing a patchwork dress.

Joe Dark took a couple steps away from the present Alura to touch the past one's hair. There was no reaction from them, even though he felt the silky strands of hair between his fingers. Time sped forward many weeks and months at a time, showing the faceless woman with her hands grasped in prayer, alone in her abode.

"But she couldn't stop the rumors from spreading of her blood being tainted with impurity. Humanity judged her as a witch..." The house was set ablaze and the embers brushed up against Joe Dark, pushing him back. The faceless woman melted down to a pool of blood, which her ravaged corpse then rose out of. There was so much detail in it, from the way the neck was twisted ninety degrees to the right, and the jaw had been pulled clean off.

And Alura stood over the body, both in the past and in the present, the red flames burning away quietly in their blank eyes.

"And slaughtered her for a guiltless crime..." She said in a cold voice.

Joe Dark barely pulled away in time as Dracula appeared over the past Alura and put his devilish hand on her shoulder, and the present Alura remarked, "Father appeared and told me what had happened. He told me to blame humanity. Hate them with all my heart. Only then could my mother be avenged. Ever since I've been under his wing."

In the blink of an eye this realistic vision of the past was gone and the two were still standing in the crowd of celebrating people.

Joe Dark trembled. It felt real,all of it. The warmth of the humble home. The silky threads of Alura's hair. The crisp flames. The stench of death. He looked at the girl not for answers, but to see the twitch of a frown on her face.

She closed her eyes and the gleam from before vanished. She hid a lot of sorrow behind that dollish face of hers. But the real tragedy, if the glimpse of the past was to be believed, was how the girl saw her mother. A faceless figment warped of all recognizable features. That unnerved him, a lot.

"How..." Joe Dark bit his lip and gasped a dry breath, "How old are you?"

"I am 16 years old," Alura's harmless response was a prelude to a more distressing reveal, "But father stopped me from aging 1000 years ago."

"_O-One thousand and...sixteen?!" _He had been completely deceived by how petite the girl looked. Ignoring the extra millennium the two were the same age. And when she saw her mother die? God, she couldn't have been any older than five.

That lonesome thought was quickly swept away in a vortex of mixed emotions. This frail girl held back a terrible grudge against all of humanity and has done so for a thousand years or more years. And the worst part was that Joe Dark couldn't combat the reason behind it. The worst of humanity's arrogance had been inflicted upon her at that impressionable age, and left to fester like a plague.

And when these thoughts left him defenseless, even the mannequin could easily take him by surprise, "Joe Dark. I think I can explain why I find you interesting now..."

"W-What?" He barely got out.

She looked deep up into his eyes and remarked, "You have the same eyes as I do..."

Joe Dark's heart felt cold and his skin went numb. A piercing cold worthy of such a piercing remark that saw right through him. Alura closed her eyes and twirled in place, continuing her walk with only a brief glance back to say, "We've wasted a lot of time, Joe Dark. Lets keep moving now."

She kept moving through the crowd but Joe Dark stayed behind, his eyes trembling and his feet feeling as brittle as bark. He reared his head back at the sky, closed his eyes, and squeezed his apple to mush in seconds.

"_I-I can't stay in this hellhole any longer! There has to be a better place somewhere, ANYWHERE out there!" _Space is endless, and thus the possibilities of other planets like being out there was the same.

...But Joe Dark was no stranger to space travel, having already spent one year of his life traveling the dark, lifeless depths alone. And if he left this world he'd risk the chance of running into **them** again.

Continue the cycle of loneliness. Or stay here, and become part of a monster family. The decision was so tough with neither sounding good. It broke Joe Dark's mind in half and turned him into something of an automated zombie. He wouldn't remember much of what happened over the next few hours, except that he continued to keep an eye on Alura as she made her rounds throughout the capital.

And before he knew it he was on his way back to the castle. Grimmley was waiting for them as they crossed the gate and remarked, "Not bad, whelp."

Joe Dark kept walking with a saggy head and weighted feet. Once they were in the castle Alura folded her parasol up and whispered to him, "Thank you for walking with me today, Joe Dark."

That seemed to snap him back to reality momentarily enough to mutter "...I guess" and then wander off to his room. He lied down there until he was called for dinner, and walked all the way back down.

When he got there he looked at his plate of cooked meat, scooped up one measly bite, and had it up to his mouth. But then the meat just slid off his hand onto the floor, and he muttered wistfully to himself, 的'm not hungry.

He left the banquet hall and Dracula gleefully chomped down his full plate in a single bite, leaving not a single scrap untouched.

Alura eyed Joe Dark off until her father's widowed claw latched onto her shoulder, and he leaned down dangerously close to her face.

"Well Alura...?" He whispered with sweeping lick of the lips, "I think its been long enough. Have you determined who will partake in tonight's hunt?"

Obediently, she nodded her head and began to open her mouth...

_Next Time: A Voice in the Night_


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: On the Eve of Blood**

_The wry twisting and cracking of brittle branches can be heard in a stormy night, as a young boy teetered on the edge of insanity, lost within a maze like forest of black and green._

_He delved into the woods uncontrolled by his own actions, spurred by thoughts of fear and anxiety. And now he wanders forever, trapped by the ebony thrall of a thousand roots._

_Every direction he runs leads to the same spot. The same tree trunks. The same grass. The same dirt. The same bloodied markings left by him scratching the bark..._

_He yells "HELP!". He yells "I'M LOST!". Whimpering and crying until either his eyes or throat are dried. The storm rages on as the sky has been consumed in an infinite canopy of black. The howls of wind threatening to the drag the boy away._

_Yet he continues to run. What else is there for him to do? Stand and fight the raging storm? Who would ever demand a child to do such a thing? Yet the same could be said for the cruelty of trapping him in this nightmare to begin with._

_And he runs, and runs. Soon his feet turn to concrete, and are dragged through the sinking dirt. The storm quiets only when the dirt digs into his ears and suffocates his head..._

_Before they could take their final blinking moment they found themselves letting out one painfully gasping breath of life, and assaulted by the foul stench of fresh blood._

_They raised their right hand up and the blood stuck to them like strands of thick muck. In a panic they rose to their feet, only for the blood to effortlessly drag them back down. Skeletal bones burrowed their fingertips into his eyesockets and forced them open, as a black crystal mirror descended upon them._

_All the boy could see of his reflection was the pale crimson glow of his eyes and a voice whispering to him "You have the same eyes as me..." like a alluring call of Death._

_The boy whimpered and tried to turn away. The bath of blood and bone forced him to see him for what he was in all its nightmarish glory. _

_A decay-ridden, half-eaten corpse with barely functioning legs and a stretch of bone from neck to waist looked at him back and started __**laughing**__. Louder and louder its pale wail fissured the glass until it shattered completely._

_And through the looking glass appeared the corpses of seven proud warriors enveloped in dark, rainbow-colored flames. Their embittered moans repeated he same word over and over: "Pay" _

_They shoved through the frame all at once and got the drop on the boy, and in seconds their flames began to make him look exactly like his reflection. He screamed, screamed, and SCREAMED some more..._

"AAAAAA!" Until in a cold heartbeat, Joe Dark awoke from bed covered in sweat.

He grasped his fast beating chest and squeezed his fingers into a fist. He looked down and saw that he was unharmed. It was easy for his eyes to comprehend reality, but not his mind. Never the mind...

"Ha...ha...ha..." He couldn't stop nor slow down his breathing even after biting his teeth down to scowl.

"_That's...that's the worst its ever gotten..." _Joe Dark curled his lower lip under tooth and by then his breathing began to return to normal.

He got off the bed and walked over to the the door. Slowly creaking it open, he saw that night had fallen, and the full moon illuminated the dark-blue sky. There was a slight chill in the air but right now, it was perfect.

He laid his arms atop the breaking stone ledge and settled into a hunched over position. He tapped his left foot on the ground for a while. He was the only person up, it seemed.

"..." He closed his eyes and let out a long heaving sigh.

"I've been here for two days now, and nothing's changed..." He grabbed the side of his throbbing head and kept one eye open, "Same old crap, same old nightmares."

He rested his arm back down and shook his head, "What's the point of running away if you'll always be caught...? Damn it..."

If dread is inescapable then Joe Dark wasn't even going to bother fighting it anymore. Maybe someday it'll just up and decide to leave him the hell alone finally. It could take months, it could take the rest of his life. He was too tired of fighting for nothing of value anymore.

He looked up and stared at the full moon for a little while. He put on a mild smile and fiddled his fingertips along the top of his arms.

"I guess the moon looks...ok." Whenever he was lost as a child the moon would always tell him where to go.

He sunk his head a bit into his arms and mumbled, "Well you damn rock? What do I do now?"

He sunk some more and started to doze off. His body stiffened like the gargoyles that would perch perfectly where he leaned in.

"_I hear your voice, calling me out..._

_From the shadows of the niiight."_

Joe Dark felt goosebumps rise along his arms and lifted his head up to peek around, "What on Earth...?"

"_I seek your love, yearn for its embrace..._

_In the waking hours of the liiight."_

He squinted his eyes towards the right and swore his mind was fucking with him again. What was a melody this divine doing in these hallowed halls?

"_Aaaaand I swear._

_Our sin is my cross to bear."_

Though faint, he could tell it came from the right side of the castle. Not too far either. He tucked his hands into his pockets and started walking towards it.

"_Cause when I look into your eyes so bright_

_I can vow to God that my choice was right_

_And so may I, be judged_

_May I, burn aliiive."_

The song was sung by a deep, elegant voice. A woman? A siren maybe? The lyrics were laced with a hint of sadness but he couldn't hear much emotion from them.

"_I am true to my love._

_It is mine, give or die."_

As he slowly rounded the corner his eyes widened and remained that way as he froze there in place, eyeing the source of this mystifying melody.

Perched atop the edge of a long balcony was Alura, the moon reflected in her eyes and the soft wind fluttering her long, draping hair back over the start of where she stood. Her hands rested gently upon her chest, with that powerful voice emerging from her tiny mouth.

"_I feel your cold embrace, wrapping my soul_

_And shackling me, in a bond so tiiight_

_I consume your presence...And its taste is bittersweet._

_Oh so sinful, yet oooh so riiight."_

"...Her?" Was the only thing Joe Dark could mutter to himself.

"_And I swear._

_Our sin is my cross to bear._

_I thank you for this gift of life._

_A beautiful daughter free of strife._

_And may you protect her in her dreams_

_And save her from her nightmares_

_For she has your allure_

_Both delicate and demure."_

Alura lurched her head back slightly and her soft face was illuminated beautifully by the moonlight's grace, giving her this brief sense of maturity far beyond her years.

And her voice slowed, softened, and deepened just a little bit more.

"_I hear your voice, calling me out..._

_From the shadows of the niiight._

_I seek your love, yearn for its embrace..._

_In the waking hours of the liiight._

_I am yours._

_As you are mine._

_And I swear, under this moon so blue._

_I will always...love you."_

In her final passage she tucked her hands together and hung her head with her eyes closed, a microscopic frown visible all the way over where Joe Dark stood.

He felt something thin and wet fall down the sides of his face as he picked his jaw off the ground. And then his legs moved on their own to behind where the mannequin was perched. His skin was full of shivers.

He tried to speak but nothing came out but a gawking gasp. He clammed his mouth shut and found that him, of all people, was suddenly unable to speak.

But the shrill noise was more than enough to make Alura turn sideways and bob her head back to look at him with a wistful stare.

"Oh..." She muttered sheepishly before drooping her hands towards the frills of her dress, "I didn't know you were still awake, Joe Dark."

"Pffft, the same could be said of you," Joe Dark mustered up enough courage to partway look her in the eyes and say, "What the **hell** was that...that..."

"_Beautiful song..." _His cheeks turned a light shade of red and needless to say he found himself crippled by shyness. He growled at himself for that.

Alura tilted her head and Joe Dark turned his away to rub the back of his head and try to save face, "Ugh, n-nothing. That noise you made...It sounded like a lullaby."

"That's because it is." Alura admitted right away.

"R-Really?" Joe Dark reeled back in shock. He was just taking a shot in the dark cause he didn't want to admit he _liked_ the song. But it was a lullaby? For _CHILDREN_?! That could've just as well been sung in a dramatic play, or an opera house.

Though perhaps the strength of Alura's voice gave the song more weight than it deserved. It was just so so...weird to think that SHE had sung it. The juxtaposition was so strong it was like getting his neck broke from the sheer whiplash.

He was spending time questioning this that would've been better used just saying "You have a nice singing voice, Alura" but that was just a typical Joe Dark-ism. It must run in the family.

While he looked visibly struggling with his mind Alura mildly tilted her head and walked along the balcony. She hopped off the edge and her dress helped her float to the ground. And once she landed directly in front of Joe Dark he paused and then recoiled a bit in surprise.

She stood there and looked up into his eyes. The moon gave their crimson irises an equivalent glow, but hers were devoid of any clear feelings.

Joe Dark gripped the side of his head and wondered aloud, "This mannequin I swear...She's a thorn in my side."

Alura bobbed her head around a bit until Joe Dark started directly in her face and growled, "What do you want now? Haven't you caused me enough headaches for one day?"

Alura closed her eyes and whispered, "If my illusions caused you any harm, I didn't mean it, Joe Dark."

"Illusions?" Joe Dark had to think a little about that which wasn't easy when his head felt like it was being assaulted with a jackhammer, "Oh right that stuff about your mother...That was your doing..."

"Yes," She said with a curt nod, "Father has said that my illusions are very strong, like they are almost real."

"_No arguments there..." _As his headache could attest to.

He closed his eyes to give his mind a little break but nevertheless continued the conversation with an observation a child could make, "Your mother...How much do you remember about her?"

"Not much," Alura was forthright with the answer, but distant in tone, "Just her lullaby, and that she loved me."

The price to pay for eternal life. If time cannot consume the body, then it will erode the mind in its place. Joe Dark had no sympathy for anyone who'd willingly choose immortality over the sanctity of their memories. But for this girl, who seemed to have had it forced onto her...

"Mmrrggh...!" He growled so loud as to not hear his thoughts go any further. Alura continued to eye him strangely.

"You're doing strange things again, Joe Dark." She said with the bluntness of an elephant's foot.

"N-No I'm not!" He exclaimed and thrust his pointer finger at her, "I'm the normal one here! Its all of **you **that are strange!"

Her eyes crossed at her nose and Joe Dark flicked his finger up her forehead before withdrawing it. She calmly rubbed the red spot and muttered, "Its not normal to appear out of nowhere, Joe Dark."

Joe Dark crossed his arms and turned to the side to ignore her as best he could.

"You still haven't told me why you're on this world..." She whispered with a lick of curiosity.

"You _never_ asked." He grumbled.

"...Oh," She lowered her head for a moment, "Joe Dark, why are you on this world?"

"That's none of your damn business." Joe Dark instantly rebuked.

"Why not?"

"B-Because...!" Joe Dark briefly glanced over his shoulder and told her off, "I said so!"

"Oh, I see..." Alura closed her eyes and remarked, "You're scared to tell me."

Joe Dark's eyes widened all the way and he turned around. Slowly he growled, "What did you _say_?"

"I know when people are scared, Joe Dark. You've been shaking ever since this afternoon..."

Joe Dark ripped around and pinned his hands firmly onto Alura's shoulder and forced his face against hers. His eyes had this dark red glow to them and all his teeth were grinding together into an enamel destroying scowl.

"Listen here you...! I didn't run away to this backwater planet just to have my problems thrown in my face by some doll-eyed, UNFEELING LITTLE GIRL, WHO DOESN'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT ME, OR HER OWN DAMN SELF!"

And for all that rage spewed point-blank in her face, Alura's takeaway from all that was, "You ran away from home, Joe Dark?"

"I...! You...!" Joe Dark applied more pressure to her shoulders and could've broken them had he tried.

But what would even be the **damn** point?

"...You're hopeless, mannequin..." Joe Dark squeezed his eyes shut and slowly removed his hands from her to stand back up and say in an utterly defeated tone, "But it seems I'm stuck with you..."

"Yes. This is your home now, Joe Dark," Alura said in an eerily calm voice, "You'll never see your parents again."

Joe Dark's eyelids sagged and he turned his gaze away from her while attempting to mutter to himself, "I know..."

When Alura said "Huh?" Joe Dark's eyes widened up and he barked back with his head held high, "Forget you heard anything! Its none of your business!"

"Ok, Joe Dark..." She whispered.

"Ghhhh..." Joe Dark squeezed his fists into his pockets and tried to spin things in a positive manner, "I guess...its not so bad here though. At least I get to eat and sleep. Thank god this Lord of the Night seems to tolerate humans."

"You're mistaken, Joe Dark," Alura's quick response caught his attention, "The only human my father's ever loved was my mother."

Joe Dark stared blankly into Alura's eyes until a loud howls shattered the silence, and quickly grew into a multitude of howls across the vast night sky.

Alura turned around and whispered, "Oh, I see Mr. Grimmley has finally begun the hunt."

"Grimmley...?" Joe Dark felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his gut.

Alura glanced over her shoulder and remarked, "Yes. Grimmley is a werewolf. He can turn at any time, but feels much stronger under the moonlight."

"Oh he's a werewolf. I had _no_ clue," Joe Dark rolled his eyes and bit his lower lip, _"But that didn't sound like one wolf..." _

He crept past Alura and stood precariously on top of the balcony. There he saw a stampede of black and gray furred creatures charging away from the castle...And straight towards the capital.

"No..." Joe Dark gasped and slowly widened his eyes upon realizing the true meaning of "the hunt".

_Meanwhile..._

The capital had settled down for the evening. The villagers crawled into their beds hoping that their first day of merriment had been satisfying enough to earn them a bountiful harvest.

A few villagers stayed outside to clean up any stray trash and the like. They were the first to feel the rumblings in the ground.

What started small grew bigger and bigger at a rapid pace. Glass plates fell and shattered in the houses, waking many of the resting souls.

The tremors settled down as people started leaving their houses, and just as quickly as they had started...They stopped, leaving the citizens looking around in confusion.

"What was that?"

"Where'd it come from?" Were a couple questions from these villagers so wholly unaccustomed to experiencing a single earthquake.

**They will wish God had been that merciful.**

A rattling of stone drew many eyes towards the southern houses, where a hunched silhouette prowled over the dominion of man and elf with a silver smile. With a long fanged jaw and wide, beefy arms, this wolf stood tall on its hind legs and armed its claws to the teeth with sharp, blood-drench knives, fresh off its first kill.

The humans cowered back at the sight of this devilish beast while the elves armed their hands with runes and pale-blue glows. The wolf raised its right claw towards the high moon and dozens upon dozens of quadruped wolves crawled out of the shadows around him...The first of many, many more.

And with a scant trace of humanity in his feral voice, the hungering Grimmley raised his smile higher and let out a deep chuckle.

"Let us enjoy our hunt, brothers..." He let out a piercing howl and the other wolves reared their ugly heads back and joined with him.

He then thrust his claw at the cowering lot before him and exclaimed, "KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM. LET THEIR SCREAMING SOULS BLOODY THE NIGHT SKY!"

The wolves charged into the crowd and the carnage began in earnest. A dozen humans were carved vertically in half by the growing swarm of wolves that numbered in the hundreds in seconds.

Grimmley enthusiastically lunged off the house and blended in with his kind, drawing a knife from vest to jaw and effortlessly using it to cut through the knees of the fleeing, screaming souls.

The blood splashed upon his wide-eyed grinning face and fueled his frenzy. He spat his knife to the ground and leaped out of the crowd, diving down to plunge his frontal claws straight through the backs of a young mother and father. He pinned them to the ground and watched them bleed out until a whimpering, blubbering cry thrust his head upward.

A child stood there with soiled pants and a face drenched with the stench of fear and sadness. Grimmley's right eye bulged out and he growled, "What's the matter child? I can reunite you with your parents if you want..."

The child hadn't a chance as Grimmley ripped the two adults from the ground and, with them still on his claws, stabbed into the child with the tips so all three would lie on the ground in the same, bloody pile.

Grimmley then howled and hopped over them, charging through the crowd at blistering speeds. He barreled through a couple houses and eviscerated those who'd cower in their closets, and fled before his victims ever knew he was there.

He zipped around the fireballs and lightning strikes of the elves and rushed up close to their faces. He drew his claw back and stuffed the bloody tips inches away from their eyes.

He gave their sweating skin a light scratch and then heaved his panting, hungered breaths in their faces, "You're not my prey tonight, magickin..."

He disappeared faster than they could blink and through fear and doubt clouding their minds the elves rallied their forces and concentrated their magic on as many wolves as they could. Silver bolts and azure rays cut through most of the swarm, but their numbers seemed endless.

Not helping matters was the presence of a strange purple miasma crawling through the capital. It seemed to follow the wolves in earnest, and when the elves came in contact with it they felt themselves slowly getting weaker.

In the few seconds of respite granted by the piling mounds of wolf corpses around them, a couple elves looked at their shaking hands and saw the greatest affront to their kind. Wrinkles, a sign that time had betrayed their eternal souls at long lost, rapidly formed on their arms and legs.

And then that brittle skin decayed to a gray rot and peeled off their bones, barely lasting a second as shreds before fading away to dust. Their skeletons collapsed, but even they were not immune to the dusting.

The wolves were unaffected, and as elf after elf fell the blood that spilled turned into a flood throughout the streets.

Grimmley laughed and laughed with a blood-drenched face as he barreled into another house and found a portly merchant backing up against his bookshelf on his rear.

"P-Please...I-I-I'll give you everything I own! Just sp-spare me!" He pleaded with a squeaky voice.

Grimmley crawled over to the man with a scintillating glow in his eyes. Dry was his laughter as he towered over the man and put his middle claw on their chin to push it back.

"Now that's funny..." A deep, subhuman growl gurgled out of the werewolf's stomach as he easily pulled the man off the ground and kept him eye level with his slobbering mouth.

"Your bargain...is _impossible_ to fulfill!" He opened his mouth as far as it'd go and chomped down on the man's head...

_Back at the castle..._

Joe Dark could feel the discord in the air. The screams of thousands filled his ears from all the way out there. And one by one they fell, until there were none.

His skin wrapped in cold, his body trembling from head-to-toe, he fell to his knees and forced himself to hear the howls of celebration in the vacant capital...Not as a way to herald the end, but as a prelude to the true carnage.

The wolves scattered in all directions, seeking to turn every single village into a graveyard of blood.

Joe Dark's vacant stare towards the horizon grew bright hot with rage, and he smashed the balcony apart with his bare fist. But not before turning and rushing back over to Alura and glaring at her with pure anger penetrating through his eyes.

"You...You let this happen! All those 'walks' were just so you could prepare your father's monsters to kill everyone! These people did nothing to you! Are you so blind with revenge towards your mothers' killers that you'd be willing to slaughter anyone who reminds you of them?!"

Alura stared straight ahead, not even at his face, and by that point he had enough. He grabbed her by the arms and threatened to do harm, "ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"

But his touch revealed something startling. It was subtle but...Alura was trembling. And the blank look in her eyes showed a disconnect from reality. It was a good five seconds before she was able to lean her head back and blubber out, "H-Huh...?"

Joe Dark's heart pounded louder, and louder, and louder. He could feel the blood leaving his face, and his stomach twisting in a knot.

"_You have the same eyes I do..."_

"_I know when people are scared, Joe Dark."_

Emotions spiraling out of control. Too much happening at once. His mind too weak to hold it all together. Restraint. Rage. Retribution. **Revenge**.

The last gentle act he performed under his control was pushing Alura aside. From there he was a machine of pure rampaging anger. He stampeded through the castle halls and smashed down through the stairs. A black aura exploded around his body and sent a shockwave throughout the castle.

He had been so ignorant of everything going on here. How could he have been so STUPID to think that monsters would ever leave humans alone? And now all those people out there were dead or dying. There was no way to save them. But he could be DAMN SURE this Hell doesn't happen again.

He rushed straight for the foyer and twisted to face the throne room. Plagueis and the hot-armored knight were standing in his way.

"I'm afraid I can't let you pa-"

Joe Dark was directly between them in a millisecond and turned his hazy crimson gaze upon the squirming man.

"**BEGONE!"**

The darkness erupted uncontrollably and slammed them both against the nearby walls. Joe Dark decked himself in the black, shoulder-skulled armor of the Dark King and obliterated the iron doors standing between him and his enemy with his sheer presence.

"DRACULAAAAAAAAA!" He screamed to the point of tearing his throat apart.

The bastard sat on his throne like a slob, with a wide, knowing grin.

"Such moist, succulent anger..." He whispered.

"RRRRGGHHHHH!" Joe Dark tore apart the ground charging at the Lord of the Night and the shockwave ripped asunder the walls around them. He drew his sword back and took one stab forward at his head, to which they responded only by slowly raising their right hand.

The blade ripped through the palm and impaled the monster through the eye. Black sludge oozed onto the blade and plopped onto the ground. Joe Dark furiously widened his eyes and shoved the blade out the back of Dracula's skull.

"Haa...haa...haa..."

"_KRRRKK...!"_ One finger twitched, followed by the rest of the impaled hand sliding down the blade and forcing itself tightly around Joe Dark's fist.

Dracula continued to rise, ripping the blade free from his eye as he quickly had Joe Dark standing on the ground underneath him. Joe Dark shoved back, their two bodies fighting for domination over the other.

"Tonight will be a splendid banquet..." Dracula licked the black sludge trickling down his face. As his eye regenerated from flesh, the symbol of a black serpent and a cross of thorns appeared within it.

"But you..." Dracula opened his mouth and the flesh of his cheeks started to hollow out, allowing his jaw to drop lower.

"Shall be a feast...FIT FOR A KING!" He said with an inhumane gargle added to his voice. A powerful vacuum from his mouth sucked away at Joe Dark's body, dragging out the dark aura from his body and something else along with it.

He lost his armor and the strength to stand, quickly collapsing on his knees and gasping loudly in shock. He was a raging inferno just a moment ago, and now it was like all that anger had never been experienced at all.

Dracula collapsed his mouth shut and let out a raspy moan of satisfaction. He wiped his wrinkly claw under his chin to push aside some of the excess slobber and then whispered, "Wonderful. You were even more filling than I ever could have expected."

Joe Dark pulled his head back and Dracula gently flicked him on the forehead. A second later he found himself speeding through the air like a missile, his eyes bulging out of their sockets in disbelief.

He stopped upon slamming into the bridge, knocking it down. Before gravity caught him Dracula did the honors, grappling him by the neck and hoisting him high into the air.

Joe Dark grabbed the Lord of the Night by his wrist and squeezed as hard as he could, "Bas...tard!"

"Yes. Give me more...!" Dracula's eyes stretched with intrigue, "The rage, the anxiety, the loneliness...Tenderized in the darkness of the Dark King! What better meal can there be on this eve of twilight?!"

Dracula swung his arms out, slammed Joe Dark against the wall, and dragged him along as he stepped out onto the bridge.

"O'Dark Creator...I thank thee for this banquet of screams! To fill thy gullet until all is consumed, is an honor only **I **can fulfill!" Dracula stretched his monstrous mouth wide open and created an extremely powerful vacuum.

Joe Dark could only watch in horror as the souls of the dead were dragged to Dracula from all corners of the planet. Their terrifying screams silenced in his stomach. Their souls scraped against the sky and stained it in crimson, turning the moon a terrifying dark shade of red.

In the rush to consume all the negativity of the world Dracula released Joe Dark from his grasp. But the boy simply fell onto all fours and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to stand.

The feasting of the Lord of the Night ended in a couple minutes, upon which he swiped his chin again and bellowed a laugh heard far and wide by his minions.

Joe Dark curled his fists against the ground and growled, "Y-You bastard...You killed them all! You...you won't get away with this!"

"I will though..." Dracula crossed an arm before his chest and gleamed at Joe Dark below his shoulder, "For mine is the will of the world itself! And no king, let alone a child, can defy what nature intended."

Dracula bent down, even then towering over the furious Dark King, and clasped his hand onto his back, "You hate me now. And I wish for you to continue hating me...But I think with time you'll come to adapt to my way of living. After all..."

As he began to rise the Lord of the Monsters whispered, "You've already partaken in the consumption of your kin."

Joe Dark's eyes bulged and he saw flashes of his last few meals and the sensations he experienced eating it. He clasped a hand over his mouth for all the futility it'd bring.

He vomited a puddle of sickeningly yellow chunks on the ground and then did so again in a smaller dose.

Dracula breathed in the despair through his nose and let out a long, calm sigh.

"Welcome to my family, Joe Dark..." He whispered and with a swing of the cape, headed back into his castle.

Joe Dark remained on the bridge, paralyzed down to his soul...As the sheer weight of his failures truly came crashing down upon him.

_And so in the span of a single day, the planet of Edelgyre ceased to be. Its people's blood spilled across the lands and the magic tainted by the disharmonious appetite of the Twilight Lord. _

_A cruel act of genocide to satiate the hunger of one monster. And to the wandering soul known as Joe Dark, he has simply traded one Hell for another. The nightmare continues, with no end in sight..._

**STORY 1: Alone and the Dark END**

**NEXT: STORY 2: Mr. Reality's Last Journey**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Back to Black**

"Zzzz..." Mew was sleeping away on his couch, his arms tucked behind his head as a makeshift pillow and legs crossed on the opposite side.

"Zzzz...mmmmm..." Smile stretched wide, eyes shut gently, and the occasional 'purr' during breaths. This is the kind of sleep insomniacs would pay millions for.

Which made the sudden opening of his eyes all the more startling for him. His accursed internal alarm clock, an enemy far greater than Justek and Gravitus combined...

After a couple blinks to cope with being awake Mew turned on his side a bit and mumbled, "Aw man, just when it was getting to the good part..."

He stretched his arms up high and found they were a little stiff. Nothing some wiggling couldn't shake off. He then spun his legs off the couch and planted them on the ground.

"Haaaaa," And with one big yawn, smacked his lips and was finally fully awake, "Haaa ha...Ho, that was a good nap. Best I've had in ages..."

He looked outside and it was a sunny start to the day, what more could he ask for?

"Still daylight out? Must've not been asleep for very long..." He said while rolling his shoulders to get the blood flowing.

"Brother?"

"GHHH!" Mew nearly bit his tongue as he swung his head to the left and saw Riku coming around the corner and briefly raising his brows.

"Oh," Mew quickly settled down and placed a hand on his chest to laugh at himself, "Duh, its just you Riku."

He slapped his hand along his forehead and shook his head. Then he checked on his brother. He looked pretty good considering, y'know..._that one missing detail that will totally not be mentioned to his face_. Mew smiled inward, rather forcefully, and then looked Riku in the eyes.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I just got up a few minutes ago and splashed some water on my face." Riku finished rounding the corner and Mew was **stumped** on what to say next when Riku's "you know what" was almost right in his face.

"Y-You don't say," Mew stuttered and forced his eyes shut, "So? How'd it feel napping on my bed for the first time?"

Riku sat down on the chair adjacent to the right of the couch and remarked, "I've slept in some comfy beds but there was something...warmer about this one."

"Ha you know what they say, there's no place like home." Mew said with a hearty chuckle.

"Oh, and brother?"

"What's up Riku?"

"I...don't think it qualifies as a nap once you've been asleep for two days." Riku's face squirmed out of a mild sense of embarrassment while Mew's eyes nearly rocketed out of their sockets.

"TWO DAYS?!" Mew whipped himself around and looked over at the electronic calendar on the fridge. Sure enough, Riku was right.

"Son of a bitch..." Mew sunk into the couch and his fingertips touched the couch arms, where he remained wide-eyed for quite a while, "Were we really THAT tired?"

"It would've been really bad if someone had attacked during that time..." Riku said concernedly.

"Ah relax we just beat Justek. I don't think we're going to get caught up in-" Mew paused with his mouth agape as he recalled that Justek happened literally two days after Gravitus. He lightly snapped his fingers a couple times and said, "Y-You know what...Lets just be grateful the universe decided to give us a break for once in our lives."

"...Good idea." Riku said, almost reluctantly.

"Welp," Mew got off the chair and propped his fists against his hips, "I imagine Kairi's still hashing things out with her mom sooo...Looks like for now its just you, me, and some brother bonding time!"

Riku slowly peeled himself off the chair with a mild smile and remarked, "I...I think I'd like that. How about we start with some breakfast?"

"Fresh cooked breakfast coming riiiight up!" Mew said as he rounded the corner with his incredible speed and had a pan over the stove the next second.

"Whaddya say to some scrambled eggs and toast with a side of strawberry lemonade?" Mew said with a big beaming smile.

"Actually I've never tried fried eggs before." Riku kindly remarked.

"Sure. Coming right up!" Mew turned his head and quickly had an antsy look on his face as he pulled another pan from the bottom drawer, _"Crap, I've never done a good fried egg before!"_

"Also, I think I'd prefer an orange juice over the lemonade, if that's alright." Riku said, his voice trailing off to the dining room opposite the living room.

Mew slowly turned his head over shoulder with his eyes scrunched up and muttered, "Its like I don't even **know** you anymore..."

Nevertheless he made the meal to Riku's liking. Though if he had requested rye bread the whole plate might've just wound up smack dab in Riku's face.

He easily balanced the two plates over to the table, setting Riku's down first. Riku glanced down and saw two fine pieces of toasted bread and a fried egg with a broken, cooked yolk. Mew visibly shuddered for a moment as Riku's judgmental gaze glared down on the egg.

"I see, so this is what a fried egg looks like." Fortunately Riku's naivete with breakfasts bailed Mew out of making a fool of himself _this_ time.

...Except he forgot one important thing. "Oops! Forgot the utensils, be right back!" He zipped back and forth faster than the sound of the drawers opening and shutting and set Riku's fork and butter knife to his right.

Mew's hand hovered over the utensils while he awkwardly eyed Riku's right side. He hastily picked them back up and set them on Riku's left side and slid over to his seat without missing a beat.

"Alrightletseat!" Mew picked up his fork and was about to take his first bite.

"Brother," Riku softly remarked, trying his hardest to fight back a chuckle, "You don't have to act that way just because I lost my arm."

Mew twirled his fork around and let out a sigh, "I'm sorry Riku, this is... pretty new to me."

He leaned forward and asked, "Anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable?"

"Just treat me like normal," Riku remarked and picked up his fork, which almost slipped out of his grip. But after that he managed to dig into his eggs just fine, "It'll take some time but...I'll manage."

"...Alright, you got it!" Mew smiled and happily dug into his meal. As the two brothers ate Riku tried striking up a conversation.

"Got any plans for us after this brother?"

"Ehhh, I figured we could just, y'know, try winging it today." Mew shrugged his shoulders and Riku fluttered his eyes.

"I-I'm surprised. You struck me as a planner."

"When it comes to battles? Heck yeah! Every day life? Nah, not so much," Mew grinned brightly and admitted, "Though back then I was all alone. Now that I got you and Kairi around maybe its time to make a change."

"We could try tackling that list of people you wanted to help." Riku offered.

"Ah forget about that for now," Mew waved his hand down dismissively and pointed his fork straight at Riku's face with a wild smirk, "We're going to have some fun! Besides trust me, when its time for us to get back into action, the world knows where to come a-knockin'!"

Mew leaned back and took a sip of his drink. Riku shrugged his shoulders and started to take a bite of his toast.

"Knck knck knck!" Came from the door.

Mew leaned up on the back of his chair and muttered in dull surprise, "Huh, that was fast."

He got up on over to the door, leaned his shoulder up against the frame and said with a wily smile, "Alright, who is it?"

"Mew? Is that you in there?" Though their voice was muffled a bit Mew's eyes lit up and he swung the door open to find Mr. Reality floating on the top step.

"Heeeeey! You survived buddy!" Mew scooped down for an attempted hug only for the little alien's cloak to slide between his arms. Mew stood there for a moment and mumbled to himself, "Boy this really isn't my best showing today is it?"

He then extended his hand out and Mr. Reality sent one of his floating ones out to give him a shake. Mew then showed him in, putting him in Riku's line of sight.

"Uhhh brother, you do remember who this alien is right?" He said, cautiously picking himself up off the table.

"Yeah, he's my friend." Mew calmly responded while patting him on the back of the helmet.

Mr. Reality stiffly looked at Riku and he did the same. After a brief cough the alien remarked, "I uhhh, didn't know _you_ were here."

Riku slanted his eyes and the tension was perfectly thick enough to cut like butter. Mew stamped down between the two and held his arms towards their faces, "Whoa whoa, you two know each other too?"

Riku laid his arm against his chest and murmured, "I fought him, Joe Dark, and a guy who looked like Alex Whiter a couple months ago in the Mushroom Kingdom."

Mew squeezed his eyes and rattled his head a few times, "O-Ok you're going have to run that by me again real quick there."

"Don't worry about the last guy, I killed him the moment I unlocked Genesis Form." Riku said perhaps a little _too_ nonchalantly.

"That's not what I-" Mew took a step back and placed a hand under his chin to think, "Lets take a step back for a moment and get our facts straightened out ok?"

Riku lowered his arm and said, "Fine by me."

"No complaints here." Mr. Reality commented.

It didn't take long to get all three of them up to date on how the others knew each other. Turns out Riku got most of the story on Mr. Reality from E. Gadd. It was just the aftermath of the battle that he needed to know about.

"Alright are we good?" Mew said, eyeing the two of them repeatedly until they nodded their heads, "Ok good. Now we can get down to business."

He faced Mr. Reality and asked, "Like...how the heck did you find us?"

Mr. Reality rubbed the side of his helmet and whispered, "I think my source would like to remain anonymous."

"It was Joe Dark wasn't it?" Riku pointed out with scathing honesty.

Mr. Reality's mouth curled inward and Mew's eyes went wide-open, "Oh shit no kidding? Is he around here somewhere?"

"I shouldn't have said anything..." Mr. Reality let out a long sigh and his little antennae curled down to his head, "I'm going have to ask you forget about him right now."

"How come?" Mew tried to pry. Couldn't help himself, now he'd gotten curious.

"Brother." Riku sternly remarked.

Mew closed his eyes and sighed, then turned towards the living room and suggested, "Wanna take a seat? Getcha something to eat?"

"I'll take the chair, not the meal. Who knows what Earth food'll do to me."

"Ah, touche." Mew silently nodded in agreement and took a seat on the couch while Riku took the other seat.

"Oooookay!" Mew leaned back and planted his feet on the table, "Assistance Operation Number 1: Mr. Reality begins now! So to recap, what's our goal here?"

Mr. Reality waved a finger at the side of his head, "To get these parasites out of my noggin _without_ causing any damage to my brain."

"Right right..." Mew leaned forward and clapped his hands together, then eyed Riku and the alien, "So, got any ideas?"

"Ball's in your court on this one brother." Riku admitted as he leaned against the arm of the couch.

"Faaaair enough!" Mew faced Mr. Reality eye-to-eye and started a discourse, "What we know about your parasites is that they're nearly invisible unless exposed to Light, and take advantage of any state of weakness in your psyche to take over."

"And, they were sealed away in the Elemental Overlord's Light Temple." Mr. Reality added.

"...Do we seriously not know anything else?" Mew said after a long pause, drooping his head down towards his chest.

"Actually," Mr. Reality snapped his fingers and it sounded like a wobbly piece of sheet metal in the wind, "Something I learned from my time with Joe Dark is that the parasites can be placated temporarily by darkness."

"Darkness eh?" Mew perked up and rubbed his chin, "Ok ok that's a start, that's a start..."

"Placated in what sense?" Riku asked in his brother's place.

"Hmmm if I had to describe it its like..." Mr. Reality took one hand out and waved it about, "The parasites were being distracted by another feeding source."

"Oh, like how sometimes exterminators use sweet scents to lure out ants!" Mew exclaimed.

"I-If that's how it works here sure..." Mr. Reality said with a fluttering eye.

"That makes sense," Riku chimed in, "If what you say is true and the parasites feed off of negativity, than what better meal is there than darkness?"

"Though I wonder if its because of the darkness or because of the kind of guy Joe Dark is," Mr. Reality commented, throwing in a whisper of, "No offense intended."

"Yeah he is kind of angry ain't he?" Mew had no problem saying, "Maybe it could also be cause of some connection the parasites have to the original Dark King?"

Riku and Mr. Reality eyed him with a hint of surprise. Riku remarked, "You think the Dark King created them?"

"I mean they had to come from somewhere or someone right?" Mew scratched the side of his face and pointed out, "Though I'll admit the fact that they were in the Overlord's temple is the only clue we got to go on."

Riku tapped his fingers on the edge of the couch and started to rise up, "Maybe not brother."

Mew was quickly able to piece it all together with a snappy snap of the fingers, "Oh yeah! Auris! She'd know all about the parasites!"

"Auris...who?" Mr. Reality bobbed his head right.

"She's the Elemental Overlord's wife," Mew spun to the right and flung his feet onto the ground, "Think the same deal as Justek except a little more..."

Mew tightly grit his teeth and **forced** through them, "Trrrrrrruuuuustworthy?"

Mr. Reality gave a bit of a stink eye then wiggled his head and remarked, "If she knows about the parasites then I have no choice but to meet her."

He got off the chair and started floating towards the door. Mew hastily got up after him and said, "I get the rush buddy but just wait a moment. She'll be contacting us any minute."

"...Huh?" Mr. Reality gave an even more frivolous tilt of the head.

Mew leaned his head back and said, "Yep, any minute now."

A whole minute passed in silence, "Aaaaaaany minute now."

Another minute, now with Mr. Reality turning to Riku and shrugging his hands, "Ok...NOW!"

"Uhhh, brother. What are you waiting for?" Riku was sounding worried.

Mew wagged his hand over his shoulder and answered, "Auris has this orb she can use to contact us specifically. With her clairvoyance she should know we need her right now..."

Mew sunk his shoulders and tucked his fists into his pockets, whispering under his sigh "Guess Kairi's really keeping her busy."

"Ok! Looks like we're taking a trip up to Sancturia!" He rushed straight for the door to open the way forward, then gleamed back at his brother.

"Hey Riku, get one of the spare coats outta the closet will ya?"

"Uhhh, sure thing." Riku slowly strolled around the corner while Mew dealt with his alien buddy.

"We need to get you covered up. Tensions are gonna be high up there and the last thing they want to see is a possible alien invader."

"...Justek really made a mess of things with my powers didn't he?" Mr. Reality closed his eye and sunk a little towards the ground.

Mew brushed the back of his hand along the alien's helmet to replicate slapping and then bonked the glass with his knuckles, "**That** had nothing to do with you. Besides, its probably because he used your powers that we're even alive right now."

Mr. Reality looked up at him and then down at his open palm, squeezing it into a fist.

Riku came back with the coat and after a little finagling later they ensured that Mr. Reality's face wouldn't be seen by the general public. Then the three of them left the house and took flight towards the North. Mew made a little cloud cover for them just to be on the safe side.

Having to account for Mr. Reality's slower pace meant it took them a little longer to reach the floating city. But once they got past the barrier all that was left was a pretty straight walk towards Auris' house.

Things looked a little grim in town given what went down this week. They hadn't even gotten a chance to recover from the battle with Gravitus when Solaris dragged his Vortexian army on a relentless swathe of destruction. Repairs were going smoothly thanks to some fancy looking chrome heavy machinery, but there was no fixing the lives lost and the hearts mourning.

It sucked to get a move on and Mew had to tell himself off a couple times because of it, but he was the only person in their group who could talk to Auris. He'd just have to come back later.

Once they arrived at the Aurora household Riku leaned up against the side of the door and closed his eyes while Mew knocked on the opposite side.

"Auris! Kairi! Anyone home?" He hollered.

"Is that you Mew?" The sultry voice of an mature woman inquired, which, unless Kairi had suddenly developed a powerful set of lungs, could only belong to the woman of the house.

"Yeah?" Mew drew out his response cause Auris' tone was strange.

"Come on in, Kairi's out of the house right now."

Mew and Mr. Reality walked inside and saw Auris sitting in her usual robes on the couch. But when she tilted her head back there were subtle bags under her eyes and the sparkle in her irises was gone.

"Whoa...You look tired." Mew immediately held nothing back.

Auris pinched the space between her eyes and shook her head, "Kairi's been relentless ever since she came back."

"She has a lot of questions to ask." Mew said while him and Mr. Reality rounded the couch.

"And she has every right to ask them. But mmm...my mouth hasn't had a workout like this in ages." She reached across the table to partake in a drink of clear liquid.

"I don't think alcohol helps with thirst..." Mew chuckled.

"Its not liquor. Its water." She said with a wet smile.

Mew spat up a "Holy shit!" and Auris giggled. She then rose from her seat and swirled her drink around the lip of her glass.

Just because she looked tired didn't make her any less pretty, _"And none of her bad habits are gonna knock those thoughts out of my horny little head!" _

After a bit of clammed laughter Mew waved his hand out at her, "Hate to start our first conversation since **that **incident like this buuuuut I got a friend with a problem and we'd like your input."

Auris glanced down as Mr. Reality floated on over and used his hands to sandwich her free one between them, "Never in all my years of mining have I unearthed a jewel as radiant as you. If my life is in the hands of a goddess like you, then I have no fear."

Mew's jaw **dropped**, while Auris squeezed her eyes shut and giggled like she was ten years younger again. Mew kept his eyes wide open as he tapped his foot on the ground and remarked, "Hey did you forget she's married?"

Then he narrowed his gaze sternly and remarked, "Or that YOU are?"

"Am I not allowed to compliment a lady?" Mr. Reality scoffed while giving a bit of a condescending look back at Mew. He then shook his head at Auris and whispered, "He'll learn eventually."

"Oh I hope so too..." Auris whispered.

"I can hear you both." Mew grunted in rage.

Mr. Reality backed off a little and Auris took a look at him for a brief moment before realizing, "So you're the one that wound up with the power to control reality. Its a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face."

"No no, you don't need to greet me like that. I've been nothing but trouble."

"_He's shoving the pedal from humble to kiss-ass in seconds flat..." _Mew aired his grievances alone and then tried to regain focus on why he was here, "Auris you know why we're here yeah?"

Auris shone a rare glimpse of seriousness as she put her glass down and folded her dainty hands before her waist.

"The Parakali parasite. I wish I'd go here-to-eternity without ever dealing with them again," Auris' fingers curled back and the nails dug into her robe, "But that's not fair to you. Ask me anything. I'll do what I can."

"Huh? Sweet!" Mew was very glad for her cooperation and crossed his arms ready to get the obvious question out of the way.

"We figured out that the parasites quiet down a bit when exposed to darkness. Is it possible that if we used enough of it, we could lure the parasites out of Mr. Reality's head?"

"Hmmm..." Auris smiled with pride and closed her eyes to think, "Yes you are correct. The proper extraction procedure requires an immense amount of darkness."

Mew smirked and waved at Mr. Reality, "You hear that? Easy!"

"No, its not," Auris' voice got a lot more firm all of a sudden, "Even the old Dark King couldn't extract the parasites once they'd been implanted."

"The old Dark King? Y-Yikes...and he was like, the head honcho of darkness," Mew might've spoken too soon, and the soured look on Mr. Reality's face wasn't helping anything, "Hold up a moment. The Dark King DIDN'T create the parasites?"

"He most assuredly did not," Auris peered her eyes open with a hint of melancholy in them, "It...doesn't matter who did."

"Hrmmm..." Mew couldn't help his sense of curiosity from getting the better of him but maybe this time he shouldn't trip this land mine. He faced Mr. Reality and asked him, "Are you SURE you don't know where Joe Dark is?"

The alien sucked his lips inward and let out a "Pop!", looking distressed all the while. Mew raised his head to Auris and said, "I know YOU do."

"...And I'm not telling. If he wants to be left alone, leave him. You already have all the tools you need to save your friend."

Mew glared at her for a moment and placed a hand on his chin to go deep in thought, "Well lets think here...Riku makes one source of darkness but I don't think his comes up to even half of the Dark King's power. Hmmm..."

Mew squeezed his eyes then slowly opened them up, waving his hand beside his face, "Say, Auris...You saw what happened when I fought Justek yeah?"

"I know what you're asking me and so I must ask in return..." Auris slanted her eyes and played up a more serious than sultry expression, "Are you really up to dealing with **him** again?"

"Its the least I could do after making my friend wait this long." Mew replied.

Auris closed her eyes and smiled, "Very well. Then here is what you must do..."

Auris walked past the couch and turned her back to Mew for a moment, "When Justek pulled 'D.' out of your body, he threw him into the only place that could give him a truly agonizing end...The Void of Radiance."

"Void of Radiance? Any connection to the Light Temple?"

"A clever deduction, if only a little off..." Auris turned her head over her shoulder and winked, "Unlike the other Elemental Palaces, which he constructed, the Light Temple was brought directly from the Elemental Overlord's home planet."

"You guys stole a whole temple?!" Mew exclaimed in shock.

"Its not like they had much further use for it..." Auris murmured nonchalantly.

"...C-Continue." Mew said.

"The Light Tribe prayed to the void and in turn their tributes were rewarded with full control over the element. And their temple was their main conduit."

"Then...we need to go back to the Light Temple to access this...Void?" Mr. Reality inquired.

"No. The temple's connection to it is weakened. If you want to access the Void you'll need to go to the strongest source," Auris spun her body around dramatically and planted a fist squarely on her hip, "My honey's former home...Genestasia."

"His home planet? Sweet!" Mew excitedly crossed his arms only for the energy to peter out a bit as he recognized a tiiiiny little problem, "Uhhh...how long of a flight is that from here?"

"Hehehe..." Auris raised the back of her hand below her grinning face, "I think I have a better idea."

A little while later Mew and Mr. Reality headed out of the house with Mew waving goodbye and telling her, "Tell Kairi I said hi!"

"Will do. Take care!" She said, politely waving them off.

Mew sighed loudly and Riku said as he peeled himself off the wall, "Any good news?"

"Good and bad news..." Mew said while rubbing the back of his head, "Good news is we might have a solution to Mr. Reality's problem."

"And the bad news?"

"Oh no I'm not done with the good news," Mew widened one eye and laid his arms before his chest, "We're going on a trip to another planet so I can get 'D.'s' power of darkness back."

"...Brother, explain." Riku said with a cold, tired, judgmental glance.

And so Mew did. Every single detail. Because Riku was really, REALLY skeptical the whole way through. And at the end of it all Riku was still scratching his face and furrowing his forehead, making it more wrinkled than an old man's.

"Are you SURE about this brother?" Was his final question.

"Positive. I ain't scared of that deadbeat demon. He'll probably be too worn out from all the light exposure to put up a fight!"

"...You got a point." Riku hesitantly admitted.

"But if that was the good news, what's the bad news?" Mr. Reality remarked.

Mew hung his head and arms and muttered, "I'm REALLY not looking forward to talking to the person who'll provide us our ride."

"Someone you know?" Riku inquired.

"You could say that..." Mew faked a smile and chuckle, "I _may_ have had a hand in killing her boss."

Riku's eyes widened slightly. Mew slowly drew his hand down from his face and started walking, "Lets just get it over with. Probably won't be that bad."

The three of them made a straight line for the Pyramid, which had suffered the most damage from the prior battles, and thus had the most heavy machinery operating around it. These machines were being manually operated by sleek, humanoid robots.

"_In hindsight the machines were a big tip-off..." _Mew tucked his hands into his pockets and headed through the entrance. There were loud drills and pounding hammers all over the place, making it difficult to hear oneself think.

"Huh, reminds me of home." Mr. Reality remarked.

"WHAT?!" Mew exclaimed.

"I said it reminds me of home!" Mr. Reality raised his voice. Mew spun around and exclaimed, "WHAT?!"

"IT REMINDS ME OF HOME!" Mr. Reality shouted.

"OH...!" Mew paused and then clamped his hands over his ears. Fortunately it got a little less noisy once they got to the fourth floor, but that's because the person there liked applying a more personal touch to fixing things up.

The ashes of a hundred cherry blossom trees lied on the ground, covering the pristine grass and choking the life out of them. But this was not a time for Gabriel to despair. He took some seeds from a small bag and planted them in the ground, so that someday new life may rise from these ashes.

He was wearing his gallant robes and rose to attention towards his three guests with a smile, "Ah Mew, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Hey Gabriel how you doing?" Mew asked, propping his hands behind his head.

The man put a hand firmly on his stomach and remarked, "I'm recovering slowly but surely, thanks for asking."

Riku extended his hand out and said, "This isn't our first time meeting is it?"

Gabriel reached out and shook his hand while saying, "No its not, but I've heard tales about you Riku. My name is Gabriel. Its a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Riku said, sensing a kinship forming between the samurai.

After Mr. Reality and Gabriel shook hands the large man inquired, "So what brings you three to Sancturia today?"

"Some personal business," Mew remarked with a cheeky smile, "Sorry about the state of the city though."

"...Sancturia will recover, like always. We've always been strong as a whole, not the individual." Gabriel's words inspired confidence.

"Well, and all the machines help." So of course Mew had to go and run his mouth and ruin it.

Gabriel cracked a dismal smile and sighed, "Yes well...There was nothing I could do about that. Catherine's been going non-stop ever since Gravitus was defeated."

"Hahahaha yeah speaking of her, that's who we came to talk to." Mew said, losing the volume in his voice with every other word.

Gabriel froze in place and started to close his eyes in tune with his slow breathing, "Are you **sure** about that?"

"I wouldn't be if I wasn't..." Mew sadly admitted.

"No, that would be very unlike you..." Gabriel turned his head back and raised his voice like a horn blower going off in the alps, "CATHERINE! SOMEONE WANTS TO SPEAK WITH YOU!"

"COME ON GABRIEL," A super cheery, super energetic voice hollered back, "YOU GOTTA SAY THE THING!"

Gabriel's forehead crinkled, and he said again with strained enthusiasm, "SATURN, I NEED YOU!"

Through the holes in the ceiling a shadow rapidly descended, strapped to a bungie cord.

"WHEN INNOCENTS CRY OUT FOR HELP I HEED THEIR CALL! FOR MY VOICE IS THE CALM OF THE STORM, MY BRAINS THE UNBREAKABLE WALL, AND MY BODY THE FERTILE EMBODIMENT OF EXPLOSIVE YOUTH!"

Sproinging into place upside-down next to Gabriel wearing black jean overalls with starry sparkles glittered all over it and a sleeveless white undershirt covered in dirt was the hyperactive superheroine and (un)official leader of the legendary Planetary Aurians...

"GALAXY RIDER SATURN AT YOUR-" Saturn, with her arms crossed and her extra-long hair draped down the rest of the way to the floor, opened her eyes and peered through her sharp-edged glasses with a look of utter shock.

"YOU!" She pointed and flailed her right hand out at Mew with incredible indignation.

Mew cracked a smile, waved his hand around and said stoically, "Hey Catherine, uhhh, long time no see?"

_Next Time: Where it Began_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Search for "D."**

Saturn crossed her arms up against her chest and bobbed around in place. She had a wily upside-down smirk and staunch, narrowed eyes as she proclaimed, "You got a whooooole lotta nerve showing yer face around these lands pardner!"

She tapped a spot on her wristband and the bungie cord snapped all the way down to a pouch on her back with enough force to make her start spinning around.

She landed perfectly on her feet and started stomping on over to Mew with the same smirk and tenser brows, using aura to make steps and close the distance height-wise. She plowed her face directly into his and wiggled her nose.

"So what dastardly deed are you planning THIS time my NEMESIS?!" She turned her head to the right and widened her eye further than is should've gone, "Didja find another empire to collapse into chaos? Or maybe ya wanna go causing trouble in another society?! What wicked thoughts lie behind your vacant, heartless eyes HEATHEN?!"

"...Good to see you haven't changed Catherine." Mew said with a lofty sigh after.

Saturn whipped her head back to bellow out a brief laugh and then proclaimed, "Only my allies can call me that! Villains must abide by the rules and let the name 'Saturn' burn into their unjust hearts!"

Riku slowly blinked twice and leaned in at Mew to whisper, "Brother...?"

Mew leaned back and whispered, "No Riku there **isn't **another way."

"Actually I was going to ask...Why is she calling you a villain?"

"BECAUSE!" Saturn bombastically hopped down directly in front of Riku and not-so-subtly "nudged" Mew in the hip, "THIS wild and unruly adolescent went and killed my boss Gravitus, plunging the planets he ruled into a state of chaos once word got out!"

Riku dryly looked down at Saturn and then gave a puzzled look at Mew, "Isn't Gravitus...?"

Mew rapidly slid a finger along his throat a few times, biting his teeth down on the last one. Saturn meanwhile faked a sniffle and shook her head.

"He was a great man who fought the good fight against injustice all across the universe. We had so many ideas for the future. Peace could've been a reality..." Saturn stiffly turned herself around until a fierce sideways glare penetrated Mew's face, "But now its just the opposite! Noel, Seth and the others are doing what they can out there to clean up the mess YOU made, but even we ain't got enough manpower to protect hundreds of planets!"

She turned the rest of the way and closed her eyes, "And then I came here to get Gabriel's assistance only to find out you trampled through this place like a bull in a china shop! Do you have no guilt? Do you have no shame?! Where is your honor, nemesis?!"

Mew endured the fiery lecture of justice in hopes he'd be able to get at least one word in edgewise, "Then why are you still here?"

"Oohohoho I bet you'd LIKE IT if I turned tail and ran eh?" Saturn's haughty laugh filled the empty space in the Pyramid, "No dice buster! I see the hearts of the people at their lowest and know I cannot look away! For that is what it means to be a heroine of JUSTICE!"

At this rate this would go on forever. Mew looked up at his brother with tired eyes and silently mouthed "Help me". Riku pointed at his chest, Mew nodded back, and Riku proceeded to tap Saturn on the back. She spun around on the spot.

"Yes?!" She said excitedly. Her eyes froze wide-open and she pinched the side of her glasses to give them a quick adjustment, "Hang on a nanosecond."

Her eyes narrowed to the thinnest point where she'd still be able to see and she leered back at Mew, humming all the while.

Riku laid a hand on his hip and remarked, "I'm sorry about the troubles you're dealing with, but I'm sure it wasn't my brother's intention to cause that."

Saturn perked up and suddenly laughed to herself, "Twin _brothers_, duh! For a second there, I was very very very very **very** slightly dreading that I was dealing with a multiplying miscreant!"

She then settled down a bit, at least for her, and remarked, "How noble of you to defend your wicked brother. But it doesn't matter what you say. For that man feels NO SHAME for what he's done!"

"Duh," Mew mumbled, "Gravitus was a power-hungry madman, I made the right call."

"SEE?!" Saturn quickly whipped her right pointer finger into Mew's chest and jabbed him a few times.

"Brother..." Riku sighed, feeling like they just lost progress.

"Ahem," Gabriel let out a brief, blunt cough and then laid his arms across his chest with his eyes closed when the others had their eyes on him, "Catherine, they came here for your aid. At least hear them out first."

Saturn fluttered her eyelashes and then turned her backs to the others and walked a few steps away, "You're right what am I thinking? I had briefly lost my way...consumed by the presence of **PURE EEEEEEEVIL**!"

Mew tucked his hands deep in his pockets and rocked his head to sigh. Saturn then spun back around and waddled on up to Riku with a smile.

"You though? Looks like you got your heart in the right place bucko! So, whaddya need?" She reached up at Riku's stump of an arm and slowly rubbed it around, "Maybe I could...give you a hand?"

Her glasses started fogging up and that along with a subtle chuckle left Riku feeling more uneasy than her touch. Yet he fought strongly against her advance to focus on what needed to be done.

"We need a ship that'll take us to the planet Genestasia."

Saturn pulled back and went "Oh ho HO" with deep, throbbing intrigue, "That old planet eh? Been a long time since I stepped foot there! If ya don't mind me asking, why is your justice guiding you there?"

"That'd be because of me." Mr. Reality stepped up and Saturn turned her full attention onto him with a rare look of surprise.

"Oh wow a Picasaru! I don't think I've ever seen your kind off your planet!" Saturn reached her hand out but the moment Mr. Reality moved his hers retracted and she curled her lower lip.

"Oh my GOD you don't have any arms!" She hastily dropped on her knees and ripped open the center of his cloak, "Or legs or body or organs!"

Before Mr. Reality could even blink she had gotten ahold of one of his hand and squeezed the palm. The fingers wiggled around on their own, "But your hands and feet move around anyways!"

"A-And that's kind of the problem..." Mr. Reality spoke up.

"Problem? What problem?!" Saturn proclaimed, engorging herself on inspiration as she fiddles around with the alien's hand, "This is really cool!"

"AHEM!" Gabriel coughed louder. Saturn tilted her head back and could feel the man silently glaring at him through closed eyes.

"Oh fine fine advancements in the field of floating limbs can wait **I GUESS**..." Saturn let go of the hand and inquired with blatantly forced interest, "So what seems to be the problem here?"

"Well..." And thus another person learned about Mr. Reality's predicament.

"Oh. Oooooh that IS a problem." Saturn remarked after having to prop her falling glasses back up.

"I should have realized you had those powers from the start..." Gabriel remarked, "Your conditions match how the old Elemental Overlord described them."

Mew glanced back and asked, "Oh, you saw these powers in action before Gabriel?"

"Not personally. But...that can be a story for another time," The samurai took a few steps towards the alien and bent on one knee before him, "I must commend your bravery...To have to bear such a power all on your own."

"I hadn't even heard of those kinda parasites until now!" Saturn proclaimed, quickly whipping up a flat holographic screen over her wristband and typing in all the information at blinding speeds.

"So you understand why we need that ship?" Mr. Reality remarked.

Saturn dispelled the screen with a blunt flick of the wrist and proclaimed, "Absolutely! I'd be more than happy to let you borrow one!"

"But what I don't understand is..." Gabriel stood and glanced beside himself in worry, "Why **that** world?"

"Ummm, well..." Mew rubbed the back of his head and tried diverting his eyes.

"Mew..." Gabriel's stern voice coerced a response out of Mew immediately.

Mew wagged a couple fingers towards himself and Gabriel walked over to they could talk in peace. Saturn gave him the stink-eye and customary "I got my eyes on you" hand gesture at the same time.

"Auris said I could pull 'D.' out of the place Justek threw him in if we go there."

Gabriel crossed his arms and let out a deep hum. After some thought he came to a conclusion, "I don't know the full extent of your plan here but I'll trust your judgment. You've earned that Mew."

"Just..." Gabriel relayed a heavy, heartfelt bit of advice to Mew, "Curb your expectations going forward."

"O...kay?" Though Mew didn't get it Gabriel wasn't about to get a chance to stick around and explain it.

"Hey nemesis! Stop bugging Gabriel and lets get a move on! I want to get this repair job wrapped up so I can go help my team deal with the angry Aggrocrocs!"

Mew leaned past Gabriel and shouted "Yeah yeah I'm coming!" and then started to head over when Gabriel put a hand on his left shoulder.

"I know she can be a little burdensome at times, but her heart **is** in the right place."

"I can tell," Mew whispered back, then cracked a smile going forward, "I'll show her that mine is too...Someday."

After Mew got back with the others and waved Gabriel goodbye Saturn edged away from him and then used her aura to craft a square platform under their feet. Then she lifted them up through the holes in the Pyramid until reaching her floor.

"Alright next stop...My personal space station, the Orbotronical!" Saturn glided her hand over her wristband and a little panel shot out towards the portal in front of them. It briefly wobbled but its appearance didn't change.

Saturn walked straight through the portal and after Mew's reassurance the three of them headed through too. The trip was brief and dropped them off in a new location than the planet Mew had first met Saturn the person on.

The first thing Mew noticed, and how could he not, was the tingle of electricity running through every square inch of the metallic floors and walls.

The space they were in was more wide-open than the area of twenty football stadiums put together, taller than the tallest Earth structure times three, and seemed to go in a complete loop. The center of the room was protected by an unknown domed kind of glass with a large round elevator stretching up and down. Running along the sides of the room were many different kinds of ships sealed behind that same glass.

Right now they started at the biggest ships that took up the entire wall with their height but going further down the ships got increasingly smaller. Mew could make out containers so small that the ships inside could fit in the palm of his hand. Round ships, square ships, ships shaped like arrows, others in an infinity loop, there was a ship for every want and need.

Tragically there weren't any windows to see the rest of the station with.

"Welcome to my ship!" Saturn bellowed in pride as a pair of tiny mechanical limbs brought her droopy lab coat down in her path. She thrust her arms into the sleeves and put it on without stopping a second. She even kept her stride going while walking backwards to focus on her guests.

"I built this beauty when I was only waist-high and its been my trusted partner ever since!" Her guests' eyes swiveled around the room and she got a mild blush in her cheeks, "Yes yes your breath is taken away but please, don't be afraid to **shower** me with praise for my brilliance!"

"Brother, look..." An uneasy Riku guided Mew's attention to the biggest ship locked up in here. A certain, pure white ship that the two of them had JUST gotten off two days ago.

"Isn't that...?" Mew muttered.

"That has to be the ship Justek used." Though just to be certain, Mew started wandering over to take a closer look.

One of those small mechanical hands suddenly came down and backhanded him across the face, followed by another joining in to flail away at his body. Mew slowly backed away and bumped into Saturn, who proceeded to run her chin up his chest after he turned around, and propped her fists on her hips.

"And just whaddya think you're doing troublemaker?!" She said at double her speed.

Mew glanced back at the ship and inquired, "Where did you get this ship?"

"GET this ship?" Saturn's eyes nearly bulged outta her sockets and she flung her head back all the way to her butt to laugh, "HAHAHA!"

She thrust it back into Mew's chest and swung a finger into his face, nearly missing an eye, "I MADE it!"

Mew's forehead scrunched up and as he muttered to himself "Oh my god of course..." Saturn's eyes went cross and she said, "Huh? What's the big idea? Ya need a little belief pounded in your blasphemous head punk?!"

"That's not it..." Riku stepped up to the plate, thank god, and sorted things out. It was more time being spent expositing but hey, this would probably be the last of it for today.

Saturn was left tapping her bare feet on the ground and remarking, "Ah, so that explains both the space-time anomalies that were cropping up all over the darn place AND why one of my ships suddenly vanished outta the blue!"

She then tossed a sneer at Mew, "Boy you're the kinda doom magnet that life insurance sellers LOVE, ain't ya?"

And the shade didn't end there, "I bet you're also the one who tossed the parasites into that poor alien's head to begin with!"

"_I mean technically speaking..." _

Saturn drooped her head slightly and sighed, "And after he helped me figure out how to traverse black holes...The nerve of him to go and steal MY ship! He could've at least dropped by and said 'Hello!' Ugh! Bad guys...They used to be so easy to figure out."

She waved one hand back and hopped along further into the garage, "Alright follow me, your ship is down in the medium department."

A short walk later Saturn snapped her fingers at the doors and the second from the bottom one in the current column pulled out of the wall and hovered down to the floor on four little energy-ring projecting jets. The glass then slid back to reveal a sleek triangular ship with rectangular front window, and a thinner back compared to its protruding front. Four jets, and enough space to fit three people. Of course, Saturn had to decorate it in her favorite colors, glowing purple and jet black.

Presenting the Sagittarius Arrow Mk IV! Capable of traveling to any location five galaxies away in under a day or you get your money back! It comes equipped with fresh water output, a fridge that teleports in new food for fresh stock, and a Serta© mattress perfect for sleeping away those lonely nights!

She eyeballed her company left-to-right in an almost robotic way and remarked, 鉄o, which one of you folk are gonna be piloting my precious baby?

She staunchly glared at Mew and proclaimed at the slightest hint of movement, 哲OT YOU!

I mean...Do ANY of us even have experience with a spaceship? Mew waved his hands out at his buddies and Riku closed his eyes to think deeply.

I was on one briefly during my travels but I never had to pilot it...

Actually, I have experience. Mr. Reality raised a hand and took the others by surprise.

H-Huh? Really? Mew spat out.

Sometimes we have to deliver what we mine to worlds without their own spaceships. I piloted them a few times in my younger years in a model similar looking to this one, He waved a hand to Saturn and asked, 的f you could just brief me on the controls I know the ship will handle just fine.

Saturn cracked a cat-like smile and purred in delight, 的 like this one.

She then crossed her arms and proclaimed, 釘ut don'tcha worry what's left of your head about it! You just gotta be prepared to take control on the .000001% chance the auto-pilot fails.

After consulting her multifunctional wristband for a moment she pressed a button and the back of the ship opened up so a ramp could slide down.

I punched in the coordinates for Genestasia and a trip back to here! So you're all set to go whenever you're ready!

Thank you for your assistance Saturn. Riku remarked.

Aww don't mention it! But please in the future, call me Catherine! Saturn smiled and had light pink cheeks.

And what makes him any different than me? Mew impatiently remarked.

Better looking, better manners, hmmm... Saturn propped herself forward and proclaimed with a wily glare, 的sn't an agent of chaos?!

Mew's eyes slumped shut and with a heavy sigh he waved his hand down and murmured, 鏑ets get going...

As the three of them made their way onto the ship Saturn hollered out, 溺ake sure your brother doesn't touch the controls!

Mew had never slammed a door harder than he did then. The cube then carried the ship back to where it had been originally parked but turned around to face a door.

The ship levitated in place and faced the vacuum of space trying to suck it out. The engines flared with blue sparks, and before any of its passengers could blink it zipped out as a cyan bolt of light.

Saturn stuck behind a little while and murmured to herself, 滴uh, I didn't get that brother's name. I'll have to remember to when he gets back!

Some time later the trio of travelers have settled in to the ship pretty well. For as fast as they went, with the light of the stars bending into unrecognizable rays outside the window, it was like they were completely still. Mew sat down on a hovering cushion and spun it around, while Riku sat still in his, and Mr. Reality took a look at the control panel.

The inside had dynamic lighting and a warm, cozy atmosphere perfect for lounging around in. Mew floated over to the fridge and plucked out a soda can. It was made of a metal he wasn't familiar with, but it sure did contain the cold beverage as best as the stuff on Earth.

"'Monosur' eh?" Is what he got out of the unintelligible symbols on the can. He popped it open and chugged down a good chunk of it at once. There was a lot of popping going on in his mouth and the liquid slid down his throat like slime.

"Well it 'sur' is delicious!" Mew wiped some excess onto his sleeve.

"Wait, let me take a look at that..." Mr. Reality floated up and squinted at the can, "Oh. Ms. Saturn likes this type of drink? That's...interesting."

"You're looking a little pale buddy. What's wrong?"

Mr. Reality leaned in close to Mew's ear and whispered. Mew recoiled his seat back a few feet and proclaimed, "I'm drinking THAT from a WHAT?!"

Mr. Reality nodded his head and Mew sat there, stunned in the same position for a good ten seconds. But with a gentle shrug of the shoulders he raised the can and kept sipping.

Mr. Reality's face trembled and he sank down onto a nearby seat.

"So how long until we get there?" Riku inquired.

"The ship's saying a couple hours, barring the possibility of space debris in the way." Mr. Reality remarked.

"Well since we got time to burn," Mew crushed the can against his forehead and tossed it back, leaning forward with his hands hovering over his knees, "Why don't we get back to some of that brotherly bonding Riku?"

"Sounds good to me. I'd like to learn more about your..._interesting_ friends." Riku said with a slight chuckle.

"I wouldn't call them _friends_ per se," Mew rubbed the back of his head and glanced aside, "At least not her. She's too much even for ME."

"She mentioned a 'Gravitus'..." Mr. Reality murmured.

"Is your world one of the hundreds he controlled?" Mew inquired.

"No, but I heard his name in passing quite often from our employers. He was the ruler of a hundred worlds?"

"Seems so..." Mew sighed.

"I wonder if we have our priorities straight here..." Mr. Reality started scratching the side of his helmet.

"I mean you heard her right? Word must've spread so fast because Gravitus had been broadcasting his battle with me and Kairi. Doesn't matter which worlds are good or bad, anyone who watched that footage is going to think I'm the enemy." Mew surprised even himself with that observation.

"I think you're exaggerating brother." Riku pointed out in his defense.

"I don't think so Riku. I got involved in a gladiator match during all that and millions of aliens across hundreds of races bet against me. The title 'Elemental Overlord' isn't very popular out there..."

"No...its not." Riku muttered under his breath.

Mew slapped his knee and perked right up, "Ah and besides! I bet they'll be able to handle it. If they ever need our help, we'll help! Simple as that!"

After he sat down he looked at Riku and said with a big smile of anticipation, "Now come ooooon, I wanna hear all about your adventures Riku!"

"Easy there brother, they aren't..." Riku went from a smile to a minor frown, "That exciting..."

Mew had to stop and recollect why Riku was feeling so down. "Oh yeah..." He sat up straight and gave him a brief nod, "Sorry, we can talk later."

"No no," Riku shook his head and held his hand out, refusing to be pitied, "Maybe...this is the perfect time to get this off my chest."

Riku sat upright and lifted then lowered his shoulders, letting out a long quiet sigh. He looked up at Mew and said, "In the naivety of my youth I wandered onto the first planet I happened upon. As it turns out, it was Hyrule."

Mew crossed his arms and felt uneasy remarking, "That was your...first world?"

Riku gave a terse nod. Mew then tried to inject a little positively alongside his curiosity, "Well...what was going on at the time?"

"It was the Hero of Time's era. I arrived right around the end of the seven-year time jump."

Mr. Reality headed off to do something else behind Riku's back. Mew nod attentively and asked, "How did it feel going to a video game world?"

Riku's expression soured and he turned away for a moment. He raised his head and then somehow, managed to smile, "Breathtaking. The wind of the fields against my face. The heat of Death Mountain, the moist depths of the Water Temple...The world felt so alive brother. Even under Ganondorf's rule, Hyrule's beauty refused to give in."

"And Link...Watching him adventure on in person was inspiring. He fought with courage and heroism against all odds..." Riku's skin turned a shade paler and his body trembled, "And...he died for it. But that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me."

Mew let him have a short break before mustering up the courage to ask, "What _exactly _happened Riku?"

Riku gripped the side of his head and remarked, "My presence there grabbed Ganondorf's attention right away and we fought for a bit. I had intended to use Light Form to finish him off but because of my inexperience I accidentally went Dark Form. And that allowed him to steal the power of darkness from me."

"But you got it back right? Cause your Chaos Form requires both elements."

"I did but...I was a second too late. After a long battle against the King of Darkness and his bestial form Ganon, Link was set to deal the final blow...Unaware of what would happen next."

"The intense darkness Ganondorf carried was enough to awaken the shard of Demise's power sealed within and allow it to possess the incarnation of his malice. And then, try as he might, Link just...just didn't have enough strength left to fight back the Demon King reborn."

Riku suddenly clasped a hand over his face and a massive tremble shook through his body, "I...I still sometimes wake up to the sight of Demise's shadow hoisting Link's impaled body, set against the roar of red lightning...While all I can do is flee to save my own pathetic skin."

And that was from his first time out as an Elemental Overlord. Mew felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Had he spent even a little more time showing Riku the ropes, this wouldn't have happened. Riku would be happier, and maybe, he would still have his other arm.

"Riku, I..."

"I know Link forgave me for that but...Will I ever be able to forgive myself?" Riku tightly closed his eyes and shook his head.

Suddenly Mr. Reality put a hand on his back and woke him up. Then in a gentle voice the alien remarked, "The first step is to keep talking about it. Never keep it inside. It'll destroy you...and those you love."

And just as soon as he'd returned, the alien floated off. Riku pulled his hand down slowly and Mew scooted closer to him.

"He's right you know. You don't have to bottle it up anymore Riku. You got me now!"

... Riku had a "deer in the headlights" look for a little bit before finally cracking a smile and saying, "Y-Yes, you're right. And...I do feel a little better already after talking about that."

"Good to hear!" Mew slid away and gave his brother his space.

Riku then stared at the floor, his eyes narrowing. He pulled his head back and murmured "Actually" before setting his sights on his brother to say, "I think I have an idea for what to do about 'D.'"

A couple hours later and the ship finally exited the speed jump a few hundred miles over their destination. Mew, comfortably leaning back with his arms at the back of his head, let out a "Hoof, finally!" and hopped up.

"You'll have to continue that story about Kirby later Riku"! He then made his way over to the window, his eyes wide with anticipation.

The homeworld of the original Elemental Overlord, Genestasia. Looks pretty barren from up here. The planet was a big brown rock with a lot of clouds covering over it that made it hard to pick out the finer details.

"We'll be entering the atmosphere in ten seconds. We should probably brace ourselves." Mr. Reality forewarned, which for once Mew took to heart and he sat right back down, creating some vines to act as seatbelts.

The ship rocked around but none of the heat surrounding the vessel got inside. Quickly penetrating the clouds, the trio were welcomed by...

"What the...?" Mew's enthusiasm was shot by the confusion he felt looking down.

A terrible scar fissured the land at least a hundred miles long. A snowy mountain had collapsed into it, dragging a mix of magma and ice down with it. The half of mountain that remained was impaled with tree roots.

A large crater beyond the scar was big enough to fit a certain floating city of the Aurians, but now it was flooded over, half of it frozen in the midst of forming a tidal wave. Splotches of blood mixed in the ice, while the front of an elephant-like skeleton the size of a skyscraper protruded out of it, the rest of its body still perfectly preserved.

Parts of a floating city had impacted the surface like meteors, burning down a huge, bountiful garden. The roots that remained had grown out of control and ensnared the stone. Another fissure revealed itself further out, but a giant crystal had grown through it, the tip barely seen on the surface. A few skeletons rested around where the tip had emerged, all broken in half at the waist.

Millions dead, the skies darkened purple, and nature in chaos was forever to be their first impression of this world. Left with more questions than answers could provide, Mew shook his head and backed away, reflecting on Gabriel's words.

"What the hell happened here? Its like...the aftermath of a war."

That probably sums it up perfectly brother, Riku remarked, "If this is the Elemental Overlord's world, then this is where the battle with the Dark King took place."

Mew tried to feel the planet itself. The scars ran deep. And it was still hurting to this day. With a tight bite on his lower lip he then glanced beside the window as the ship ran parallel with the planet's surface.

"This doesn't feel like a warzone. Something much, _much_ worse happened here."

"Hopefully this doesn't hurt our search." Mr. Reality remarked.

The ship slowed down on approach to a grand city full of decayed silver buildings either caved in or toppled over, deprived of their once glorious shine. In the very back of the city was a big hole where the Light Temple obviously once stood. The ship stopped and settled down on the outskirts of the city, releasing its door with a hiss.

Mew and Riku stepped out. Mew looked back and said, "You should stay here buddy, just in case something tries to attack the ship."

"I'll do my best. Be careful out there." Mr. Reality stepped back in and shut the door.

The air on the planet was a smidge toxic but nothing a little wind work couldn't handle. After rounding the ship Mew and Riku stepped over the rubble of the former front gate and headed straight towards where the Light Temple used to be.

_"oooooo" _The wind could be described as hollow, carrying the whispers of the dead land around for those who'd dare step foot in here again.

Mew had a chill in his legs as he had to pay attention and avoid stepping on any bones. There were a few torn apart moldy books along the way that confirmed that Auris had said about the Light Tribe being religious...But nothing that explained HOW this massacre happened. Unlike the other locations, there wasn't any signs of the other elements tearing the place up. It was like something, or someone, came and wiped the city out in a single blast.

"Feel anything?" Mew remarked.

"Nothing good," Riku shivered and slowly pulled his leg over a whole skeleton draped in a dusty robe, "Maybe we'd have better luck in Light Form."

"Oh, good call." After slapping his forehead Mew drew his sword and pulled the white trigger, going into his angelic garb at the same time as Riku.

Immediately Mew's brows flinched and he glanced straight up ahead, "There we go! I'm feeling something in the middle of where the temple used to be!"

They flew towards the growing sensation and stopped, hovering in mid-air.

"I think this is it." Mew reached his hand out and flattened his palm. Riku did the same, though his hand twitched slightly.

"Hmmm?" Mew noticed, but Riku didn't say anything as he turned his head forward and remarked, "Are you ready?"

"Not really. But whatever, we didn't come here for a vacation!" Mew flexed some light energy into his palm and Riku did the same. They concentrated on the energy source and started to force open a massive swirling void of pure white. It started as big as them, but slowly grew to be three times their size.

"Ghhh...!" Riku grunted while Mew took to this task like a breeze.

"Uhhh, Riku?" Mew looked to his brother and saw that white sparks were spurting out of his arm, forcing it to spasm and loosen his grip on the vortex.

"H-Hurry and pull him out brother!" He focused on the task at hand and gave Mew the chance he needed to stuff his arm deep inside the Void of Radiance. The burning brightness was negligible in this form, thankfully.

A black hand latched around Mew's wrist and held on so tightly it pinched a nerve. Mew recoiled with vigorous force and fell out of the sky, dragging the black shadow down with him. Riku pulled out and the rift shut.

Mew tumbled down the street, covering himself in a thick layer of dust that sent him into a brief coughing fit. He planted his hands on the ground and rose up, with the black hand letting go and flopping to the ground. The figure it was connected to coughed as well, raspy and sounding very close to death.

The dust settled fast and Mew saw a strange insect man lurched over in front of him. They had a moth shaped head with beady yellow compound eyes and a pair of fuzzy moth-like wings, the edges a blend of yellow and red while the inner pattern was black. His body was loosely bandaged up like a tattered robe and his arms were thin, hairy, and somewhat prickly. His hands had three long, sticky talons attached while the thimble legs were deprived of feet. His skin was formed of a hundred scars wherever their fur didn't cover it.

"Whoa..." Mew fluttered his eyes in surprise, "I didn't think there were multiple people imprisoned in there!"

The bug man flinched and slowly creaked their head as Mew smiled and said, "How long were you trapped for bug guy? Or...girl?"

"...You?" The bug's first word carried a familiar rasp to it that, like it or not, was never leaving Mew's head again.

With a swelling laugh as they rose off the ground by their deviled wings, the bug looked to Mew with its many eyed gaze and muttered, "So the host returns...A flame to the _moth_."

As his eyes bulged and his mouth drooped, Mew could only mutter the bug's identity in surprise, "D.?!"

_Next Time: Lightened Dark_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Shadows of Insanity**

Mew needed a moment. Last he saw of their target he was a blob of darkness wrapped around his body, and before then he was a grinning miasma inside of his head. To go from both of those things to a...somewhat cute looking bug man just didn't make any sense.

Mew swung his pointer finger accusingly at the bug man and remarked, "Oh yeeeeah? Prove it! Give me one of your stupid grins!"

The bug's innards clicked and growled and remarked, "That is unfortunately impossible in my true form. But if you're so desperate for proof, I can fill your empty head with reminders of despair."

Mew's eyes slanted shut and he shook his head, laying a hand up beside his head and sighing, "Forget it, there's no one else I know who speaks like that."

Mew cautiously gripped the handle of his katana and inquired, "So what's the big idea with the moth getup?"

"This is my form whom the darkness birthed from its womb...Before those **infidel** moon and sun deities obliterated it, and left me as that ethereal shell..." "D." growled.

"Yeah yeah blah blah blah, I meant HOW are you in that form now?"

"Heheheh," The demon's devilish smile felt like it was still beaming proudly on its featureless face, "Poor naive Justek. He presumed that throwing me into that infernal void would be the end of me. But I **live** off suffering, THRIVE on it...Even my own."

"The concentrated light inflicted the purest agony upon my malleable body...But gave just that little bit of extra fuel needed to cocoon myself and regain my true form," "D." curled his talons and murmured, "Though even in this state, my darkness does not compare to the birthplace of radiance in the universe. I would have been trapped in that void, burning for all eternity...Had **you** not opened the way out."

Mew's eyes narrowed and he hummed with slight annoyance. The demon shook their head and remarked, "Imagine my surprise when I sensed your presence crawling back to me like a desperate **addict**."

"That you somehow managed to best that fledgling dragon without me only proves that my victory was robbed by circumstances beyond my control."

Each tiny section of his compound eyes blinked at differing points, and when combined their fevered gaze set upon Mew, "So...you have my attention, for now anyways."

Mew glanced back to Riku on standby and he narrowed his eyes, saying "Careful" with his glare. Mew nodded and propped his head back, telling himself to remain calm and focused.

"As tempting as it sounds to have you back in my head..." Mew shifted from sarcasm to sincerity, "I came here to ask you a favor."

"A favor?" "D." set his arms down and chuckled, "Oh, that IS interesting. You gained a better sense of humor in these past days. Fufufu..."

"We're trying to remove some parasites from a friend's head. With Joe Dark MIA you're the only major source of darkness we can rely on."

This demon going silent was always unsettling, but not even Mew could've seen coming what he'd say next. With a twist of its boney wrist he muttered, "You're referring to my **children** aren't you?"

A chill briefly went down Mew's spine and he had to keep his eyes from widening even a bit. He narrowed his gaze upon the demon and asked, "YOUR children?"

"When my body was obliterated, the shards of my power splintered off and became the invisible parasites you've clearly come to know."

"_Ah crap!" _Mew subtly glanced at the ship, _"And we just HAD to go and bring Mr. Reality with us."_

If there was any better time to panic it'd be now. "D." with a reality bender as a meat puppet? That'd create the ultimate Doomsday!

"_Wait!" _Mew squeezed his eyes shut and thought up a thought, _"No. Hang on. Auris wouldn't risk that. That could only mean...'D.' can't control his parasites anymore?" _

It was ballsy to risk the fate of the universe on Auris' motivations but it was a risk he was willing to take. He eyed the demon and flinched when they started creaking their head towards the ship. Mew tightened his grip on the katana a little more.

"D." rose a hundred feet with a single flap of its wings and hovered there, quietly. The chill brought on by his laughter barely fazed Mew at this point.

"How sad..." The demon murmured mockingly, "All that hard work the Elemental Overlord put in...Gone to waste."

"Demons, aliens, humans, they're all so quick to blame the other sides for their problems...But the truth is that all mortals are born and bred from the same flawed mold. All wielding the capacity to destroy, to betray, to despair..." "D." was lucid in his words and, never one for restraint, started to visibly sweat a wretched dark yellow moisture.

"Oooooh how I missed this. The scent of carnage, a fever rising in the heat of these blood-soaked lands...How wasteful all this negativity went. And how pitiful that I was not the cause of it..."

Mew pretended to close his eyes and fall asleep until "D." stopped pleasuring himself with his words and decided to come down. Then Mew snapped his eyes open and remarked, "Sooooo, about my problem?"

"D." creaked his head and hunched over, "Now that I have my body back I've regained something very important...A sense of longing."

"Yesssss..." "D." clawed his left talon out towards Mew, "My body hungers for blood and screams. For all my life I've been deprived of a true sense of..._satisfaction_."

"For as long as I can recall I engorged my flesh with the torn shreds of feeble, yellow-eyed creatures, vying for supremacy in the womb...And when I was finally released my first act in this world was a slaughter cut woefully short."

The demon twisted its body around and hung his head towards the ground, with Mew unable to tell if he was being looked at or not.

"Shackled to that pitiful 'king', rotting away in that prison planet, trapped within your ugly, cheerful mind...I have been a terrible emissary of darkness."

With a grimy, gurgling sound from its stomach a slit cracked open on the demon's face and slime salivated out of it, "All who could oppose me have perished at last. **My time is now**."

Mew turned to the side and started to unsheathe his blade. "D." flinched and stood upright, the ends of his wings sharpening as they pointed towards him.

"I will make you an offer...I'll remove those parasites from your friend's head. In exchange, you surrender your body to my crusade to turn the universe red with blood!"

"You know..." Mew whipped his katana out in a flashy streak and pointed it at the demon, his eyes flared wide open with determination, "I figured that was your answer about three minutes ago."

"D." clicked with laughter, his whole body jiggling as he lurched his head upright, "Then you shall make me submit?"

"If that's what it takes." Mew firmly stated.

"Then you should've brought the third one..." The demon's eyes turned to Riku, "Cause a man and a half will not even make me try."

Mew shook his head and smirked, "One's enough."

He looked back at Riku with a terse nod. Hesitantly, Riku withdrew a few feet away. Mew tightened the blade in one hand and pointed it up at the rising demon.

"Always so cocky. But that's fine..." "D." spread his wings out and darkness exploded like a bubble, shoving all the dust off to the edge of these ruins.

"I've always preferred ripping the screams from the body rather than the mind...!" "D." lunged at Mew faster than the blink of an eye and lunged his talons at his face.

Mew whipped his sword up to his palm and twisted his body left, diverting the demon's path right past him. He then made a floaty hop back and pointed his katana at the ground. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, and felt soothed at its release.

He thrust his eyes open and a calm wave washed over the land. He then leaped towards the demon and swung up at his wrist. "D." dragged his arm down the blade and thrust his palm open to fire a hellish black flame bullet.

Mew shifted right and the darkness grazed his shoulder. He then pushed a little further up, digging his blade into the demon's skin so he could drag him overhead and smash him into the ground.

"D." bounced back and glanced at the blood on his arm. He shivered, a subdued chuckle freed from his face.

"This..._will be__** fun**_!"

**The True Face of the Calamity: "D."**

Mew placed his sword in the sheath and stood upright. With a short nod he remarked "Yeah" and spread his wings in-sync with the demon's, "I've been wanting this fight for a long time."

"D." lunged across the ruins and sunk underneath the shadow of a fallen arch. Mew turned right then felt a shift in the wind to the left. The demon scurried under the ruins' shadow, zipping around in circles beneath his feet.

The ground shifted, a sharp black tendril erupted from the ground to his right. He pulled his katana and cut through the top, only for it to immediately regrow and thrust with even mightier force.

Mew hopped back and the tip of the tendrils scraped his chin. He swiped the blood onto his gauntlet and turned around when the ground shifted under his heel. Another tendril made an attempt at his neck, only to be cut down the middle.

The tendril went in two and curved along towards Mew's shoulders. With one impaling thrust they virtually had him at his mercy. Mew hardened light on his wings and flapped them forth as shields, giving him the thrust he needed to pull back.

He then bounced straight up off one of the slanted rocks and whipped his katana out, sending multiple slices into the ground. "D." emerged straight through the middle of them and thrust his talons towards Mew's chest.

Mew locked his katana in the center of his body and blocked the demon's palms. The talons bent around the blade and stabbed into his armor.

Mew grit his teeth and thrust his blade to shove the demon off. Then he pulled it behind the head and dove down, ramming the bug into the ground with his shoulder. He then bounced off and unleashed all the light in his blade with one mighty swing.

The mile deep fissure in the ground was a nice show of force but it didn't impress the demon, who hastily retreated into the shadows and left a floor filled with tendrils to delay his foe's pursuit.

Mew locked his blade in the sheath and closed his eyes. He sensed the individual tendrils flying in a knotted thrall and then thrust forth right as they gathered together completely. He cut his way through the center and the darkness burst, splattering upon the ground like a blood rain.

Mew continued forward and hopped atop one of the tendrils, sprinting along even as it twisted to throw him off. Other tendrils were cut down with ease.

"_Where'd he go?" _Mew darted his eyes around.

With a pale shriek "D." erupted from the tendril he ran on and dug his slimy talons around Mew's skull, smashing him through the tendrils and into the ground. The demon then pulled away and thrust its chest up to shake the sky with its shriek.

The remaining tendrils converged upon them, blotting the sky with their ebony might. Mew held his hands up and erected a domed barrier for the tendrils to smash upon. The ground trembled around Mew as the darkness bent around his protection and completely enveloped it.

The comfort of Mew's own light provided little help when the tendrils ripped him off the ground and started flailing about, bashing him into the ground over and over to crack the barrier.

"D." lashed his talons around, commanding his beauties like a mad concerto. Mew kept his eyes closed and took a deep breath while his body was rocked like a pinata.

Every time he hit the ground, a little light loosened from his body like a wave of echo location. Subtly, barely visible, with the demon having the time of his life it would go unnoticed.

Once Mew had an idea of where "D." was he widened his eyes and burst his barrier like a miniature bomb to split the darkness widen open. He then hurtled straight across the ground and clocked the demon in the neck with his arm.

"D." gagged like a man dying while he flipped a few times around. Mew dug his feet in and whipped around for a second strike, punching the demon squarely in his bare chest.

They hurtled hundreds of feet in seconds, struggling against the pressure to turn upright. Then with one flap of their wings they grounded themselves and used their talons to try and stop. A loose bit of debris snagged one of his talons and knocked them back up.

Mew swung a few blades of light into the demon and finished closing the distance once they had connected. His sword was grabbed and shoved into his chest. The demon spread their wings and thrust forth with incredible vigor to force him back.

Mew held his free hand over the blade and blasted "D." with a cone of light. The demon leaped to the ground and the sizzling steam on their body quickly lost strength. "D." swiped the sharp backs of his talons under his chin and muttered, "Something's not right here..."

His many eyes bulged at his surroundings, which were covered in blades of light pointed at him. Mew snapped his fingers and the blades converged upon his location. "D." narrowly managed to escape them and the ensuing burst.

"Ghhh...!" But the radiance was so grand it burned his feeble eyes.

Yet the scent of his former host was so unforgettable, so sublime, that he could see through the light and ensnare his blade as it thrust for his chest. But curiously, it had little force behind it.

"D." paused for a moment, the look of utter shock he wore snapped like a photo in Mew's head before he plunged his diving foot into the hilt of his blade. The katana's tip penetrated the demon's chest, then scarred along the right of it as he flung it away.

Mew flipped back and charged the demon when he landed. "D." summoned a wall of tendrils to block and snag Mew's fist. Mew used all his strength to rip free and the tendrils came falling down like a tidal wave...Only for more to rise and fall behind it.

Mew zipped away lightning fast from the ever-growing tidal wave. It towered like a skyscraper at its highest point by the time Mew got to the edge of the ruins.

The ground trembled with fear and anticipation for its fall, but Mew stayed as calm as ever and called his katana back into his hands. He tucked it beside his hip and closed his eyes, gathering the light into his blade.

He charged forth without ever opening his eyes and cut cleanly through the darkness, landing and breaking into a run with his ignited blade still at his side.

"D." widened his eyes and spread both arms and wings, rallying the suffering of this world to his side as vortex of screams. He hurled the metaphysical whirlwind straight at Mew, who paused and let it wash over him.

He braced himself within the howling maelstrom and felt his face grimace against its will. So much crying, so much screaming. It was the wail of a world long dead, distilled to its purest, agonizing essence.

But for "D." this was just another obvious move from the same old bag of tricks. Mew took one hard step forward out of the maelstrom and the demon lurched back, visibly shaking at the legs.

Then when Mew took the next step out, he lunged straight at the demon as if having never been stopped. "D." clapped his talons together to catch Mew's blade but the boy quickly shoved him down towards the ground.

"Off me...!" The demon screeched, letting itself fall to then fling Mew over him.

Mew flipped around and badgered the ground with light slices. "D." scurried under the ruins until under Mew and then smashed the rubble apart, flinging it wildly through the air.

The debris battered against Mew's folded wings and he cautiously eyed his surroundings. But where he should've been looking was...

"BEHIND YOU!" "D." announced with glee as he slipped out from the shadows cast by Mew's wings and grabbed him by the neck.

"Tsk...!" Mew grunted and tried to turn around before the talons clamped on too tight. The demon's true face was very revolting this close. Thank god he hadn't finished that breakfast this morning...

Mew gripped his blade in both hands and swung for the demon's hip. But the speed of which he was forced down threw off his aim. After "D." smashed him into the ground he stood up and went feral on him, slashing away at his armor with both talons and quickly making it to the skin underneath.

Thankful for his armor's service, Mew used the time it gave to gather energy in his body and force the demon off with a burst. The demon bounced back, only to lunge out the moment Mew saw fit to try and stand.

Mew ducked and the demon flew over. He dug his feet in and turned around, where the demon sprang back without pause. The demon tried a downward slash that Mew avoided by stepping one foot back. He then whipped his sword out and cut "D." along the chest, firing two light blades into the wound.

The demon staggered back a couple feet and whipped his body around, shrieking in delight. He then spread his wings and thrust forward, a mess of tentacles erupting from his back.

Mew widened his eyes and cautioned his next move. The first tentacle came from the right and was cut down, leaving him little time to cut the second before it could grab his arm. The third and fourth worked in tandem while the others regrew to try again.

Mew lost the strength in his right arm from their strangling hold and had to let go of his sword. "D." dragged his face in uncomfortably close and drowned Mew's sight in pure black.

Mew's other arm was ensnared and the darkness crawled up his skin like a million tiny slugs seeping into his pores.

"You _will_ be mine again..." The demon said with certainty, as if the last few failures hadn't gotten through to him. Oh well, this time, it'll be a permanent lesson.

Mew's eyes remained flared open, burning through the demon so white-hot that it made his foul sweat trickle down his face. The demon chuckled as it fed, and in its lucidity...Failed to recognize that he was being played like a fiddle.

With his mind Mew moved his blade upright and caught the hilt atop his foot. Then with one vigorous shove he thrust the blade straight up through the demon's skull. Blood burst forth from both ends like a small geyser and the tentacles retracted to flail around.

"D." lurched forth, swaying to-and-fro as it struggled to get a grip on the katana. When he finally ripped it free he slammed it upon the ground and left his blood to ooze upon the ruins.

Mew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His heart beat slowed. The demon, in contrast, was starting to pant heavily.

"Why...aren't you saying anything?" He questioned, barely slowed by all that he had lost, "Don't you have a joke on the tip of your obnoxious tongue? Wouldn't you like to taunt me when I appear so feeble in your eyes?"

The darkness exuded like a thick fog from his body and his eyes lit up brightly within it, "Where is your fear? Where is your anger? Where is your hate? Your suffering?! Must I crack you open and feast on your innards to claim it?!"

Mew gently opened his eyes and for a brief moment, flashed a smirk. This enraged "D.", who split the air with the clap of its talons and shoved Mew a good hundred feet back. The demon then lunged in and shoved its talons towards Mew's face.

Mew raised his sword but found himself bamboozled by an afterimage. The haze of crimson from the demon's form blinded Mew's sensed to his approach from behind, allowing them to impale his talons through the bony part of his angelic wings.

Mew bit his teeth and whipped around, creating a wide cutting shockwave. "D." flipped over it and landed on Mew's back with enough force to ram him face-first into the dirt and grind the pointed grains against his skin.

"D." grabbed Mew by the shoulders and pulled him up to slam him down, putting his all into it. He used his tentacles to grab onto Mew's arms, twisting one and tugging the other one back, tearing its muscle fibers at the armpit.

These were the actions of a desperate man. Perhaps freedom wasn't all its cracked up to be, eh? Mew clenched his fists through the pain and took a deep breath.

And then with one exhale he unleashed a hefty burst of light from deep within, one great enough to force the demon off.

Mew turned the other way and pushed up with both hands, feeling immense pain in the twisted arm. He grit his teeth, wound fist back, then socked 泥. right where his jaw should be. His knuckled buckled down under pressure and gave it their all to _really_ make it hurt.

The demon stabbed their sharpened wings into the ground and didn't go far. "D." hunched forward and dug their talons into their face. Then they started rapidly clawing apart their skin and covered their hands in their own blood.

"I...MUST...FEED...!" He exclaimed and hastily took to the sky.

"This planet's already far gone! All I need to do...!" The demon spread its arms and wings and red lightning shot out from him in all directions, at first pulling tiny gravel off the ground towards him.

"IS OBLITERATE YOU!" And shock of all shocks, he started gathering darkness above his head in a massive, pulsating orb, complete with a hellish crimson core capable of devouring entire planets in its pull.

Mew closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh, "Why do they always resort to this?"

He locked one hand around his katana and zipped through the air to get behind "D." with his blade drawn all the way behind his head.

"W-What?!" "D." proclaimed, barely getting the time to turn back before Mew cleaved his blade along the demon's back.

The resulting energy wave quickly grounded the demon deep in the dirt of the ruins he loved oh so much. And from there Mew stabbed his blade up into the pitiful orb of darkness, filling it to the bursting point using light.

He then sped back down in front of the demon. They lunged a tentacle out through the dust and around his leg. Mew stabbing his blade down was enough to deal with it, and when the tip reached the ground it kicked up the wind needed to push the dust away.

D. was halfway upright, his arms and wings wobbling. He forced himself to breathe heavily, and each time it sounded like a different person dying. He looked at Mew with all his beady eyes and muttered, "W-Why...Why can't I break you?

Mew stood over the demon with his blade on standby and his head at a slight tilt, "I'm not the same person I was a couple days ago, 'D.'"

"L-Liar...mortals do not have the capacity to change. They are always ruled by their fears..."

"And what was my greatest fear? That's right...being alone," Mew briefly closed his eyes and spoke softly, "You lorded the possibility of going out of control over my head, and I didn't want to risk getting close to others because of it."

"But that all changed. I met Kairi, and Auris, and the Planetary Aurians, and even reunited with my brothers. Now I know that I don't have to be alone. I have plenty of friends who can stick by my side. And so all that fear I had? It wasn't stupid, or bad. It was just something I had to overcome."

"You're...thanking ME?" "D." said in an utterly revolted tone.

"I guess you could say that. You challenged me 'D.', and I almost lost because I underestimated you. That's why this go around I knew better than to go blindly charging into battle. I remained calm and focused, remembering how you fought and exploiting your weaknesses to the fullest."

Mew cracked a smirk and perked up a bit, "When you occupy somebody's head long enough its kind of a two-way road on knowledge, ya?"

"D-Did the Gods create you for the sole purpose of spiting me?" "D." scoffed, "Yet you can brag and boast but nothing changes...Even if I must scar my very flesh my agony will sustain me for eternity. I cannot be killed...And sealing me only delays my inevitability!"

Mew stretched his hand out and the demon was at a loss for words, "There's more to life than causing misery and suffering. I could show you...If you'd be willing."

D. froze there for a good long while with the silent wind as his company. He then reached his hand out and took Mew's into his. Mew smiled, and it appeared as though the demon did the same.

"...You're so naive." The demon muttered as darkness erupted from his hand to quickly consume Mew's arm.

Mew's smile widened and he pulled the demon off the ground, stabbing the katana right through his chest, "Yeah I know...but this time it made for some good bait."

Mew's fingers hovered the black trigger on the hilt and for the first time in his life the demon shivered in fear.

_"Whaddya mean Riku?" Mew leaned in attentively in the chair as Riku waved his arm out and began to explain._

_"First, be honest, did you actually have a plan?" _

_Mew sucked his lips in and glanced around with a long, loud hum. Riku sighed and shook his head, __"I__ts fine...I got an idea now."_

_"Even though I lost my Dark Element to Ganondorf, I was still able to reclaim it by plunging my sword into his body. Since 'D.' was the source of your dark element, couldn't you do the same to him?" _

_"Could I?" Mew sat up and summoned his sword upside-down and was shocked to find the black trigger still present on it, __"H__uh...But 'D.' is a spirit. I don't think it'd work that way on him."_

_"Why not?" Mr. Reality stepped in and looked Mew in the face, __"W__hen you took on my challenge you plunged your blade into each energy reservoir representing your elements. What's the difference between energy and a spirit, really?"_

_"Oh yeah that DID happen. A lotta of that event's still a blur to me, sorry..." Mew scratched the side of his face and cracked a smile as a genius idea began to brew, __"H__eheheh. Oh yeah! Its all coming together."_

D. trembled. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't consume more of Mew's body into the darkness.

"What...are you...doing to me...?!" He hissed in confusion.

Mew closed his eyes and muttered, "Taking my darkness back, minus one psychopath's voice in my head."

"You...can't! What I am IS darkness!"

"Ah..." Mew lightly rolled his shoulders, "Bummer then. Maybe you should've thought of that before you shared it with me."

D. went completely silent save for the few resisting hisses he could still muster.

"You ain't lucky demon. You're just a big joke. Lemme show you how an expert does a punchline," Mew pulled hard on the black trigger and widened his eyes with a big grin, "Yer 'D.'-one!"

The demon's body broke down and was quickly sucked up into the katana faster than he could give his last breath. As the last atom was swallowed up Mew's arm pulled back and his sword vanished in a black, hazy light.

The darkness surrounded his body completely and he shed his armor. He clutched his chest and then thrust his arms out as wings similar to the demon's spread out of his back. But these were smoother, and had a bit more meat to them. Black goop surrounded his arms and limbs and hardened. Otherwise though, he was in his normal clothes.

He stood there, clenching his fists as a wry smirk crossed his face. Riku approached him from behind slowly and asked, "Brother...? Did it work?"

Mew glanced slightly left and chuckled to himself. He then creaked his head over shoulder and flashed a grin.

"Whatever do you mean...'brother'?" He said in a raspy voice.

"...Really?" Riku groaned.

Mew turned around and spat "Bah" before rubbing the back of his head and murmuring, "I'll try that again when you've gotten a sense of humor Riku..."

Riku waved his hand up and remarked, "Are you feeling ok?"

Mew rolled his shoulders and cricked his neck, "Stiffness aside I'm great! I'm in full control and there ain't even a whisper in my head!"

"That's great." Riku smiled.

Mew walked up and held the appropriate hand out, "Couldn't have done it without your advice Riku! C'mon, gimme five!"

Riku took a few seconds to reciprocate but put his all into it. Mew then whipped his fist over his head and proclaimed "Yeah! Victory!"

And thus with nothing better to do on this planet the two brothers returned to the ship, where they found Mr. Reality hovering near the controls. He turned around and remarked, "Everything go ok?"

Mew have one firm nod and said, "Yep, everything's settled! We should have enough darkness now to get those parasites outta ya!"

"That's wonderful news," Mr. Reality smiled, "But...can you wait until we get back? Just in case something goes wrong I'd hate for us to lose our ride."

"Good thinking! Well, fire up the engines and lets BLAST OFF!" Mew thrust his fist in the air and was feeling like sunshine. This was a great step forward, and a good sign of things to come. Now all they had to do was get back, and they'd take care of another problem lickity-split!

_Next Time: Unforeseen Problems_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Crash and Burnout**

The long ride back to Saturn's Orbotronical gave Riku and Mew plenty of time to talk about most of the remainder of Riku's time out in space. Mr. Reality diligently hovered over the controls, just in case something went awry.

They broke out of hyperspeed with surprising accuracy lining up with the garage. They emerged too close to the space station to get a good look at its outside, sadly.

The door slowly pulled open and the ship hovered inside. After a quick decompression the ship rocked as its garage detached and moved on out to the floor.

From there the three got off and shook off whatever stiffness they were feeling. And from there Saturn greeted them not even a couple steps away from the garage.

"Welcome back! I see my ship ISN'T harmed," She crossed her lithe arms and glared directly at Mew, "_Right_?"

"Yeah yeah its fine. Take a look yourself if you don't believe us." Mew gestured a thumb over shoulder and Saturn bellowed a huge laugh.

"Ha! I don't need YOU to tell me what I was already going to do!" She sprinted between the group with her sleeves dangling down by her sides. She rubbed her right cheek up and down the hull of the ship and rubbed her hands in circles like preparing to hug it.

"Are you ok Saggy? Did the big bad delinquent hurt you?" She said in a...kind of cute attempt at a motherly tone. Her voice was a little too underdeveloped for something like that.

"Snrkk...!" Mew pressed a hand to his mouth and chuckled.

"Hmmm?" Saturn paused and planted her nose firmly where her right hand was, spreading her nostrils wide and taking in a huge whiff.

"ACHOO!" She reeled back with a squeaky sneeze and then spun around, her bold expression ruined by her tearing eyes.

"I-Is that DUST on MY SHIP?!" She didn't sound enraged so much as impressed, "There's no dust storms between here and there! I made SURE of it in the calculations! What kinda joyride did you take my ship on?!"

Mew gave a tired glance aside at Riku and murmured, "Hey can you handle this? _Please_?"

Riku got in front of Saturn stampeding towards his brother and she rammed her head into his chest. She kept her feet moving and flailed her arms in circles.

"Lemme at him! This is the first and last straw!" Her tone was more playful than aggressive. Was she even **capable **of anger?

"Calm down," Riku remarked softly, "The dust must've stuck to the ship when we landed on Genestasia."

"Eh?" Saturn backed away and nudged her glasses up with her pinky, "Impossible! That planet was lush and full of life two-thousand years ago! Maybe you'd get some pollen on the ship but dust? Ha! That'd only happen if-"

Saturn widened her eyes and spat out an "Oh", then glanced at Riku, who gave her a slow, closed-eye nod. Saturn crossed her arms and backed away to think on her own.

"Well, that'll put a damper on my elemental energy research..." She shrugged her shoulders and flipped back around, stabbing a pointer finger back towards Mew, "You're off the hook THIS time."

She then used her wristband to put the ship back and crossed her arms, "So! I'll assume that otherwise, mission accomplished right?!"

"Yeah," Mew remarked, "We found what we were looking for. Now all we gotta do is rip those parasites outta our friend's head and he'll be good to go!"

"And then we can use his powers to bring peace to the entire universe!" Saturn proclaimed, and the moment everyone gave her a glare she hastily remarked, "Pffft...I'm just joshing! There are no shortcuts when it comes to JUSTICE!"

She then whipped out her wristband and said, "Alright lemme get you back to Sancturia."

"Actually it'd probably be better if we tried this at my house," Mew remarked, "If you need coordinates I live in-"

"Oh, no problem!" Saturn whisked her fingers along the wristband and the portal shifted again. Mew stared at it, then back at her, slanting his head to give her a weirded out look.

"...What?" Saturn said. If she was oblivious or not only she knew.

She ran on up behind Mew and shoved him from the back towards the portal, "Enough loitering around get a move on I have things to do, places to go, baddies to beat! And that'll include you later nemesis! Our rematch...WILL BE LEGENDARY!"

By the time she was done running her mouth Mew was breathing down the portal's "neck" and quietly muttering "Uh huh" to everything.

He then turned around and said, "I really do appreciate you helping us out Saturn. If you need anything in return, just let me know."

Saturn fluttered her eyelids and her cheeks turned mildly pink. She reared her head back and bellowed out a mighty laugh, "HAHAHA! My defenses aren't so easily disarmed with flattery bucko! But please, feel free to keep praising me to your heart's content!"

"Haaaa...alright." Mew hung his head and then stepped back into the portal, returning to his home at long last.

They hadn't really been gone THAT long but it sure felt like it. Mew stretched his arms above his head and groaned, "Space travel suuuure takes a lot outta ya..."

Riku and Mr. Reality popped in a moment after and the portal closed shut...or relocated, however that terminology worked.

It was a bummer that they couldn't see the Elemental Overlord's homeworld in its prime...But, he could always wiggle that information out of Auris later down the road. Right now though nothing'll ever beat home sweet home.

"So, should we get started right away ooooor...?" Mew gleamed at his two buddies and Mr. Reality raised a hand.

"I need a few seconds...I haven't traveled like that in years, my head's spinning." The alien DID look a little wobbly. Probably the one time he was grateful to not still have a stomach.

He hovered on over to the front steps and "sat" down. Riku meanwhile looked at Mew and said, "We should probably go over how we're going to handle this too. Who knows what'll happen if we make a mistake."

"Yeah last thing I'd want is to combat that giant leviathan again," Mew shuddered with both excitement and fear at the thought. He then roughly clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "You're the expert on light and darkness Riku! Tell me what you know!"

Riku scratched the side of his head and murmured "I-I wouldn't say expert but..." but as his brother's eyes widened with anticipation he relented with a sigh.

"I know a few things that'll help," He propped his hand on his hip and remarked, "I noticed during my training that Light and Dark are the only two elements that change depending on your emotional state."

"Like how...they get weaker and stronger?" Mew deduced.

"Yeah," Riku nodded, "You noticed it too?"

"Back when I fought Gravitus I felt my strength in Light Form plummet when he pissed me off. But when I felt the same way in Dark Form it was like...I was suddenly the top dog. Untouchable, unbeatable...It was the most exhilarating release I've ever had."

"Darkness responds to heightened emotions while Light works better when you're calm. I noticed during your battle with 'D.' that your strength in Light Form was higher than when we fought together a couple days ago."

"Well yeah I had a promise to keep. I wasn't going to screw that up by getting mad," Mew closed his eyes and his jaw sagged with his sigh, "Wish I didn't have to hold back like that though. I had been wanting to lay into that son of a bitch for years."

"So you do understand the principle behind the two elements then." Riku remarked.

"Yeah. Someone like me would get better use out of Dark Form than Light Form," Mew shocked Riku silent with his little bit of self-awareness, leaving the brother open for him to pounce him with another question, "But what about that one ability of yours? You called it...Chaos Form?"

"That..." Riku fiddled his fingers on the rim of his pocket, "Don't worry about that right now brother."

"Ah come on we got time now. Gimme aaaaaall the juicy details!"

"Even if I did you wouldn't be able to use the form," Riku's response tilted Mew's head left-to-right, forcing him to explain at long last, "Chaos Form is the in-between, the balancing of light and darkness into one body. That means on top of understanding how both elements work, your mind must neither be too calm nor too upset. And, no offense brother, but...you're always upbeat and energetic."

"I could totally do it if I put my mind to it," Mew boasted without hesitation, "It'll take some time sure, but I'm not going to write it off as impossible until I try first!"

"I figured you'd say that," Riku rustled up a smile and sighed, "But we shouldn't have to go that far to get the parasites out."

"Yeah, if we just hit 'em at full power they'll be extracted before you can say 'Chaos Form' ten times fast!" Mew turned his head at Mr. Reality to ask, "Are you ready?"

The alien nodded his head and rose up. He put his hand to where his chest would be and remarked, "I'm a little nervous, but...yes."

He opened his eye with determination and a stern voice, "Proceed."

The brothers locked eyes, nodded heads, and then drew their weapons to go into their respective Dark Forms. Mew then took it open himself to pump himself up and get into that perfect emotional state.

"Are you ready?!" He roared to ignite that same spark in his brother. Instead he seemed to frighten him.

"Y-Yes brother I...am." After a bit of pale-faced shock Riku shook his head, took a deep breath, and exhaled with his eyes wide-open.

"_Close enough!" _Mew shrugged and placed his hands in the air towards Mr. Reality. The alien closed his eyes with a twitch of his mouth and steadied himself in place. He'd need to put a little effort in himself.

Mew could feel those squirmy wormy nuisances sleeping away on Mr. Reality's brain. Their outlines made them appear like grubs, but that was bound to change once they were awoken.

"On my mark...3, 2, 1...GO!" Mew flexed as much darkness as this form could muster directly within Mr. Reality's brain and Riku's joined in simultaneously.

Mr. Reality grimaced and his hands went taut. He sucked his lips in and slowly his head was pulled back. Hundreds of shrilled cries erupted from his ears like a swarm of angry bats.

Mew could feel the parasites flying around in circles in search of the source of all this darkness, battering the inside of the alien's head. Not a single one tried to escape, and a few of them started clinging back down onto their host's brain.

It was a feast far too tasty to pass up, even with all this darkness bombarding their negativity loving taste buds. Mr. Reality staggered a couple steps back and Mew and Riku matched his pace.

"Are you ok?!" Mew exclaimed.

"Don't!" Mr. Reality screamed and reared his head back, a couple veins popping in his head, "LET UP! I-I can feel them...moving! I can feel them...escaping! ARRRGHHH!"

If they were then they weren't doing so without a fight. It was going to be either the parasites or their host. Even giving it their all, the brothers were fighting a stalemate battle.

"_Is this not enough?! Damn it 'D.' even when you don't exist anymore you're a pain in the ass!" _Mew grit his teeth and crunched his fingers down into fists, forcing the last bits of darkness he could into Mr. Reality's brain. Every bit counted. There was no room for error here.

"Ghhhh...!" Another grunt, but this time from Riku.

"Riku you holding up?!" Mew turned his head slightly but went all the way when he saw his brother's arm spewing black electricity.

"Uhhh, Riku? That...doesn't look normal."

Riku was barely hiding the strain on his face behind his scowl and utmost silence. He squeezed his hand and the black electricity seemed to stop. Mew cautiously turned his head back and continued tugging at the parasites.

"A little...more!" He murmured as the parasites went still, slowly moving to pull themselves off the alien's brain and head to the darkness.

"GAAAAAHHHH!" Riku's scream penetrated Mew's ears and he turned just in time to see his brother's entire body recoil straight into the mountainside from a black explosion.

"Riku!" Mew exclaimed as his brother's impact rocked the area. He quickly faced Mr. Reality and pulled his darkness away. Mr. Reality dropped to the ground on his hands and panted heavily. Fortunately, the parasites soon went docile.

Mew hurried over to the mountain and pulled his brother out of the still falling rubble. His skin was burnt all over and there wasn't a single trace of darkness on his person.

He was able to stand but judging by his trembling knees, it took a great effort on his part. Mew put his arm under his and helped carry him back over to the house to sit him down on the steps.

"What the hell was that?" He asked while checking his brother's now feverish forehead.

Riku wobbled his head and looked scared as he muttered, "I-I don't know..."

"...Whatever this is the same thing almost happened to you when we opened the portal Riku," Mew stood up and frowned, "One incident is a coincidence, two is a problem. You and Mr. Reality get some water and rest up, I'm going to get Auris' advice on this."

Riku silently nodded his head and leaned back against the door, his eyes darting to his lost arm. Mew walked over to Mr. Reality and saw him stand up relatively fine.

"Sorry about that..." Mew remarked with genuine melancholy.

"That...didn't backfire as badly as I expected it would," Mr. Reality tried to find humor in this otherwise dreary situation, then turned his head back and remarked, "Is your brother going to be ok?"

"Hrrrmm, I dunno..." Mew was hesitant to look back, "I'll get back to you on that."

He then stepped away and, once out of hearing range, rolled his head around and groaned "Craaaaaaap..."

_One long, tired trip back to Sancturia and an update to Auris later..._

"I see..." Auris nodded her head and crossed her hands on her lap as she sat on the couch opposite Mew's.

Mew, with his hands cupped together under his chin, asked quietly, "So what do you think?"

"Unfortunately, nothing like this ever happened to my husband."

"Mmrrrr..." Mew shook his head and wondered, "Did it happen to ANYONE back then?"

"If it happened then I wasn't born at the time," Auris opened her eyes and had an idea, "Though you and Riku are..._special_ cases."

"Special as in...?"

"Well, in a lot of ways," Auris chuckled and Mew could only guess why, "But in relevance to the topic at hand, I'd say your birth is what we should be focusing on."

Mew planted his hands on his knees and perked up, "You mean how I'm a clone of Alex Whiter, and Riku's a clone of me?"

"Exactly. You were created outside the natural order of things..." Auris closed her eyes and a fond smile crossed her rosy cheeks, "My husband was powerful. Perhaps unnaturally so...But he earned that power on his own. Yet...perhaps there was a peak he shouldn't have climbed over."

A hand of hers hovered her belly and rubbed it smoothly, "I bet you've always wondered, even deep down, why you had to be the successors to the Elemental Overlord's powers."

"..." Mew's arms were suddenly riddled with goosebumps.

"I loved my husband very much...But our love could never grow beyond our marriage. The Anti-Genesis Theorem made sure of that. I could not kiss him. I could not hug him. He could not..." Auris quivered and her eyes were forced shut. She shook her head and whispered, "My body was a poison to him. Any direct contact would have either killed him or left him vulnerable to the Ten Sages' wrath."

"But never one to let someone remain unhappy, he tried to learn of a way to get around that barrier. He determined that the building blocks of a person's body uses a lot of the same materials as stuff created through elemental energy. And so with that theory in mind, he sought to create human life..."

"...And he did. He made a perfect copy of himself using nothing but the bare elements at his disposal. It had the same shape, same memories...But none of the soul. That...was a barrier he could not breach until he lost his own body."

Mew's eyes sank towards his chest, which he placed one hand on, "...So the reason I look so much like Alex is because..."

"My husband passed on what he knew to help him create you, and in turn led you to create Riku. You may share bodies and memories but your soul is your own Mew. And never doubt that."

"I...never did but," Mew laid back into the couch and huffed out a huge sigh, "I wasn't expecting THAT bombshell when I came here."

"Life is nothing without a surprise or two." Auris said with a beaming smile.

"But what does this have to do with Riku? Unless...you're saying I screwed up making him somehow?"

"No no, you did it right," Auris reassured him, "But the fact that he's made of pure elemental energy means something may have gone wrong during his life to cause this burnout."

Mew crossed his legs onto the table and thought about it for a bit, "Well there's a number of factors I can think of. He lost his Dark element at one point."

"But you lost all seven to the same person you're trying to save now, and yet you're fine."

"Oh yeah...Then maybe its because he used Genesis Form too much?"

"Plausible..." Auris hummed to herself, "Overtaxing his body like that could've short-circuited his ability to control the elements."

She narrowed her gaze with a smile and murmured, "But theorizing about this doesn't solve the immediate issue. Riku's darkness is unavailable now, and you alone can't do the job. So what, pray tell, will you do now?"

"..." Mew twiddled his thumbs and stood up from the couch, "Potentially...invite trouble to my front door, but what else is new eh?"

As he headed for the door Auris said to him, "Oh and...congratulations on removing that blight demon from this world. You did what many of us could not. I know someone who'll rest easy now, knowing they are gone."

Mew parted the door halfway and said following a chuckle, "Heh, well I appreciate the thanks on the Elemental Overlord's behalf but...I just did what was right."

After he had left Auris bridged her hands under her chin and muttered, "I wasn't talking about him..."

_Back to Mew's house..._

Mew descended upon the front yard finding Riku in the same spot and Mr. Reality leaning up against the house next to him. But once he'd arrived the alien got up and wandered over.

"Anything?" He inquired.

"Nothing to help Riku's predicament," Mew said while scratching the side of his head and trying his best not to look Mr. Reality in the face, "But...it did give me an idea."

"..." Mr. Reality froze and slowly closed his eye.

"You have to tell me where Joe Dark is."

Mr. Reality sucked his mouth in and turned around. Mew followed him as he walked away and remarked, "Its the only way. We don't know anyone else with a strong enough pull with the darkness."

"Mmmrrgh I...can't." The alien forced his reply.

"Can't...or won't?" Mew bluntly remarked, "Cause you've been tight-lipped about him ever since you showed up again which tells me you know where he is."

"I don't know...exactly where he is but..." Mr. Reality grumbled to himself and planted a hand firmly against the side of his helmet, "Look, you have to understand. He was distraught, on the verge of a complete breakdown. I don't know what happened to him but...I'd never seen someone's eyes look so lost."

"...He wanted to get away from all this, so...I granted his request, sort of..." The alien shook his head some more and muttered, "I used my powers to send him to a world that'd help him get better."

Mr. Reality turned to his side, "I won't drag him back here. Not even for this."

"...I get it, I do," Mew closed his eyes and bobbed his head, "Alex is dead and everything he worked so hard towards meant nothing."

"That's why I wanted to talk to him myself. Figured we could bury the hatchet and try to become friends or something," Mew wagged his hand out beside his face and said in a cheerful tone, "A high dosage of friendliness would at least do him more good than a vacation on some world he knows nothing about."

Mr. Reality's eye sagged and he shook his head, "Like how you handled me..."

He then floated around and laid his hands beside his cloak, "Do it. Placate the parasites and I'll handle the rest."

"And then I'll handle the rest after THAT." Mew happily took up his sword and went back into Dark Form, repeating the same darkness infusing process as he did before, this time with the intent to lull the parasites to sleep.

Mr. Reality closed his eyes and rolled his open hands around in the air as they became infused with energy. Mew's mouth wobbled to the right as he muttered, "I hope this works..."

_Planet Edelgyre, Population: 0..._

Joe Dark hung his upper body over the castle balcony overlooking the land. Blood, so much blood, turned the grass red and drenched the air in this awful, awful stench. The steam of crimson from the millions of decaying corpses rose to the sky and created a thin layer of bloody clouds, blotting the sun black.

His eyes were dull and unmoving, even as the castle trembled beneath his feet. The whole behemoth of a building ripped itself free from the ground, its size ten times that of what had been shown, and it only got uglier looking the further you looked down.

The planet had been reaped of its blood and fear...And now the monsters moved to do the same to another world, and another, and another...A cycle that's repeated for longer than Joe Dark had been alive. And now, he counted himself among the numbers in this nest of monsters.

"..." Still shaken by the beating Dracula gave to him, Joe Dark's limbs were stiff like lumber and he barely wanted to put the energy in to stand.

"Joe Dark?" The voice of the mannequin stirred him to life with a creaking turn of his head back. Without a hint of grief towards the planet her father helped vanquish she said, "We're departing to a new world now. You should probably come inside so you don't get poisoned by the space radiation."

"..." Joe Dark curled his fists until his knuckles cracked and then peeled himself off the wall to mutter, "I don't care. It can do its worst..."

"...You're upset, Joe Dark," Alura calmly remarked, "Even though you didn't have any attachment to these people."

"Neither did you," He turned to Alura and muttered with the utmost displeasure, "But they had to die anyways, because they were humans and you **hate** them.

Alura lowered her head and Joe Dark looked into her eyes unable to hold back a scowl. Lost, emotionless, but still undeniably human. That's what her eyes said to him.

"I...didn't kill those people Joe Dark. Mr. Grimmley did." She whispered.

"Under your father's orders. You didn't lift a finger to stop him so I don't give a DAMN what your reason is."

"Father's will cannot be disobeyed," Alura murmured with a docile shake of the head, "You personally saw what happened when you do, Joe Dark. That was discipline..."

She lifted her head and for a brief moment Joe Dark swore he saw her eyes wobble, "Next time he'll eat you whole to make an example."

He flinched and bit his lower lip, grunting in anger as his right eye twitched.

"Damn it!" Joe Dark squeezed the side of his head and exclaimed in a furious, raspy tone, "DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!"

"This is bullshit! I don't belong here...You don't belong here!"

"Joe Dark, you can't escape. This is your home now." Alura murmured.

"Like hell it is!" Joe Dark swung his hand out furiously and raised his voice a little more, "I have escaped plenty of worser hells than this before! And if your father has a problem with that he can hunt me down to the ends of the universe for all I care! I'll corner him like the bloodsucking rat he is and KILL HIM!"

He then stamped down a few feet in front of Alura and glared her straight in the eyes, "I don't care if you come with me or not, but if you try to stop me then not even our 'same eyes' will save you this time."

A tremble went through Alura's body and she found herself looking down when her right foot stepped back. Her eyes suddenly unhinged slightly and she muttered, "You...can't do that Joe Dark. Nobody has ever escaped from father."

"Then allow me to be the first," Joe Dark replied with a steadfast heart, "Now pick your side mannequin. Are you a human? Or are you a monster?"

"I-I..."

Joe Dark field of vision suddenly warped in the blink of an eye, and the next thing he knew he found himself elsewhere...A certain, rotten, _**detestable**_ house that would quickly make him appreciate the HELL he was just in.

Joe Dark's eyes stretched open as far as they'd go and he saw Mew staring at him the second he started looking around. His glare fiercely burned into his face and all Mew could do was a canned laugh and weakly shake his hand up.

"Heeeeeeeey Joe Dark. How's it going?" He inquired with dry enthusiasm.

_Next Time: Oops_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Lost Relations**

Joe Dark stood there for a long while and slowly creaked his head towards his surroundings. Mew cautiously waited for some manner of response, thinking the odds were at least 99% that he'd explode with rage when he finally did.

The air was thick and unsettled, with Mr. Reality edging behind Mew just to avoid eye contact with the would-be Dark King. Mew's arms were full of goosebumps, and he could hear his heartbeat pounding inside the rib cage. They stood in a predator's territory, and it was just a matter of knowing when they'd pounce...

Mew waved his hand back to keep Mr. Reality there and then took a couple steps forward, dropping Dark Form at the cost of making the tension even more intense than before. The rustling of grass alerted Joe Dark's heightened sense of paranoia and his head swung right back and petrified his gaze directly at Mew's face.

His pupils shrank and his mouth started to move, biting his teeth down into a scowl. With what little time Mew probably had left he glanced over the Dark King and nodded at his brother before he started to stand up. A sort of acknowledgment of "I got this", even if it didn't instill much confidence.

Mew lowered his hands, didn't even clutch them into fists. He stood upright, and looked Joe Dark in the eyes. Then, he waited, throughout every long, passing, second.

"Heh...!" The teeth finally cracked open and a small, harmless laugh came out. Joe Dark then started to close his eyes and rear his entire body back, slapping a hand onto his forehead as a loud, rancorous laugh broke through the floodgates of his pearly whites.

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHHA!" His demented cries went from sour to sobbing in seconds. His voice cracked and grew so loud it rustled the leaves of the nearby trees.

A cold sweat went down Mew's face and his eyes twitched, but he stood his ground perfectly as Joe Dark finished his insane wail.

He slowly rose up and hunched over with a clawed hand hovering before his exhausted looking right eye. He turned his head back-and-forth and started grumbling, "Why did I expect anything else...?"

He clutched his head tight and grit his teeth, "Run, run, run...I tried to run far, far away from you. But it was pointless. Pointless pointless POINTLESS!"

He threw his hand aside and stood right up with a ferocious scowl. He angrily swung his arm out and exclaimed, "Every time I try to escape I'm DRAGGED right back in! You're not a person Whiter you're the goddamn sun! Everything revolves around you and nobody in your sight is allowed to pull away!"

"Why you? Why ME?! Its always about you you you! You're the center of attention while I'm stuck wallowing away in the mud, forgotten and tormented by the world! That's it! That's the only way to explain why I'm still being dragged into your goddamn antics after all this time! I-I can't escape! And if I do I'll just find another HELL out there waiting for me!"

Mew closed his eyes and said quietly, "Listen, Joe Dark-"

"No!" Joe Dark screeched, then steadily dropped to a growl as he levied his pointer finger towards Mew, "For once in your GODDAMN LIFE...**You** are going to _listen_ to **ME**."

Mew narrowed his eyes as Joe Dark approached him at a snail's pace. The closer he got, the more clear it was just how tired his eyes looked. Mew felt pity, but couldn't show it without angering him more.

"I don't _care_ how or why you threatened that alien to drag me back here. You will use his powers to send me back RIGHT NOW. And then, I don't ever, EVER, want to see your faces again. Not in my sight, not in my mind, and especially not in my memories! Just LEAVE ME ALONE, AND LET ME ROT...!" By the time he was done his face was planted squarely against Mew's and he whispered with a distinct hint of melancholy in his voice, "Anywhere is better than this _Hell_."

There was enough of a lull in Joe Dark's ranting and raving for Mew to catch his breath and try to speak to him quietly, "Can I speak now?"

"No. Do NOT," Joe Dark grit his teeth and pulled his head away, then drew his darkness filled hand out towards Mr. Reality, "You heard me. Send me back RIGHT NOW!"

Mew stepped in-between them and remarked, "He's not going to do it. He ne-"

Joe Dark's eyes flared open and he ripped his hand aside, "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

"Not until you hear me out." Mew calmly retorted.

"I don't WANT TO HEAR YOU...OR SEE YOU OR SMELL YOU OR EVEN TOUCH YOU!" Joe Dark backed away a couple steps with a frightful look in his eyes.

Mew stood right where he was and shook his head, then waved a hand out, "I get what you're going through Joe Dark, witho-"

"Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Joe Dark squeezed the sides of his head in an iron vice and tried to plug his ears with his palms, "You don't understand ANYTHING!"

Mew slanted his eyes and took one step closer, "I'm trying to help he-"

The ground at his toes was cratered by a small warning shot from Joe Dark's black fogged hand. He then shunted his palm up and prepared more darkness, "W-What is wrong with you? Why won't you just listen...AND LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?!"

Mew nudged one foot over the hole and Joe Dark moved in sync back. Mew settled his foot down and rustled the grass, looking at his frightened company with a half-concerned stare.

"Then attack me," He muttered, "If you hate me that much, attack me. Cause I can't in good conscience let you go when you're acting like this."

Joe Dark's hand trembled until he thrust it forward and part of his body along with it. His teeth shook next even though, or perhaps because, he'd been biting them with all his might. Mew froze in place and opened his eyes all the way. His shrunken pupils were illuminated by the glowing darkness.

"Haaa...!" Joe Dark's mouth broke open with a dry laugh, then went slack-jawed along with his eyes growing wide. Freed from the confines of his jaw was another fit of laughter more broken than the last.

"HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA! I...I see what's going on now!" His voice cracked to the point of sounding near incomprehensible. His aggression wavered and as he lowered his hand he spun his head around and declared, "This...this isn't real! None of its real!"

His voice started getting hasty as he flailed his body around and stopped to point at each individual around him, "You're not real! Or you or YOU!"

He stopped on Mew and waggled his finger up-and-down. He looked tipsy and ready to fall down at any moment with the sheer strength of his insanity being the only thing keeping him up.

"All of this...all of this is just one of the mannequin's well-crafted illusions yes...It all makes sense now!" Joe Dark clawed his hands beside his head and hunched over turned away from the sight of either Mew or Riku.

"I've been caught in her web of deceit ever since I laid eyes on her! E-Everything since then has been a fake, a fake! And now she's digging in deeper and deeper clawing out every last memory I have to weaken and break me! Hahahaha!"

He clamped the sides of his head and his finger dug into his skin, pulling it apart at the eyes and mouth to force a smile, "And maybe I've been trapped even longer! Justek, Gravitus, the whole two years alone in space the agony of death the murder of my family EVEN MY ENTIRE YOUTH COULD ALL BE A LIE!"

Joe Dark ripped his arms away and threw his body back as well. His last fit of laughter was a call to tears that flowed from his eyes and down the sides of his face.

"I don't care...! I don't care! I DON'T CARE I DON'T CARE I DON'T CARE IDON'TCARE!"

Mew took a deep breath in and out his nostrils then closed his eyes and slowly walked up to the ranting and raving boy. He tapped him once on the shoulder to get his attention and then slammed his forehead straight into his, gritting his teeth and putting his all into it.

Joe Dark went flying into the side of the house and nearly broke the wall. He then slid onto the ground, his legs and arms sprawled out all limp while his eyes remained completely wide-eyed.

Mew stumbled a couple steps forward then hunched down and clasped his kneecaps tight. He took a few breaths and then raised his head with a big red spot on his forehead.

"C-Can an illusion do THAT?!" He gasped hard and then stood closer to upright, wiping his knuckles under his chin, and giving his head a quick shake.

"Sorry but...I had to do it otherwise you wouldn't have stopped," Joe Dark gave him a 'deer in the headlights' look as he admitted to himself, "Ok...Clearly there's a LOT I didn't realize was happenin' with ya. I admit it. I MIGHT be in over my head here!"

"Hahaha...!" Mew laughed it off and after getting fully upright wobbled a couple steps closer to Joe Dark and said in a relaxed tone, "I didn't drag you all the way back here to torment you Joe Dark. There's a couple reasons but most importantly I just want to talk, mano-a-mano."

Joe Dark blinked, so at least he was still alive. Mew grit a smile and leaned to his side, propping a fist up to his hip, "Ok, minus one 'mano' for now. Just...hear what I have to say real quick."

"I know nothing about your feud with Alex or whether it was right or wrong for you to kill him I don't care about that," Mew shook his head and closed his eyes, "But you seem to have spent a lot of your life dedicated to the sole purpose of hunting him down. Now he's gone and...you don't know what to do."

Mew creaked his eyes open slightly to glance down at his side, "And I...I understand. More than you do. For you he was a target of revenge, for me...he was my brother. He was crazy and I never got through to him but...He was still my brother. I...I'm never going to stop missing him."

Joe Dark dug his fingertips into the dirt and grit his teeth until a scowl so intense his whole body shook.

"You...you just have his face..." He sprung to life and attacked Mew by grabbing him by the collar and pulling him directly into his spit-filled, screaming face.

"HE WAS **MY** BROTHER! SO DON'T SAY YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I FEEL!"

"...: Mew stared dead-eyed into Joe Dark's face and hastily murmured, "I'm sorry what."

Joe Dark weakly tossed him onto the ground and Mew raised his head with a continued look of confusion. Riku got up from the steps and inquired, "T-That...can't be true. Who told you that?"

Joe Dark creaked his head back and grumbled, "That bastard Justek. It wasn't enough to torment me in life, he ensured that he'd be tormenting me in death too..."

He gripped and squeezed the side of his throbbing head and shook it around. Riku's mouth went agape and he turned away from the others to try and process what he had just heard.

Mew stood up and tried stepping in front of Joe Dark, only for him to keep turning away. Mew waved his hand out and inquired, "Then...he had to have been lying yeah?"

"Hahaha!" Joe Dark cracked a dry laugh and shook his head slowly some more, "Oh no why would it EVER be that easy?"

Tired, battered, Joe Dark muttered in agony towards Mew, "I...I've been seeing them. In my head. A cradle...not one but two...A baby crying next to me. A woman who looked nothing like my mother...A man who looked nothing like my father."

"That...could mean anything..." Mew said, having a hard time separating what was real and what was fake from everything Joe Dark was saying.

"Oh really?!" Joe Dark exclaimed with a bitter bite to his tone, "Then...I must be going crazy!"

He spun back and grit his teeth towards Mew, "Unless you actually know what's happening to me shut up and get away!"

"I-I'm not saying you're crazy or lying..." Mew sheepishly closed his eyes and backed away slowly, "If you can remember that much then your memories must be telling the truth. But..."

Mew puffed out a big breath and turned away. He felt a little dizzy and walked on over to the nearest tree to plop down and take a breather.

"You'll...have to give me a moment. I was totally not prepared for this bombshell..." Mew propped a hand up by his forehead and a long, awkward silence took the tension's place in the area.

"..." Joe Dark looked over at Mr. Reality, who diverted his gaze the other way and floated off to give the group their space.

"..." Joe Dark's eyelids sagged with barely any strength to remain open. His feet dragged him forward against his will and brought him down against the tree on the left side of Mew. Joe Dark sank back against the rough bark and flopped his hands and legs down upon the grass.

Mew glanced over his shoulder and remarked, "I wish I could pull up some of my own memories to confirm yours but...I got nuthin'. Guess Alex either didn't know or didn't give me those memories..."

"..." Joe Dark's head creaked to the right and Mew leaned out to see that he was staring at the gravestone for Alex Whiter at the side of the house.

Mew silently pulled back and leaned his head back, closing his eyes as a quiet, natural breeze passed through the mountains.

"...What...what were his last words?" Joe Dark muttered. Mew trembled, curling his right hand into a fist and going deathly silent.

"...I see," Joe Dark shook while pulling himself up a little against the tree, "...All I ever wanted was a family. A caring. Loving. Family..."

He shook his head and limply waved his arm up, "And I couldn't even get that. I lost them all. My mother, my father, my aunts and uncles, even my cousins...Wiped out. Slaughtered."

"...Me. The sole survivor...A child not even ten years old, forced to fend for himself in a harsh, unforgiving world. All I had on me were my clothes, the blood of my parents burned into my eyes," Joe Dark's hand shook tightly into a fist, "And an inescapable yearning for revenge."

"But all this time the person I was chasing was a brother I barely remembered I had...And not only did I fail to kill him, I now doubt his responsibility in the slaughter to begin with..."

"...The universe took a crap on us both but he...he got to BE someone," Joe Dark's hand went limp on the ground and he shook his head, tearfully muttering aloud, "I'm the hollow shell for the power of a hollow king...I'm less than **nothing**!"

Joe Dark's brittle bones cracked as his hands became fists, "No family, no promise, no future...I'm just trash waiting to be buried."

"...You're not nothing, Joe Dark." Mew sat on his side and turned to face him, prodding him once in the chest.

"How old are you right now? 16? Same as me? You've had a crappy life up until now sure but it doesn't have to end here. You've still got a good 80-84 years to make something of yourself and by golly, as your brother I'd be more than happy to help you figure that out!"

Joe Dark turned a dull eye towards Mew then tilted his head and opened his mouth to murmur, "...What?"

Mew flipped onto his knees and clapped his hands down onto them with a bright beaming smile, "Yeah, come on! This is the perfect opportunity to start over and find a new purpose in life! Something a lot more fulfilling and a lot less stabby."

"I-I'm...excuse me?" Joe Dark barely lifted himself up and started tucking his knees in towards his chest.

Mew just silently sat there, forcing his smile into Joe Dark's vision in hopes that he'd maybe smile back. Instead his jaw slacked and he glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"You...you're not my brother. You're just a CLONE of him." He muttered with mild disdain.

"Ahhh what's the difference?" Mew boldly declared while throwing his hand down in an arc, "I mean if it bothers you THAT much then fine..."

Mew gained a cat-like smile as he turned his head away and remarked, "You don't HAVE to live under our roof, with our comfy bed, three meals a day, fresh water, clean clothes..."

"Is this **bargaining **or **torturing**?!" Joe Dark exclaimed with his eyes growing wide-open.

Mew's wry smile snuck out from the corner of his face as he gave a knowing glare at him, "I don't know...Is it _working_?"

"Grrrr..." Joe Dark crossed his arms and had a foul mood on him as he remarked, "No!"

"Someone's in de-ni-al!" Mew sang with a chuckle afterwards.

"Are you five years old or something?!" Joe Dark hollered with his eyes flared up at Mew.

"Sort of yeah?" Mew jested back.

Joe Dark twisted his head away from Mew and muttered, "God you're just as irritating as he was but in a different way..."

Mew settled down a bit and scooted closer to him, "It doesn't have to be your permanent residence, but it sure as heck beats the outdoors!"

Joe Dark's face twitched as his eyes darted away from Mew. "Grrr..." He growled and began fiddling with his fingers against his knees.

Finally he tilted his head back and glared at Mew, "What do you get out of this?"

"Nothing." Mew said with a gentle roll of the shoulders.

Joe Dark widened his eyes for a brief stint and then cocked his head away from Mew, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink which, on his pale skin, looked extra bright.

"I'm not that smart or wise or anything like that but I bet if we put our heads together we'll figure out something you'd want to do in-"

"OH MY GOD ENOUGH ALREADY!" Joe Dark threw up his hands and rose to his feet with Mew doing the same. Though right away Joe Dark was leaning up against him to the point of Mew bending back, all the while wearing this big goofy smile.

"Do you do this to EVERYONE you try to befriend?! Just...wear them down with all this boundless sappiness and optimism?!"

Mew fought back a laugh as he replied, "Soooo...that's a 'Yes'?"

"YES DAMN IT YES! I'll live in your damn house for now, you happy?!" Joe Dark pulled his head back with a hefty grunt and then tucked his hands into his pockets. After tapping his feet a couple times he thrust a pointer finger up at Mew's snickering face and scowled.

"But there's going to be some ground rules laid down! And I'm not calling you or the other clone brothers!"

Mew couldn't stop himself from laughing as he told Joe Dark, "Hahaha whatever you say, brrrroooother!"

"THAT'S GOING TO BE RULE NUMBER ONE: NO CALLING ME BROTHER!" Joe Dark exclaimed with his eyes flared wide-open.

"Hahahah..." Mew settled down his laughter by tucking his hands into his pockets and lowering his shoulders.

"..."

"..."

Mew and Joe Dark stared at each other for a few seconds until a spark shone in Mew's eyes, "Oh shit I almost forgot!"

He spun to the left and exclaimed, "Yo buddy we're done here you can come back out now!"

Mr. Reality floated out from behind a nearby tree a few seconds later and asked, "So are you two getting along now?"

"Yep, sure seems like it!" Mew exclaimed.

"What did I just..." Joe Dark grumbled and put a hand to the side of his throbbing head, "Oh why do I even bother..."

"So then..." Mr. Reality gave a not-too-subtle cough and pumped his fist before his helmet.

"Yep, we're good to go on Operation Parasite Removal!" Mew excitedly rubbed his hands together whilst Joe Dark turned his head in confusion.

"Huh?" He uttered.

Mew briefly caught him up to recent events, after which Joe Dark sank his hands deep into his pockets and grumbled, "Oh...so THAT'S why you brought me here."

"Ehhhh," half the reason, Mew shrugged, "But yeah, think you're up for it?"

Joe Dark snubbed Mew with his elbow and walked a couple steps ahead of him, "You'll barely have to chip in. I can handle most of the work."

"Heh, better safe than sorry though." Mew drew his sword and went back into Dark Form. Mr. Reality floated a couple feet back and gave the two a quick nod.

"I'm ready when you are."

Mew stretched his hand out and Joe Dark did so halfway. Both their hands glowed with darkness and the energy began entering Mr. Reality's head.

Much like before the alien squirmed in agony as the parasites struggled to keep latched onto their hosts' brain. Mew and Joe Dark were pouring equal amounts of darkness in and so far there didn't seem to be any backfiring ready to happen to either of them.

"Ghh..! Stubborn worms aren't they?!" Joe Dark grunted and thrust his hand out harder.

"See why we needed you?!" Mew said, having a bit of fun with this.

"Yes, you clearly can't do anything without me or Whiter bailing you out!"

Mew gave a snide glare at Joe Dark and chuckled, "Why did you refer to yourself twice?"

"GHH!" It angered him but that was necessary to stoke the fires of his darkness a little more.

After a few more seconds of stubbornness on the parasites behalf Joe Dark's eyes flared open and he declared, "Enough of this! Get out of his head!"

He gave his hand a nice hard tug and squeezed it into a fist. Mr. Reality's eye turned pitch black and darkness flooded out of it, his ears and mouth all at once. There was this immense rumbling in the ground, and then complete silence. Mr. Reality and Joe Dark dropped towards their knees but Joe Dark used a hand to keep himself from falling completely.

He hovered his other hand up towards a terrible looking black orb full of squirming, squealing parasites that could not escape no matter how much they banged their bodies against the walls.

"I-Is that it?" Joe Dark wondered aloud.

Mr. Reality lifted his head up slightly and had this positively beaming smile on his face. He patted around the sides of his helmet and his eye lit up with joy.

"I...I can't feel them anymore! They're gone. They're gone!" He clamped his hands onto his helmet and gave them a couple slaps to confirm he wasn't dreaming, then started twirling around in dance.

Mew breathed a heavy sigh and then dropped out of Dark Form, his energy reserves exhausted. He gave a thumbs-up and said, "T-That's wonderful news..."

The alien was allowed to twirl and float through the air for a whole minute in celebration before he chose to stop and settle a few feet in front of his saviors.

Mew crossed his arms by his chest and wondered, "So uhhh...What are you going to do now?"

Mr. Reality paused and turned his head aside with a confident look in his eye, "I don't have to think about it..."

He lifted his right hand before his face longingly and started to pinch his fingers together, "I should have done this the very moment I got these powers..."

Mew had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut and stretched his hand out with an over-the-top proclamation of "NOOO!" as Mr. Reality snapped his fingers and a bright white flash spread throughout the sky.

It didn't last for more than a second and when it was done Mew paused in place. Nothing really...felt different. Though, not that he'd know if the alien wished it that way. But since he does know...

Mew pulled his hand back and when he did saw Mr. Reality on the ground covered mostly by his cloak. His body was steaming heavily.

Slowly he stood up and pulled his hand out from underneath the cloak...And there was a limp, noodle-y arm attached to it.

Mew and Joe Dark's eyes slowly opened wide as Mr. Reality stood upright and gripped his hand tightly onto the edge of his cloak. He shivered while cracking a smile and muttered, "I-I-Its cold out here..."

"You...you gave yourself your body back?" Mew murmured in surprise.

Mr. Reality shook his head and grinned, "I got rid of those powers. So that I could never be tempted by them...and no one else could abuse them."

"...Oh," Mew's rather dour remark got the alien to tilt his head in confusion, "Ah, never mind. I'm glad you're back to normal now."

"Thanks..." The alien turned to them with a light red in his face and waved his hand out, "I couldn't have done it without all of your help."

Joe Dark's eyes widened and he slowly placed a hand where his heart was. Mew could see that his face was turning red, but for once didn't have anything to say. He scratched the side of his face and said to the alien with a wobbly smile, "Oh it was nothing really. Glad to have helped!"

Joe Dark stood up and pulled the sphere of parasites closer to him, "That's all fine and good but what the hell are we going to do with these?"

"Haaaa..." Mew closed his eyes, pulled out his sword and went back into Dark Form. He then wagged his hand at the sphere and pulled it over, then raised the other hand to open a dark rift.

"I got someone who can handle this. And while I'm at it we'll drop you off with Saturn so you can get a ride back home." He eyed the former Mr. Reality.

"That'd be appreciated. Hopefully, her ship is warm."

The alien floated towards the portal and as Mew stepped one foot into it he turned to Joe Dark and said, "I shouldn't be long. Just uhhh...talk with Riku until I get back! Yeah!"

The two departed and Joe Dark slowly turned to Riku sitting on the front steps. The two had nothing but blank looks to give each other.

It was a quick jump to Sancturia, specifically Auris' house...again. The moment Mew stepped foot inside Auris was there to greet him.

"So you were successful?" She inquired with her eyes aimed at the black sphere.

Mew held it out before his chest and didn't even get a word in before Auris grabbed it in her own sphere of aura and dragged it close to her chest. She smashed her palms down on around it and with a very intense, almost frightening look in her eyes she crushed the sphere down to the size of a pea and then smushed that into nothingness with her palms.

Mew fluttered his eyes and Auris dusted her hands off, wearing her regularly mysterious smile as she tilted her head and said "There, all done" as if she had just wrapped up spring cleaning.

There wasn't an atomic trace of those parasites left. Mew shook his head with a lightheaded feeling and turned back towards the door.

"Ooookay..." See you later Auris.

_And so, with the threat of the parasites and their master out of the way forever, Mew took the alien over to Saturn. She happily provided him a ride back home, and after a quick goodbye the alien promised that he'd come back someday with his family and give Mew a more proper thanks for all that he had done._

_Mew was feeling pretty good about himself. He whistled a jaunty tune as he made his way back home and had the former Mr. Reality's safety in his thoughts at all time. Hopefully, he'd be able to help the others the same way soon enough. But right now..._

He exited the dark portal and found Joe Dark standing around in pretty much the same spot he left him. He then glanced over at Riku being in the same spot and said aloud, "Really? Nothing?"

He swung his head back and drooped his shoulders, "Uuuugh...We'll work on this during brother bonding time."

As he started heading for the house Joe Dark glared at him and said, "I'm serious, you call me brother one more time and-"

Mew swung to his side and threw his left hand over his head, "Come on its been a long day! You want some dinner?"

Joe Dark's eyes froze wide-open and with a forceful unfurling of his arms from his chest he grumbled, "Anything but meat..."

Mew and Riku headed inside while Joe Dark lagged behind with his hands tucked in his pockets. With one foot up towards the door he paused in place and turned his head to the left.

... His eyes closed halfway and he paced himself along the side of the house, laying his palm along the wall. He closed his eyes and saw a clear vision of his baby self rocking in a crib. A pair of lithe, gentle arms picked him up and cradled him close to their chest. The person began humming a tune, and he could recall gently closing his eyes to sleep.

"...Hmmmm hmm hmm..." And soon he was humming the first few notes of that melody with a single tear slipping out onto his cheek.

He rounded the corner and stopped beside Alex Whiter's grave. His hand slid off the corner and drooped by his hip. He got directly in front of the stone and knelt down. He stared long and hard at the words etched onto it, and recollected his experiences with him.

"..." Joe Dark closed his eyes and felt a heavy weight from his heart to his gut. He thrust his eyes open with a fire inside them and curled a fist atop his right knee.

"I will survive Whiter..." He stood up and began rounding the corner, "For both of us."

**STORY 2: Mr. Reality's Last Journey END**

_Three days later..._

Mew walked out of his house with Riku and Joe Dark in tow. Mew hopped backwards down the steps with his hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face.

Joe Dark dragged his way down the steps with a hunched over, sour expression as he wondered, "Do I REALLY have to do this?"

Yes really really, Mew drew his sword and activated Dark Form, then opened a dark rift beside his right hand, "You've gotta get to know all my friends if you're going to be sticking around. Might as well start with Kairi and Auris, maybe Gabriel if we're lucky."

"Ughhh, fiiine..." Joe Dark rolled his eyes then glared Mew in the face, "But next time don't hold my breakfast hostage to force me to come along!"

"Hahaha!" Mew cheerfully waltzed through the rift and the other two followed close behind. The portal plopped them off right in front of the Aurora household.

Mew dropped Dark Form, propped his fists on his hips and proclaimed, "MAN that's a much more convenient method of travel!"

He then swung open the cloth door to the house and hollered, "Hey! Hope you don't mind us dropping by..."

He slowed down upon seeing Auris pacing beside her couches with a quiet, pondering look in her eyes, "...Auris?"

Auris perked up and slowly turned to face her company with a lofty sigh. She laid a hand upon the side of her face and murmured, "I should've known you'd show up so soon after..."

Mew looked around and tilted his head, "Hey where's Kairi? Is she out again?"

Auris closed her eyes and sighed, "You could say that."

"Auris, what's going on?" Mew wasted no time getting to the point and Auris complied with his wishes with little hesitation.

"...Kairi has left for space to get her sister back."

"WHAT?!" Mew exclaimed with his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

**NEXT: STORY 3: Sisters**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: How Far I'll Go**

_A few hours prior..._

For the fifth day in a row Kairi has sat down in her living room face-to-face across from her mother. She has been regaled the stories of her sister's trip with Alex from beginning to end, and every detail Auris knew about was told, not a single bit left out.

It has all been very tiring. Kairi's had to deal with a few headaches and expected bouts of dizziness from some of the things she heard. For how grave a threat Alex Whiter had been to her city and people, Auris hadn't slandered the boy with her words until near the end of the story.

And as the story neared its conclusion Kairi's gut was wrenched and she silently stared down at the floor. Auris held nothing back describing the tragedy of the two lovers last encounter, and their difficult departure. It was a bloody, sordid affair, one that left Kairi trembling with a mix of anger and sadness.

Auris quietly shut her eyes and pulled back against the couch. With a breaking voice she whispered, "And that...is everything I know."

Kairi gripped her kneecaps tight and the shaking stopped. She raised her watery eyes to look at her mother and shook her head. Heightened emotions threatened to make her scream...But not yet.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Auris intercepted.

And it was true, there were so many that it didn't seem feasible to ask all but the more pressing ones. Such as: "...You didn't tell me what happened to Shina, mom."

"She did make it to where the Cosmos Drive is, I'm sure of that but..."

"B-But what?" Kairi hesitantly pressed on, swallowing a wad of saliva.

"The energy surrounding its location...Is able to block off my clairvoyance."

"And is that the same reason you don't know what happened between Alex and that witch?"

Auris fell into silence and Kairi narrowed her eyes, pushing a few tears out as she gasped, "Why should I even believe you now when you kept this from me for so long?"

"There's nothing to gain from lying to you dear..."

"Oh!" Kairi gasped in a bluntly offended tone, "So...so it was ok to lie to me before? Me? Your own daughter!"

Auris grunted and struggled to open her heavy eyes that couldn't even look directly at Kairi. Kairi bit her lower lip and with a forced grunt in place of swears she pulled herself right off the couch and threw her arm down by her side.

"Why couldn't you have just told me where she was?"

Auris swerved her head away and murmured, "You would have gone after her."

"Of course I would have! She's my-"

"And died." Auris said with an eerie calm in her voice. Kairi pulled back with an exasperated look in her eyes as her mother continued.

"If not from a lack of experience then Gravitus would have hunted you down and made your life a living hell. YOU were the one he wanted, not your sister. He was perfectly willing to use Shina to lure you towards him, and set up the conditions for the Neo Drive."

Kairi trembled and fought little against her hand's urge to become a fist. She beat back on the couch and grunted at the same time. Tensely shutting her eyes she proclaimed, "And because of that Shina had to suffer?! And its not just her! Alex Whiter became a monster from joining her quest! A quest YOU sent her on!"

Kairi swung her head towards Auris and gasped in pain and bewilderment, "Do you feel _nothing_ from that?"

Auris shook and hugged her arms closer to her body. She turned her head towards Kairi, her eyes mildly wet, and began to slowly shake her head, "I'm...I'm sorry."

Kairi shuddered but soon was biting her teeth down to growl back, "**I'm** not the one you need to apologize to mom."

Kairi curled her fists tight and stampeded around the couch towards the stairs, clamping one hand down on the railing as she climbed up.

"But don't worry," She said in a sarcastic tone, "I'll get her back myself!"

Halfway up the stairs her mother remarked, "I can't and won't stop you but...You should at least bring Mew along."

"Why, because your _clairvoyance_ told you that?" Kairi turned her head to glare at Auris from the corner of her eye.

Auris turned away. Kairi went "Uh huh" dismissively and then bluntly pointed out, "I'm not dragging anyone else into this. This is my problem to fix. **I** defeated Gravitus and helped stop Justek. If some other malevolent force got to Shina and is keeping her from coming back then I'll beat their ass into the dirt!"

Kairi threw her head back forward and continued climbing in a huff. She ran straight to her room and shut the door, putting her back to it and laying her hands out beside them. She let out all her pent up exhaustion and anger in one massive breath and slid to the floor.

She then hit the door with the back of her head and growled increasingly louder.

"_Why...?!" _There was so much to process when it came to her big sister's journey but the one thing she'd probably never, EVER be able to get over...Is that she loved Alex Whiter.

The psychopath with a hate boner and ego the size of the sun didn't exactly scream "caring lover" but clearly, Shina was the exception.

Kairi couldn't forget his hateful words and destructive behavior. The scarred, twisted soul threatened her and her home with no remorse...Yet he died not to avenge himself, but to avenge _Shina_.

She didn't understand. She didn't WANT to understand. Alex Whiter deserved her hatred until the day she died. So why? Why HIM. Out of the trillions of people in the universe, why did **she** choose him?!

With a face full of red and her eyes on the verge of tears, Kairi threw her arm over her face and grunted some more in confusion, "WHY?!"

After sorting out her feelings for a few minutes Kairi dragged herself up and wobbled over to her bed. Resting atop her flannel sheets was a headband split in half down the middle. A casualty in the battle against Gravitus, but...they also wouldn't have won without it.

Kairi glided her hand along the top then grabbed it at the edge, and as she picked it up the left half flipped around and revealed some text behind it. Kairi slowly brought the text up near her face and read it off.

"You have always been my light shining brightly in the darkest sea. I may not be the mother you've always wanted, but you have always been the daughter I needed."

"..." Kairi couldn't finish the rest without her face contorting into a scowl, and her hand clamping the halves of the headband together.

"_He was perfectly willing to use Shina..." _Auris' words echoed in her head.

"Yeah," Kairi gave a wet scoff and then tucked the headband neatly into her pocket, "Like you were any different mom...'You have always been the daughter I needed', how could you..."

She left the room with a sour frown and rushed down the stairs without a second thought. She rested a hand on the door and glanced back at the couches. Her mom was no longer there. She bit her teeth, shook her head, and then focused onward past her house.

She took in a deep breath. The air was fresh in the city again. It was a needed relaxant. After a couple steps away from home Kairi strut confidently through the city, her eyes locked straight ahead but her mind wandering elsewhere.

"_First I got to find a ride into space..." _She looked around and saw a few heavy machinery. There had been a lot more a few days ago, but now the reconstruction of Sancturia was nearing its end. The Aurians would, hopefully, be able to readjust to their daily routines.

But right now, more importantly, the machines gave her an idea.

"_...Maybe I could ask Saturn." _The heroine would be a handful without Mew around to redirect some of that energy towards but...Not like Kairi knew any other spacefarers.

"Haaaa..." Kairi hung her shoulders and sighed, "It'll have to do."

She made her way through Sancturia at a decent pace and stopped only to say "Hi" to her fellow Aurians. She was nervous reciprocating their greetings, especially seeing how excited some of them were. She'd gone from black sheep to recognized hero in the span of a week and even she couldn't believe it was real.

Not wanting to get too overwhelmed, Kairi started kicking up the pace to get to the Pyramid after the twentieth greeting.

The Pyramid was roughly the last place that needed to be put back together and it looked perfectly fine from the outside. The inside had taken the most damage though.

If Saturn was still working on it then this would be quick. Though when Kairi entered the first floor she wasn't expecting to run into Gabriel as he came down the staircase.

"Kairi?" And judging by his turn of the head, neither did he.

"G-Gabriel!" Kairi proclaimed and attempted to stay calm. If she gave an inch he'd sniff it out in an instant and start asking questions.

"Ah, you came to see how the repairs are going?" He said with an intrigued smile.

"Y-Yeah," Kairi quickly deduced a way to turn her stuttering into an advantage, "You surprised me though."

"Hahaha, just because you have the Neo Drive doesn't mean your training's over it seems..." Gabriel had a nice jest at it all and it made Kairi blush and pout.

"N-No! You were just really quiet coming down the steps!"

"Haaa," Gabriel smiled and continued towards Kairi, "The repairs are almost finished. Catherine just has to put the finishing touches on the holes in the floor."

He thumbed up and Kairi saw that there were perfectly round holes from the second floor to the top floor. Having been pretty close when they appeared she didn't recall them looking so...smooth.

Gabriel glanced up then down at Kairi, saying to her, "Yes I understand your confusion but...Catherine insisted she do it her way."

"HEY GABRIEL! I SEE YOU!" The hyperenergetic girl hollered, leaning halfway over the top-most hole. Kairi craned her head back until seeing Gabriel backing away a few inches.

"You might want to step away." He whispered.

Kairi followed through with that but still had a good view of Saturn falling back first off the ledge. She reached down to her waist and clicked a belt buckle, firing a small metal rope straight up through a series of perfectly cut rocks outside the Pyramid.

"Alright! Here we droppin' boys!" She proclaimed as the rocks descended with her down the holes, none of them being even a millimeter off.

If this was ANYONE ELSE Kairi would whip out the aura to cushion their fall. But this crazy vixen had this all planned out...somehow.

Saturn left two drones from her belt onto each floor and then tapped her belt buckle once again. A small anti-gravity pulse pushed the back of her lab coat down and touched the floor, where many more pulses continued to suspended and swerve her in place.

"Oh! Hey you!" She said to Kairi without pause, "Gimme oooone moment!"

With one last tap of Saturn's belt Kairi looked up and saw red heat radiating from the cracks, quickly filling the circle whole. And after a couple seconds of cooling the floors had been sealed back up.

"PERFECT! The work of a professional, hahaha!" Saturn gloated with her arms crossed. Suddenly her rope snapped back into her belt with so much force it shoved her onto the ground.

"Ooof!" She said, the wind kicked outta her sails momentarily. She sprung right up, adjusted her glasses with a coarse "Ahem!" and then spun towards Kairi with a big smile on her face.

"If it isn't the Neo Drive wielder herself! To what do I owe the pleasure?!"

Kairi was blown aback and her mind shut off for a couple moments, processing this information with the literal sound of an emergency alert message playing in her head.

"_I...I...expected her to be angry at me not...t-this..." _

Saturn nudged closer and snapped her fingers directly in Kairi's face, sparking life back into her eyes, "Hey hey hey can you hear me?!"

"L-Loud and clear." Kairi meekly shut her eyes and slumped her shoulders.

Saturn swerved to the right and chuckled to Gabriel, "She's got a real Vitamin A deficiency aye?"

Gabriel stayed still as a statue and closed his eyes. The dizzied Kairi shook her head and muttered "V-Vitamin A?"

"The A stands for AWESOME, of which **I** am comprised of a 100% pure concentrated amount of it!" Saturn didn't have enough room on her face for that big a grin, "But you're the Neo Drive wielder so you should have three, nay, five times that amount! Yet you look as glum as a rotten plum, chum!"

"..." Gabriel cracked his eyes open slowly and Kairi could feel them judging her already.

"Its been a long week and it ain't exactly making me feel like sunshine and lollipops."

"Hahaha! I feel ya!" Saturn roared. She then spun sideways and proclaimed to Gabriel, "Leave this one to me Gabe! I got just the thing to put some pep in her step!"

"Catherine," Gabriel narrowed his gaze at her, "This better not be an excuse to experiment on the Neo Drive..."

"What naaaaaaah!" Saturn swung her hands down and lurched her head back, throwing herself upright with a cheeky grin, "You ain't got anything to worry about!"

"...That's when I worry the most," Gabriel sighed but despite his overall cautious body language he turned away and remarked, "I will see you later Kairi."

He headed out the Pyramid and the very moment he was out of sight Saturn spun around and draped her upper body forward, letting her loose coat hang at the ground while one hand propped up her glasses.

"Alright lets get some tests going I wanna see all that baby can do! You can think of it as a good way to relieve stress too!" With a perhaps all-too sultry smile Saturn's glasses fogged up and her lips quivered, "Though if you ask me the best way to do that is-"

"I need a spaceship!" Without Gabriel breathing down her neck Kairi could freely be open and just LET IT ALL OUT.

Saturn threw herself upright and her eyes filled in her lens briefly, "W-Whoa ok easy there tiger! Mrrrow!"

After playfully clawing the air with one hand Saturn crossed her arms and reared her head back with a big smile, "So what's the occasion?"

"I..." Kairi pulled her head away and sucked her lips in, _"I got to tell her the truth."_

Kairi looked back and waved her hand out with a heavy look in her eyes, "I need to find my sister."

"Your sister?" Saturn perked up with shock, "Shina Aurora yeah? I know where she is! She's on Planet Plit!"

"H-Huh?" Kairi's hand drooped to the waist and her jaw slacked.

"Yeah! Gravitus had me build a transporter to give for her as a birthday present! Said she always wanted to go visit a guy named Mario!"

Kairi cringed and bit her lower lip.

"What a good, loving father!"

Kairi bit her lip harder. Saturn turned her head slightly and said, "You're going to break the skin if you bite any harder!"

Kairi shook her head and sighed. Then, tip-toeing around the whole "Gravitus is evil" thing, she quickly explained to Saturn how her information was a liiiiittle outdated.

"Huh? Cosmos Drive? Alex Whiter? Center of the universe?" Saturn shook her head like a maraca and Kairi nodded back.

"You have to believe me, its all true."

"Weeeeeeeell," Saturn tapped her foot on the ground for a scant few seconds while rationalizing this information, "From what I remember anything that goes in that big glowy orb can't come out. Seems like that'd make it a good of place as any to hide a big secret!"

Saturn crossed her arms and slanted her eyes with determination, "So if you say your sister's gone there then I'll put 110% belief in it and help you rescue her!"

"_Whew," _Kairi breathed a huge sigh of relief and laid a hand flat on her chest as she smiled, "Thank you Saturn. B-But you don't have to come with, I-"

"I wasn't planning on it! I'm a busy girl with a LOOOOT on 'er plate now that this construction side-job's over with!" Saturn turned sideways and pointed a pair of fingers at Kairi to imitate a pistol, "But you can bet yer bottom dollar I can get you a good ride!"

"Follow me!" Saturn 'fired' the gun and thrust her arm over her head, then swung it back down to lead the charge up the stairs. Kairi had to pick up the pace to keep up with her run. After reaching her floor Saturn swiped her bracelet, flinging something into the portal to cause something else to happen.

"_Science was never my strong suit..." _Kairi was now lamenting.

"TO MY LAAAAAIR!" Saturn bellowed with a mischievous tone as she vaulted right into the portal. Kairi dragged her feet through but got a bit more pep in her step upon seeing what Saturn's home base looked like.

It was about as big and technological as she expected. It wasn't subtle, but that was her flair. Stopping right on the spot Saturn flipped around without raising a foot and stamped her arms against her chest.

"Welcome to the garage of my great station...the Orbotronical!" Her voice echoed through the chambers and threw Kairi off-guard.

"This is just the garage?!" Kairi gasped, _"I take that back, she's over-the-top!" _

After her guest settled down Saturn proudly rubbed the front of her nose and smirked, "Uh huh! But I bet you already heard all this from that bad influence you hang around with."

"Mew was here...?" Kairi whispered.

"Oh you don't see him anymore? Good on you!" Saturn brightly smiled.

"N-N-No that's not...!" Kairi realized she was about to make the mistake of speaking on Saturn's terms. She laid a hand upon her exhausted bright red face and murmured, "WHY was he here?"

"Him and a couple buddies needed a ship for something important. Hesitant though I was to give it, my heart cannot ignore the cry of justice!"

"_Then he's not going to be around. That's...g-good..." _Kairi clutched her fist up near the center of her chest and her face remained red.

"Now, lets get you a ship!" Saturn was non-stop "go go go!" and left Kairi no time for her feelings. The two rounded the garage towards the smaller holding units and as they neared it Saturn whipped out her wristband and pulled one of the centermost ones out.

"This ship here's perfect for one or two people! Its not very comfy but boy howdy is it one of my fastest!" The glass window slid down and inside the cube was...another cube, made of a mix of metal and diamond alloys.

"Say hello to the Prism Cube!"

"...How surprisingly mundane." Kairi whispered to herself.

"Now!" Saturn exploded in volume, "Do you, Kairi Aurora, have experience riding space ships?!"

"W-What no...O-Of course not!" Kairi was in disbelief that she'd even ask.

Saturn's lips slumped and she contained a terribly long grunting fit inside of her petite lungs. Then her nostrils flared open and she tapped her fingers onto her elbows, "Golly gee when I was young I couldn't WAIT to go fly in space! You youngin's and your...GROUND and your...SKY. Ugh!"

She then playfully shook her head and remarked, "Guess you're just gonna have to wait for a pilot to show-"

"Beep beep! Beep beep!" Went her wristband. She looked down and her eyes perked up, "Oh...Never mind! Looks like Lady Luck's on your side!"

She waved a hand to the right to hail a ship coming back into its holding unit, then used her wristband to pull it out from the wall. The glass window slid down and a small stairway unfolded onto the floor. But the person riding it just jumped straight down onto the floor and slid a few feet out.

It was Jupiter, the amazonian powerhouse of the Planetary Aurians. Hard to forget someone like her. Kairi wasn't unused to tall people, even of her gender, but there wasn't anyone in Sancturia with such pronounced...muscles. Biceps that could break bricks with a flex, toned abs to cut meat on, chiseled back muscles, and thighs that necessitated men's shorts to fit them properly.

She was a whole lot of woman. But it wasn't the muscles that got Kairi feeling weak in the knees. It was what they could DO. Never did she think she'd pity a moon...

The red-haired titan turned around and started strutting confidently towards the two of them waving her hand up and smiling nice and wide.

"Hey Cat!" She hollered.

"Hey Jupes!" Saturn screamed back and ran on over. Jupiter hung her right arm out and stiffened it with a flex. Saturn hopped forward and rammed her own flexed bicep into it. Saturn bounced off a couple feet back and the two planted their fists on their hips to start laughing like a couple of hyenas.

Kairi's shoulders drooped and the inescapable feeling of being a third wheel suddenly crept up on her.

"So? How'd it go?" Saturn asked.

"The Climatiles settled down after I punched that active volcano back into the ground. Sis said she'll drop in and handle the rest later."

"Excellent! That's the tenth world's order restored! Who's awesome?" Saturn clicked a pair of pistol fingers at Jupiter, who mirrored them with a firm wink of the eye.

"We're awesome!" The two slapped hands and Saturn went sliding another few feet back.

"YEAH!" They then pumped their fists up beside their chests.

"...Uhhh." Kairi tried to be the whisper to break through this overwhelming display of loud noise.

Jupiter turned her head aside and then waved her hand out with a bright smile and yelled, "Hey! There's a surprising face!"

She rushed on over, stopping a foot before Kairi and carrying a breeze that blew the bits of sweat off Kairi's face. Kairi craned her head back and her pupils shrank. She was feeling like Jupiter was twice as tall as she was right now.

"Haven't seen you since that big brawl on the rocks! I heard from Cat you became the Neo Drive's wielder?"

Kairi slowly nodded her head and Jupiter punched a fist into an open palm, "Cool! We're going to spar later to test your mettle!"

"_Somewhere out there, a moon sweats and doesn't know why..." _Kairi squeezed her eyes shut and a gentle sigh fluttered out.

Saturn hopped on over with her hands in her droopy coat pockets and leaned up beside Jupiter, "Hey Jupes since you're free now can you help me out with a little something?"

"Anything for you Cat, what's up?" Jupiter turned to look her diminutive friend in the eyes.

"Kairi here wants to hitch a ride to the center of the universe to rescue her sister but doesn't have a pilot."

"Family rescue op eh? Think there's gonna a fight on our hands?" Jupiter grit her teeth and twisted her hand around her fist, cracking her knuckles to the sound of breaking stones.

"I dunno, what do you think Kairi?" Saturn tilted her head back.

"M-Maybe?" Kairi was only halfway sure.

"Eh no matter!" Jupiter turned to Kairi, propped her hands on her hips and grit a fiery but gleeful grin, "You got my help, free of charge!"

Kairi shook her head and insisted on saying, "I only need a ride there. I can handle the rest on my own."

"Haaaaa..." Jupiter hung her hand out and shook her head. She then clapped her hand against her thigh and thumbed the Prism Cube with the other, "C'mon, lets go!"

Jupiter ran on up to the ship and used a hand sensor to open the door, where she slid right on in and started it up in seconds.

Kairi widened her eyes and ran and hopped into the door when the ship was getting ready to take off without her. Before the door sealed shut Saturn waved her hands up and proclaimed, "Have fun you two, be back by supper!"

The unit returned to the wall and a door on the opposite side swung open. After a few seconds of start up the outside of the Prism Cube radiated rainbow energy and then fired off into the stars, leaving a bright and shiny trail behind it.

After a few minutes of winding down on a cushioned seat extending from the wall Kairi leaned back into it and let out a long sigh.

"_Cosmic Cage coordinates set. Auto-pilot mode engaged." _Right after the robotic voice announced that Jupiter spun around in her floating chair and lightly kicked off the control panel to float on over in front of Kairi.

"Alright you, think its time we had a chat." She settled her bare heels on the ground and did one more push to put herself up against the wall.

"About what?" Kairi said with diminishing interest.

"That 'I can handle the rest on my own' comment," Jupiter gave a pretty good impression of Kairi's voice there, then leaned in and shook her head a few times, "Nuh-uh, that ain't gonna fly on this ship."

"...I appreciate you wanting to help, but this isn't your problem-"

Jupiter wagged a finger around and shook her head some more, this time having her eyes closed, "Gonna stop you right there."

She opened one eye and asked, "You know why the Planetary Aurians have been so effective as a group after all these years?"

"Cause you're really strong?" Kairi half-assed a guess and it made Jupiter's smile extra bright after.

"Hehehe, I mean yeah!" She then shook her head some more and said, "But that's only part of it. Its like Cat always tells us 'Teamwork, works teams!'"

Jupiter crossed her arms over her chest and confidently explained herself, "We don't all get along but its never benefited us to start fights over it. I may be an ace detective but I'm crap when it comes to machines. I hate stuck-up snobs but sometimes a little dark magic went a long ways."

Jupiter reared her head back with a tight close-eyed smile and chuckled, "And I am TERRIBLE at dressing myself but my sister's got my back."

She then tapped at the scarf around her neck, "See this snug old thing? Belle made it for me back when we were vagabonds. Been keeping it safe on me ever since!"

Kairi tilted her head a little and Jupiter perked her eyes in interest, "Oh yeah. You know Belle as Neptune. Heheh, sorry, she gets embarrassed by her real name."

"Point is...!" Jupiter sat upright and crossed her arms firmly against her chest, "Being a solo act doesn't work! If you're lacking something, then work together with someone who has it! Two halves make a whole and all that!"

"..." Kairi slowly blinked her eyes and waved her hand around in a circle, "I...wasn't expecting to hear all that from you."

"Heh! The body's two strongest muscles are the heart," Jupiter pumped a fist on her chest twice, then poked the side of her head, "And the brain."

Kairi snickered and poked her own head, "No its not."

Jupiter widened her eyes and remarked, "T-That's why its important to train it constantly, s-so you don't forget stuff like that!"

"Hehehe!" Kairi giggled a little more and pressed her fingers up to hide her smile.

"There's that smile I knew you had!" Jupiter winked at her and even the force of that was great enough for Kairi to feel it.

Kairi perked up and laid her hands on top of her legs. Her fingers curled inward and the fingernails scratched the pant fabric.

Jupiter unfurled her arms and laid her hands down on her knees to lean in and ask, "Hey, tell me a bit about your sister."

"My...sister?" Kairi had to settle down from the brief bout of excitement before mustering up the courage to talk about this.

She turned her head aside and closed her eyes partway, "Shina is...a very kind-hearted and selfless person. She can also be kind of airheaded at times and is easily distracted..."

"She loves me very much. I probably am...was, the most important person in the world to her," Kairi struggled to shake the image of Alex Whiter in her head, "And...I relied on her maybe a bit too much."

"So why'd she go off to the center of the universe?" Jupiter asked.

"She wanted to save me from Gravitus and thought finding the Cosmos Drive would do the job. Some...some terrible things happened to her along the way, but she never stopped pushing forward and eventually made it to where it was."

"But now she's in a pickle and its up to her younger sister to bail her out," Jupiter nodded her head and chuckled, "Heh, classic role reversal. Reminds me a lot of when I reunited with my sister."

"Huh?"

"She didn't tell you about that? I'll have to sit you down and talk about it some other time." Jupiter said fondly. Then she closed her eyes and had a warm, contemplative smile.

"Being a big sister myself I feel a sort of kinship with yours," Jupiter raised her bare fist out and softly vowed, "So you have my word I'll put my all to help bring her back home! You got me beat in strength with the Neo Drive, so feel free to use my other talents to your advantage."

She pointed at her head and her smile widened a little more. Kairi felt an urge to smile herself, and slowly extended her fist to bump Jupiter's.

"I'm...glad you're the one who came along Jupiter."

Jupiter unfurled her fist, grabbed Kairi's hand and started shaking it hard, "Until you get your big sis back I'll be her replacement!"

"O-Ok...?" Kairi fluttered her eyes and somehow, managed to slip her hand free.

"If you don't mind me asking then..." Kairi gave Jupiter a straight look in the eyes, "What's the deal with you and Mars?"

Jupiter twitched and retreated into an upright pose, her confidence wavering as she hastily replied, "T-That's a talk for adults!"

"Hehehe!" Kairi grinned and enjoyed seeing the amazon get a little flustered.

The rest of the high-speed ride through space went by smoothly, ending off with the ship saying _"Exiting hyperspace now" _

Jupiter walked on up to the control panel and pushed her hands down to take a peek outside. All the stars normalized but the black depths of space were replaced with something beyond explanation. Bright green mixed with blue quickly drowned out the lights of the stars while a multitude of planetoids dotted their surroundings. And in the center of it all was a gigantic, bright blue light similar in appearance to the sun. There was no warmth coming from it, but instead something familiar.

"This is...aura?" Kairi stood up and couldn't attempt sensing anything without feeling like her brain would explode.

"And look at all the little planets!" Jupiter said in a giddy tone and tapped her fingers along the rim of the control panel, "There looks like juuuuust enough distance between them to go skipping around..."

Jupiter nudged Kairi with her elbow and whispered, "Hey, bet I can beat this ship to the blue light."

"Jupiter..." Kairi groaned.

"Nah just kidding! About going out, not the beating the ship part..." Jupiter glanced aside, tucked her hands behind her head and whispered, "I could do that with my eyes closed."

Kairi had long since planted her hands on the windows and drowned Jupiter out. Her eyes were alight with the glow from that lonely sphere of energy, entrancing her to move forward.

"...Shina's in there, I know she is."

"And, whatever is keeping her from getting out." Jupiter suspicions seemed right on the money.

It was a tense last few minutes waiting for the ship to reach the sphere's outer wall. It passed through inside with practically no trouble at all, save for the huge blinding light that filled the inside of the ship.

Kairi's heart was racing like a stallion in the wind, ripe with anticipation. The light settled down and allowed the two a full glimpse into what lied inside.

"No..."

"Way." Kairi's eyes widened the most when she saw not some mystical land or ancient ruins...But her home, Sancturia, in its entirety, floating in the the middle of this ether, azure void.

"That's...that's your home ain't it?" Jupiter remarked. Kairi didn't respond. There wasn't a word capable of describing this, or an answer that made sense.

The ship descended upon the edge of the city with Jupiter's help and landed safely on the ground. Jupiter took one quick looker at her scanners and started tapping her foot on the ground.

"I'm not getting any abnormal readings but...There's a lot of life signatures out there. Like, a whole city's worth of 'em."

Kairi's hands hung by her sides and her eyes wobbled. Jupiter patted her shoulder and got her to look her in the eyes.

"I'm gonna head out. You should come with and get a closer look."

She nonchalantly headed out the back door pointing towards the city itself and whether it felt right or not, Kairi couldn't turn back now. She took a deep breath, put her fist on her chest, and strolled out the door.

The _immediate_ moment she stepped foot on "Sancturia", a blue blur speeds by, stopping roughly ten feet to the right of them.

It was a certain blue bipedal hedgehog with an attitude and free spirit. He turned around, clapped his hands against his knees and then roughed the air with some boxing.

"Come on Spyro kick it up a notch, I'm barely sweating!" The blue blur turned around and bolted away, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

Soon after a yellow-horned purple dragon charged in and took a break, panting and heaving as a happy yellow dragonfly buzzed around his head.

"Whew...Sonic's giving us a run for our money Sparx," The dragon said to his flying friend, who buzzed back in an untranslatable language, "You're right buddy. We aren't out of this yet!"

The dragon continued charged forward after Sonic while Kairi stood there with her mouth dropped. Her gaze slowly panned towards the city, and her pupils shrunk to their smallest as she saw many others roaming the streets.

The red and green plumber duo. Various versions of the green tunic swordsman hanging out together. A brown-haired dual wielding swordsman dueling a red short-haired guy with a slight midriff. A white-haired guy angry looking guy with heterochromia arm wrestling a grumpy old man with brown-hair. And the sight of these strange but familiar figures stretched out all over Sancturia, blending in perfectly with exact copies of the Aurians Kairi knew from home.

Kairi stared and stared until her vision started blurring, and her head shook.

"Uhnnn..." With a sudden loss of breath, Kairi tilted to the right, and was quickly dragged to the ground unconscious...

_Next Time: Mystery of the Cosmos_


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The Divine Fool**

There was no sound, not even a heartbeat, bugging Kairi as she laid out drifting in a sea of black. Time is immaterial. It was nice. All those worries could just...disappear.

"Hey...!" A faint sound rippled and rocked Kairi. Her face quivered and she could feel something pushing from the right.

"Hey!" Still faint, if a little louder, the sound pushed the sea like a growing wave. Kairi's face quivered and her opening eyes parted the black sea. It was blurry on the outside, and sound continued to struggle to reach her.

"Come on, wakie wakie!"

"Mrrr...!" Kaiir sounded off with a barely audible groan and turned to face the voice.

Through her blurry vision she made out blonde hair on a person with fair skin. Weakly she murmured "Shina?" and tried to force her eyes open. A headache fought back all the while.

A quick and light slap on the face jolted her eyes awake after briefly forcing them shut. And now that she could see clearly again it was painfully obvious that Jupiter was the one over her. Jupiter slapped her one more time and then pulled back with a smile.

"Whew, there we go!"

Kairi found it hard to rise so Jupiter put a hand on her back to prop her up. The left side of her skull throbbed with soreness and a sharp noise rang in her ear drum. Fortunately both stopped when she laid a hand on the other side of her face.

"You took quite the nasty fall there." Jupiter said, taking a stand once she felt Kairi was stable. Kairi stared straight out and, though the cast of characters had rotated, it was still full of surreal, familiar faces.

And they were all a pat of daily life in "Sancturia". That was the hardest part to swallow. She'd already had plenty of days to accept that the worlds of fiction her sister adored were, in fact, real. But all these characters belonged to different worlds. Why were they all here? And...what did this have to do with Shina?

Kairi stood up slowly and then wobbled back into the side of their ship, and slumped down. Jupiter approached with concern in her voice, "Whoa easy there."

She had a gentle touch propping her up under her shoulders, "You'll fall down again. Just stay still for a bit."

Kairi gave a lazy look at Jupiter and murmured with envy, "You're taking this pretty well."

"Work with Cat long enough and you get used to all the crazy!" Jupiter boasted proudly before turning to her side and glaring at the people.

"Gotta say though...this is a new one." She clicked her tongue against her cheek and hummed deep in thought.

Kairi watched a stout skeleton with a blue jacket and an orange blue jeans wearing marsupial pass by in front of them and realized something.

"They aren't paying any attention to us..."

"Yeah, weird..." Jupiter stuffed her hands into her pockets and stuck her foot out, looking half-tempted to trip the next passerby.

She pulled away at the last second and commented, "Its like they're real and we're ghosts."

She then tilted her head back and asked, "You feel it though right?"

Kairi paused for a moment and then tried closing her eyes. Her face automatically scrunched up and the pain in her head flared up.

"Nnn...!" She grunted.

"Oh right, sorry." Jupiter forced a grin and resumed facing the crowd.

"I can sense these guys. If they're fakes, they're pretty damn good ones." That didn't make any of this easier to swallow.

"Y'know, I recognize a lot of these guys from Cat's reports. Heroes from other worlds, some of their friends...I'd assume a galaxy-wide kidnapping but..."

"They're all acting...normal." Kairi murmured, the pain in her head finally subsiding.

"Exactly. Too normal. Could be some form of mass hypnosis..." Jupiter's observations brought her back to Kairi, who wasn't exactly "subtle" with the distress on her face.

"Or...you've already pieced it together."

Kairi looked away with a mild frown then slowly shook her head to get the last bit of resistance out. It wasn't hard to deny, but that didn't make it easy to accept.

"Shina...played and read a lot of the works these characters are in."

Jupiter widened her eyes in revelation and then tapped one foot towards towards the false city. She propped her hands on her hips and swerved her body in place.

"I getcha. So no matter what she's at the center of this craziness."

"Ghh..." Kairi felt sick in her stomach and unconsciously spoke her thoughts, "Maybe we should call for back-up."

"No can do." Thus Jupiter's swift response took Kairi by surprise.

"I tried calling Cat while you were knocked out. This place is blocking out all outside communication. We're probably not getting out until we get to the bottom of this, just like Cat theorized," Jupiter seemingly took all this in stride, "But...that was the plan to begin with!"

"We're not going to solve this mystery standing around sightseeing," Jupiter turned all the way around and punched an open palm, "I'll hit the high road and you can take the streets! Just try not to interact with the others along the way."

Kairi had objections but they were left unvoiced when Jupiter went hopping along the rooftops. She had the grace and agileness of a cat outside of the heat of battle.

Kairi hung a hand out then pulled it back to her chest as a fist. She took a deep breath in a vain attempt to relax herself. Her skull was fine but she still had a minor headache.

The immediate area was clear so she dragged herself forward into this illusionary city. It was a little different inside than the regular Sancturia. Kairi noticed green pipes, loops, wild Pokemon and much more.

A multitude of objects lacking uniformity. For someone like Shina this really would be a paradise. It was also an obvious note but, Kairi didn't notice a single villain around.

"I came all this way to save Shina but..." Kairi's gaze went down and her tired eyes wobbled, "If she's behind all this, does...does she even want to be saved?"

Kairi found herself constantly changing directions to avoid contact with the others. She should've stuck out like a sore thumb but clearly the Aurian copies were helping her blend in. Still, that no one even looked at her let alone spoke made this a lonely, creepy walk.

The random landscape changes aside the general feel of Sancturia was the exact same. After a few minutes Kairi recognized which part she was in and decided to try and find her house. It had to be here right?

The answer was "Yes". In the same spot, with the same look, and the same safe, homely vibe. But here, the latter trait left Kairi nervous moving towards it.

Her heart raced with anticipation at the possibility of her reunion with Shina. Two long years of waiting could be over the moment she swung the door open.

Her voice shook off a couple years of age as she pulled the door open and excitedly announced, "Shina?!"

A cold air of silence exited the house and Kairi's smile soon sagged. She slowly walked inside and looked around. There were a couple subtle changes to things that declared to her that this was the way the house looked two years ago.

"Shina!" Kairi cupped her mouth and screamed her heart out in hopes of a reply, even her own echo would do.

Nothing. Just, nothing.

"Of course not..." Kaiir grumbled in a dragging tone of defeat and pressed on a little further inside. She found herself checking the small drawers near the stairs for a framer picture on top.

"Its still here." She felt some relief as she carefully lifted the photo up near her face.

It was a simple picture from two years ago. Kairi was depicted as shorter, cuter, and smiling while her big sister hung over her with arms wrapped in a hug and a much bigger smile on her face. Hovering behind them was their mother...

"Huh?" Kairi took a longer look at her currently faceless mother.

"Why is..." A shadow was cast over Kairi and she spun around with the picture clutched to her chest and bumped into the drawers.

Fortunately, it was just Jupiter.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"T-This is my home," Kairi said shaken, "What are YOU doing here?"

Jupiter slanted to the left and sighed, "I'm embarrassed to admit it but I forgot to ask you what your sister looked like."

She then swerved her head around with the curiosity of a kitten, "So this is your house huh? Nice."

Kairi pulled the photo out and turned it at Jupiter with a finger aimed at Shina. Eventually it caught the amazon's eye and she leaned in for a closer look.

"That's her?" Kairi replied with a nod, "She's really pretty and kind looking. I can see why you looked up to her."

Kairi took another look into the portal of yesteryear and her heart warmed, making her smile. Jupiter then remarked, "What's up with the woman above you two?"

Kairi flinched and placed the photo back where it belonged while answering, "That's supposed to be our mother?"

"Lady Auris? Doooooesn't she normally have a face?" Jupiter deduced, getting silence in response.

"Gotcha, ok!" Jupiter leaned a hand onto her hip and then asked, "One other thing. Is there anyone your sister reeeeally likes?"

"Besides me? Uhhh..." Kairi had a couple obvious candidates like her sister's old class friend Bobby and Alex Whiter...Something told her the latter wouldn't be recreated here though. But out of this cast of characters there was one Shina absolutely liked the most.

"Noel Vermillion," Kairi remarked, "Sis was always gushing about her and even got to meet her on her travels. She based her Gunslinger Drive fighting style after her too."

"Sounds like a start. What she look like?"

Kairi laid a hand on the side of her face and had trouble remembering, "Uhhh...blonde hair under a blue beret and an officer's uniform."

"That's more than enough thanks! I'll find one or the other and either tail them or let you know. You just keep doing what you've been doing!"

And once more Jupiter hustled off without Kairi getting a word in edgewise. It was comforting to know she had a strong pair of eyes on her side anyways.

Kairi took one quick tour of the house but saw nothing else indicating that Shina had been here. Disappointment hung like a storm cloud overhead as she left the house and ventured further into this "Sancturia".

She occasionally caught Jupiter perched atop the buildings to survey the city. She wasn't having much luck in this part of town so Kairi decided to push towards the center. And that was where the biggest changes started popping up.

First, the statue of Gravitus was gone. Of course. That's obvious. But it being replaced with a statue of Shina hugging a younger Kairi? Weird, but in a way that unfortunately made sense given everything else.

The second change, however, was the complete and utter removal of the Pyramid in exchange for a shrine depicting Shina...in a holy robe, with a dozen people kneeling in front of it in prayer.

"What...what's going on here?" Kairi froze before the grand shrine and stared at the flattering statues while the praying folk wandered off. She started trembling and bit her teeth down.

"C-Calm down Kairi its...its..." She clutched her fists and started talking in a haste, "Not what it looks like! There are...plenty of curvy, long-haired girls out there!"

Kairi forced her head up and with the way the statue looked down it was hard not to place Shina's silhouette over it...And it was a perfect fit. The curvature of her face, the simplicity and warmth of her smile. There was no one else they could belong to.

"Shina...Why?" She whispered as she fell to her knees.

"Kai...ri." It took her a moment to register the sound of her name and look up to the left, finding Jupiter atop a faraway house. She waved a hand at her and pointed the other down to the left.

"Kairi, hurry! I found them both!"

A jolt through Kairi's heart left her skin cold as she scurried on up over to Jupiter's location. She nearly tripped turning the corner the amazon pointed towards. A pair of blonde girls, one a near foot taller than the one in the beret, were rounding a store.

Kairi's heart raced and she hustled after them short on breath. By the time she rounded the store the two girls were heading around the block. But god...the tan pants, blue shirt, long curtain-like blond hair. She looked the same as when she had left.

Kairi started screaming her sister's name as she sprinted after her. The gap in speeds was great enough that Kairi was only thirty feet away when she rounded the corner. Panting, wheezing, hands on her knees and a long clear gap between them...Kairi thrust her head up and screamed, "SHINA!"

The two girls paused in place and the taller one started to turn. It had been two years since they'd seen or spoken to each other. Now, for the first time since Shina kissed her goodbye Kairi could look into her glistening green eyes and cast aside this illusion to believe that she was truly home.

Shina's face was frozen in a stiff look of surprise and a vacant gaze from her eyes. Kairi drowned out all other sound and years began to well in her eyes.

"I-It really is you...Shina..." Kairi's wobbling smile and raised arms anticipated her sister's embrace once more. Shina ran towards her and Kairi closed her eyes to sniffle.

But then, a breeze swung past her left and Shina had ran past her. Kairi's eyes swung open and her body went stiff, her mouth partially agape.

"How's my favorite little sis in the whole wide world?" Shins said lovingly to an unknown person.

Kairi slowly creaked her head back and her eyes widened all the way. Shina bent down and firmly wrapped her arms around a two-years younger reflection of Kairi.

The petite Kairi squirmed with a pleased smile as she murmured, "S-Shina...you don't have to hold me so tight..."

"Awww yes I do! Cause you're just so huggable!" Shina joyously declared.

Kairi turned around and weakly raised an arm up from her waist, "S-Shina I'm right..."

The fake Noel Vermillion strolled up to the sister's embrace and cried jealously, "Awww...I wish I had my own little sister."

Shina stood up and patted the petite Kairi on the head, "Isn't it great? They're the best!"

She then looked down at her and enthusiastically asked, "Sis, wanna hang out with us?"

"O-Of course!" The petite Kairi perked right up.

"Sweet! Lets go to the juice bar!" Shina pumped her fist in the air.

"A-Again?" Noel meekly remarked, "Haaa...you're the boss Shina."

The three turned and walked away. Kairi stretched her hand out and desperately pleaded, "Shina! I'm right here! Answer me! Shina! Shina!"

She disappeared into a growing crowd and Kairi squeezed her fist. She dropped to her knees and knuckles and tears fell to the ground.

"Hic...! Hic...!"

…

"How weak such a bond can be...When it can easily be replaced by a fake."

Kairi tensed up and turned her head. Standing in her shadow was the vile, duplicitous elven king, Aurian Pluto, having seen better days...Yet still looked as smug as ever.

He raised his brow in a condescending manner and murmured, "Look at those tears...I had no idea I wasted my breath on a baby."

Kairi bit down a scowl, slammed her Angel Drive, and rose so her staff would be drawn against the king's neck. He lurched his head back with disgust in his ferocious glare.

"YOU...!" Kairi growled, shoving the staff tip into his nape, "What did you do to my sister?!"

'If denial is how you choose to cope with reality then I have nothing to say," Pluto closed his eyes and whispered, "Except that I have nothing to do with this."

"Yeah right..." Jupiter suddenly came crashing down behind Pluto and cracked her knuckles, earning a mere aside glance from the Disgraced King, "This kinda stuff fits your M.O., dark elf."

"Hmph, I knew I smelled ogre sweat," Pluto said in a tactless tone, "Last I checked the dark filth capable of this deception flowed in your kin."

"Ck...!" Jupiter grit her teeth and buckled her fists down by her hips, "You certainly chose a fitting place to hide that massive ego of yours."

"This was hardly by choice..." Pluto stared unflinchingly towards Kairi, "After the fate you and that brute Overlord left me in I spent time regaining my strength so I could regroup with Gravitus. As it turned out I was just in time to save his life."

"And how was I rewarded? By him impaling his scythe into my flesh and draining my aura to recover."

Jupiter gave a dry shrug and murmured, "You had that coming. Gravitus had the closest eye on your the whole time you worked under him."

Pluto glared aside and grumbled, "I can see that now."

He held his head high and continued, "He broke off the rock we were on and hurtled me towards the Sun. I helplessly drifted through space for two days while my body healed in futility...Or so I believe. Be it a stroke of luck or divine intervention, the Sun was transformed into a mighty black hole and swallowed me whole."

"My Divine Drive kept me alive as the crushing, twisting pull of that laceration threatened to devour me whole. Endless days and nights of agony passed before I was spat out in an unfamiliar space, hurtling towards the cage we find ourselves trapped in."

Pluto glared at Kairi one more time and his voice carried the firm disposition of his former title, "And when I arrived this place looked exactly as you see it now, an illusionary paradise for a delusional _girl_."

"Tsk..." Jupiter roughly rubbed the back of her head and admitted, "You're a snake but you're not a liar."

Kairi's eyes wobbled and she clutched her staff tight, "Well I don't believe him."

"Hmph, stuck between two aggressive harpies, whatever shall I do...?" Pluto slowly raised his hands in surrender when suddenly, Jupiter flinched and pulled her fist back.

"Kairi, his swords!" It was a warning too late to matter. Pluto swiftly called his swords forth with magic and had one blade behind and before Kairi's neck. Jupiter's punch was halted an inch from the back of the king's skull.

Kairi's eyes froze wide-open and she was hesitant to breathe, a luxury Pluto then enjoyed to his fullest.

"A little surprise and you turn doe-eyed in an instant. What sort of farce is this?" Pluto squeezed his grip and shook Kairi with a meager turn of his blades, "I can see now how Gravitus survived. You lack the balls to take a life when it truly matters. Your...intimidation, for lack of a better term, was a disgrace befitting your bloodline."

"Power is handed out to you 'destined children' like candy these days. That isn't the will of the gods, but the seeds of chaos being sewn by the devil! Emotional, rash children running around with god-like power...What an easy way for him to gather souls."

"But mine is truly a divine blessing, and my continued existence spites the devil's handiwork. I will rise to providence and one day claim the throne as the reigning king of the universe. And there's nothing you can do about it, because you lack the drive to face REAL hardships, _Neo Child_."

Kairi's hand shook as she pushed her staff up and Pluto's eyes flared open, thrusting authoritative pressure deep into her soul.

"Get that disrespectful stick out of my sight." With his chilling bellow, Kairi lowered her weapon and Pluto sighed.

"Weak. Weak and pathetic." Pluto dispelled his swords and turned aside, averting his gaze from his assailants as he wandered off.

Jupiter scoffed and cracked her knuckles, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere I please," Pluto boasted, "Your only means of stopping me is too paralyzed to do anything but stare at the ground and brood."

"Ch...!" Jupiter clicked her tongue and waved her hand out as she exclaimed, "You talk tough but face it...You haven't figured anything out about this place."

Pluto stalled and leered back with a quiet scoff, "If you believe that then you better put that ogre brain to work and find us a way out."

He continued to walk and Jupiter merrily shooed him off with a warning, "Don't wander too far! Cat's got a nice cold cell waiting for you back home!"

When the elven king was gone Jupiter shook her head and murmured, "God he's an asshole."

Kairi dropped out of her Drive and mumbled "Bastard", to which Jupiter nudged her in the shoulder and said, "Ah he can cram it. He's just mad you got the Neo Drive while he was stuck eating space dust!"

Kairi's eyes wandered in the direction Shina went down and she hopelessly whispered aloud, "She didn't even notice me..."

"Your sister?" Jupiter got a weak nod in response, "Pfft, that ain't right. Hell, none of this is right!"

She turned and spread her arms out at the city, then promptly laid her hands on her hips. She looked aside and noticed Kairi trembling.

"A-And...she had a young version of me with her. Why? Shina..." Her voice was turning mute as a result of her retreating into herself for some form of comfort.

Jupiter loudly stamped a foot down and provided the jolt needed for Kairi to re-engage with reality. Kairi turned around and saw Jupiter crossing her arms full of confidence.

"Hey, that sounded like quitter talk to me!"

"N-No...of course not." Kairi hastily mumbled.

"Good! Cause we're getting to the bottom of this right now!"

"You...figured it out?" Kairi had reasonable cause to doubt.

"Mostly," Jupiter grit her teeth and punched a palm, "Don't know how or why but I know what or who is behind your sister's strange behavior."

"Think about it. We get in here but can't get out? The name 'Cosmic Cage' isn't for show...This place is a prison!"

A spark of inspiration and anger shone in Kairi's watered eyes and she murmured, "And this prisoner...is preying on Shina?"

"Could very well be."

"But the Cosmos Drive is here too..."

"Hmm..." Jupiter paused and closed her eyes to think, "Smells like a connection to me."

Jupiter sallied forth and waved Kairi to follow her, "C'mon, lets catch up with your sister!"

The two hurried through the streets of this fake city and wound up finding Shina and her two fakes hanging out in front of a juice bar. They stayed their distance from them. Kairi shook seeing the little copy of herself sharing a giggle and juice with Shina. Jupiter, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes in disgust.

"Ok, that's real messed up."

"What are we going to do about it?" Kairi turned and saw a bit of hesitation from Jupiter biting her lower lip.

"I'm definitely feeling bad vibes around your sister...Mrrr..." Jupiter took a deep breath and then glanced deep into Kairi's eyes, "Do you trust me?"

Kairi stared at her for a while and then back at her sister. She looked so happy but it was an unnatural sense of bliss. This world, these people, her smile...It was all one big lie perpetrated by a horrible figure in the shadows.

Kairi firmly glared at Jupiter and said, "I want my sister back."

"You got it!" Jupiter cricked her neck and wound up a punch by rolling her shoulder, "Unless I'm wrong in which case...she'll be paste."

Jupiter bolted straight ahead with a jetstream at her back. Kairi tensed up as Jupiter pulled her fist back and swung it out like a piston at Shina.

At the last possible second the azure ethereal projection of a short, feathery robed figure appeared and raised their arms. A wavy barrier caught the full force of the punch and a shockwave smashed through everything past the sides of it.

The breaking debris, flying people and even the atmosphere itself turned still and cold. Kairi saw her own breath as she ran closer, stopping behind Jupiter after she hopped back.

"Found you, you ugly..." After the barrier went down Jupiter raised her voice in bewilderment, "Huh?! You?!"

A few bestial clicks unfurled from the man's shroud as they harshly reprimanded his assailant, "You should have left well enough alone..."

"Shina!" Their declaration sparked Shina's attention, "It seems we have some intruders that are needing to be dealt with."

Shina narrowed her eyes with a fire lit inside and Kairi felt uneasy watching her stand with determination. She swung her arm out and said, "Stand back sis, this might get messy!"

She passed through the blue ghost and raised her right arm before her chest, revealing an azure bracelet full of sparkles above her original bracelet.

"...Uh-oh." Jupiter murmured.

"Show them true cosmic power," The ghost hovered behind and snarled in delight, "My goddess."

"You got it!" With an immense pep in her voice Shina tapped the new bracelet and slowly it began to dissolve into her skin.

Shina raised off the ground and spread her arms out. Her skin and clothes were peeled off like shreds of paper, replacing it with a body of azure space. Living, breathing stars and miniature galaxies drifted through her form. Bright light unfurled from her back, manifesting a pair of see-through wings made of ancient runes. And her hair now flowed like a golden nebula.

A calm air rippled out below Shina's feet as she remained hovering a foot off the ground. Kairi was frozen, Jupiter was trembling. The force of Shina opened her eyes pushed the two back and revealed compound eyes full of emeralds greens and sparking white.

"Now..." The ghost waved their hand out and chuckled in a vile tone, "Eliminate them both."

"S-Shina?" Kairi clutched a hand over her chest and pleaded with all her heart, "Its me Shina! Can't you recognize me?!"

"I recognize you..." Shina's voice echoed like the choir of a thousand angels but sounded cold and dismissive, "You're a deception planted her by Gravitus or Yukari. And I won't fall for them anymore!"

_Next Time: Gathering Forces_


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Stand Up and Fight**

_Sancturia, in the past..._

Mew's roughly scratching the back of his head and shaking off a bit of shock so he could think straight for one damn second.

"Ok I'm sorry can you repeat that?" He asked of Auris as she leaned against the back of her couch. She didn't take any time to repeat herself.

"Kairi has left for space to get her sister back." Her tone now a little more biting.

Mew raised his brows and glanced up from the corner of his eyes to say, "Well you can't just drop a bombshell like that and not tell us WHERE. Space is huge! ASTRONOMICALLY huge."

Mew cracked a slight laugh while Joe Dark groaned behind him. Auris creased her eyes shut and dug her fingers into the fine leather, tapping them along one at a time.

"I won't tell you." She said firmly.

"Keeping secrets again?" Riku said, casting judgment upon her with his tone.

Auris shook her head slowly and clarified, "This is something Kairi must do herself. Its a family matter."

Joe Dark dug his hands into his pockets and grumbled with a forced attempt at caring, "Well you heard the woman, its not our business."

Mew swayed to the right and wagged his finger in Joe Dark's face like he was reprimanding a puppy, "You don't get to decide that buster."

Joe Dark narrowed his eyes and grumbled loudly to himself for a bit and then turned his gaze to the right and remarked, "Kairi's that girl who fought Justek right? She seemed strong."

Joe Dark sneered and glared at the back of Mew's head, "Stronger than you even."

Mew glared out from the corner of his eyes and then turned to Auris and came across a little more strongly asking, "Come on Auris you know we'll wear you down eventually so just save us the time and tell us."

"I will not budge." Auris said, coming across a bit like a child.

"Ughhh..." Mew threw his arms down and head back and groaned. Joe Dark, meanwhile, pulled out his dagger and pointed it at Auris.

"Perhaps this'll make you talk..." Joe Dark's eyes narrowed aggressively but when he took one step forward Mew weakly pushed his wrist down and sighed.

"No, Joe Dark, no," Mew gave a tired look at Auris' teeny smile, "It doesn't work on her anyway..."

Joe Dark lowered his dagger and was suddenly made to stand aside when someone entered the front door.

"I sensed a disturbance, is everything alright?" The firm voice belonged to one Gabriel, who was soon caught in the gaze of the four presiding in the house.

He glanced at them all and paused upon Joe Dark with a wary look and his hand motioning towards his sheathed katana. Joe Dark glared back, with this itch in the back of his mind that they'd encountered each other before.

Before this could be pursued Mew started wagging a pointer finger at Auris and exclaiming, "Gabriel! Kairi's gone off to space and Auris isn't telling us where she went!"

Gabriel paused towards Mew and started closing his eyes. His deep breathing signified he was bothered about something.

"I should've known there was more to her being there," Gabriel creaked his eyes open slightly and muttered, "Especially with Catherine in the area..."

Mew dropped his hand and remarked, "You saw her today?"

Gabriel gave a quick nod but remarked with confidence, "But I wouldn't fret over it. Kairi's just getting her sister back at long last. It won't require a fight."

Mew's arms slumped and Joe Dark gave him a snide remark of, "Told you so."

"I can't shake the feeling that she's in trouble though..." Mew mumbled to himself while rubbing the back of his head.

He then happened to look up and see Gabriel glancing across the room, prompting him to then look where he looked and see that Auris was quietly averting her gaze towards the ground.

But Riku caught on to this faster than both of them and was thus quick on the draw to ask, "Auris, **where** is Kairi's sister?"

Auris clutched tighter onto the leather couch and then gave half a look up towards Gabriel. The subtle quiver of her lower lip restrained what she was about to say for just a moment...

"She went to the Cosmic Cage at the center of the universe."

Those few words shifted the atmosphere in an instant. Gabriel tensed up with a look of pale-faced horror the likes of which made even Mew get goosebumps. The man tightly clutched the handle of his katana and trembled.

Then, without moving his eyes, he said in a quiet, but panicked haste, "Mew, take your friends, and go find Catherine at the Pyramid..."

"...Gabri-?"

"Now. Mew," Gabriel firmly assured this would be the last word on the matter, "I will catch up in a moment..."

Mew slowly turned to Riku and Joe Dark and waved his hand towards the door a few times, "Well you heard the man, the fight's back on!"

Riku moved without hesitation but Joe Dark dug his feet into the ground and said with disinterest, "Well good luck you two, I guess I'll man the homefront."

Mew spun back through the door and said, "You're coming with us Joe."

"Ugh, **why**? I have nothing to do with any of this!"

"...He has a point." Riku admitted.

Mew shrugged his shoulders and said, "We probably _shouldn't_ be butting in, but my heart's telling me its the right call. And besides..."

Mew got a tinge more serious in his eyes as he remarked, "I owe it to Alex to help save the girl he loved the most."

Joe Dark's eyes perked up behind Mew and Riku's notice. After they were a few seconds away he clutched his fists deep in his pockets, deafening the crunch of his knuckles.

"Ghhh...! You two dunderheads can't do this without me and you know it!" He screamed as he hurried out the door after them.

Gabriel had kept his eyes on Auris the whole while. She retreated from the couch and turned her back on him, but that could do so little to avert his judgmental gaze. He reached deep inside of himself, fighting back a yearning sense of confusion, for what ultimately boiled down to one, single word.

"How?"

Auris folded her arms under her breasts and gripped the sides of her body. Her stance was discomforting and distant, like she was standing a mile away.

Gabriel curled his lips and placed a hand against his chest, pleading to Auris with his heart, "This was meant to be a secret I'd carry to the grave, Lady Auris."

"I know," Auris tightened her fingers' grip and coldly looked over her shoulder, "But it was never meant to stay a secret forever. At one point in time, you slipped...And that's all I needed."

Gabriel opened his eyes at a snail's pace and shook his head. He shaped his hand into a fist and dragged it out in a swift, angered swing.

"Shina was only supposed to meet with Alex Whiter. If I had known you were going to go further than that, especially in this manner, even I would have opposed you on it."

"I know." Auris repeated even quieter than before.

"Is that all you can say? As if the burden of foreknowledge makes your decision any less baffling?" Gabriel's voice bore the weight of his and Auris' guilt, which he then pushed on her like a father would their child, "You sent your daughter to _Hell_ with no guarantee she'd return."

"I had faith in the strength of her heart." Was Auris' defense.

"_Strength_?" Gabriel scoffed and swung a firm pointer finger towards the door, "That _thing_ your ancestors sealed away doesn't care how strong your heart is. I am living proof of that."

Auris looked back ahead, hiding an uneasy expression behind a drape of shadow.

Gabriel stood tall and his glare never waned in intensity. He shook his head and could only express himself with sorrow and disappointment.

"I stood by your side all this time. I may not have always agreed with your decisions but I had faith that you thought of everything but this...?" Gabriel taking one step forward put Auris on edge, and even the samurai had to withdraw his foot in realization that he could not go as far as his emotions wanted him to.

"..." Gabriel closed his eyes and breathed deeply from his nose, "I saw your hidden room in the Ten Sages' temple."

Auris quivered as her most loyal ally left her feeling bare, "Cinder altars to dedicate the fallen. One hundred and twenty in total."

Gabriel punctuated his point with the toughest question she would ever receive, "How many children did Gravitus force you to bear?"

Auris turned around one firm step at a time and with her eyes slanted raised her voice, "Get to the point Gabriel."

"I want to believe that you loved each and every one of those children equally, even as you watched them die or be turned against you..." Gabriel clenched his fists and leaned forward with a shout, "So how...how could you bring yourself to dig Shina's grave, and then bury Kairi alongside her?!"

Auris' eyes widened and her body lost its firm, imposing stature. She slumped down, appearing as half the woman she usually was. And gently, with a hand on the side of her face to hide her distraught eyes, she murmured, "I...don't know anymore."

Her body trembled with a cold as Gabriel watched on. He was mad. But he wasn't heartless. This was the worst he had seen Auris appear in two-thousand years.

"...Lady Auris, what's going on?" He felt was the only thing he could ask.

Auris split her fingers and Gabriel got a good look into her eyes. Though watery, it was clear that there was something different about them. She pulled her hand down and murmured, "I...lost my clairvoyance."

"Lost your...?" Gabriel gasped and shook his head in disbelief, "But the Anti-Genesis Theorem still persists. If it didn't, you'd be dead."

"...I don't want to explain it to you." Auris firmly remarked, and Gabriel, respectfully, left it there.

"Hrrmm..." Gabriel closed his eyes and took on a more empathetic tone, "I understand now. You're scared."

Auris retreating her face away from his sight was enough to confirm that.

"You had no choice but to rely on that for so long just to survive. So without it, you think it makes you useless...?" Gabriel shook his head even as Auris continued to give him the cold shoulder.

"I watched you grow from a baby to adulthood. You were a strong woman even before you had clairvoyance. If you wanted something, you'd go for it. If you felt adventurous, you'd go as far as to disobey your father. And if something was on your mind, you'd say it."

Gabriel opened his eyes and glimpsed at Auris. She curled her hands under her elbows and briefly glanced over her shoulder.

"But more importantly, you've always been kind underneath it all. Its the part of you Sarajin was most attracted to..." Gabriel put a hand on his katana's hilt and turned sideways between Auris and the door, "And I know that's why you'll make this right, Lady Auris."

Auris grimaced as the clacking of Gabriel's armor drew her towards his departure out the door. With one last turn back he said, "We no longer have to cower under Gravitus' shadow. Me, you, Kairi, Shina...We can finally be the family you've always wanted."

He laid one hand against the side of the door and kept his head turned over his shoulder to say, "But, only if that's **what** you want, Lady Auris."

He quietly stepped out the door and in seconds the sound of his armor left Auris' ears.

Silence, a time to recollect. Alone, yet again. Auris turned around and surveyed the room. Her eyes rested upon the stairs, watching as the phantom of her first child walked down and left the door. She could barely recall their face, or their name...

A second child descended. Then a third. Then a fourth. They continued in a line that grew less blurred over time, culminating in Shina, and then Kairi. Those who left feeling hatred towards Auris for being lied to outnumbered those who never even got the chance to do so...

Auris walked over to the drawers beside the stairs, parting her way through the phantoms like they were a mist of snow. She reached for the top drawer and pulled it open, finding a photo from two years ago of her with Shina and Kairi.

She pulled it out and stared deep into the vision of the past. Her eyes dripped tears onto the glass not long after.

"...I was never that girl, Gabriel." She whispered.

As she started getting misty-eyed she sought clarity in her memories, setting her mind back fourteen years ago...

_Auris sat on the couch, cradling a sleeping baby Kairi in her arms while keeping her warm with a blanket. Her tiny mouth was open to breathe and her eyes was shut in bliss._

_Auris stroked her daughter's tiny hairs with the back of her hand and smiled without knowing it. _

"_Mom mom mom!" A young Shina bounded into the room, barely able to peek over the arm of the couch. Auris propped her finger up to gently quiet her._

"_Shhh, your sister's sleeping..." She turned her doe-eyes upon the baby, unaware that Shina was climbing over the arm of the couch to plop down on her knees next to her._

_Shina leaned over Kairi and grinned, "She's so cute when she's asleep."_

"_She looks a lot like you Shina," Auris brushed Kairi's hair again, "Her soft hair, her bright eyes..."_

_She reached over and pinched Shina's cheeks, "Her pinchable cheeks."_

"_Hahaha, stop it mom that's ticklish!" Shina tried to retreat but Auris pinched just a little bit harder. A tinge of pain suddenly struck Auris' chest, and she withdrew her hand slowly._

_She set it to rest on her lap and looked at Kairi's face. She smiled, ever slightly, ever subtly..._

"_...You'll be a good big sister to her one day Shina." Auris murmured._

"_Uh-huh!" Shina childishly nodded her head up and down repeatedly, then laid her hands flat on her knees, "I'll feed her, play with her, love her with aaaaaaaall my heart, and do everything I can to protect her!"_

_That same pain hurt deeper in Auris' chest, and her eyes began to sag. Shina closed her eyes and happily declared, "Cause that's what family does mom!"_

That voice echoed in the present, and Auris closed her eyes to force more tears free onto this fabrication of happiness in her hand. She raised a sleeve to wipe her face dry while pulling her head up, and laying the photo atop the drawers.

She withdrew her arm and behind them lied eyes slanted in determination, with a fire burning behind them.

"...But maybe now, I can be." Auris turned aside and for a brief moment, felt goosebumps all up her arms. The wind quietly blew through the house.

She steeled her fist against her chest and after closing her eyes to smile, she turned to face the door and rushed out at blistering speeds.

No person or place would be an obstacle in her path towards the temple her father once called home. Though its dusty halls were empty, there were many secrets Auris had hidden away inside. Gabriel had merely found **one** of them.

She forced open the rusted doors with her palms and traversed the dust filled floors without breathing a breath. She laid her hand upon the secret door on the opposite side and strolled down the dark, damp hall at a fevered pace.

Her eyes stayed wide and focused on the straight and narrow. As the embers of her fallen kin lit up her surroundings she reached towards the brightest flame in the center of the room and, for a brief moment, hesitated.

She then curled her hand and dug it into the flame. Her skin burned to black in seconds but she kept her strength going forward to reach a hidden switch underneath. Her hand healed the moment she pulled out of the flames, and the large altar began to hiss.

It uprooted a large, rectangular glass case from the ground. Inside rested a brown and gold coffin untouched by the hands of time. But that wasn't her target. There was a dark gray, lifeless cube with straight lines etched in an undefined pattern around it lodged into the side of the case.

Upon reaching out for it she hesitated again, then snatched it in her hand with incredible force.

"No more graves." She murmured, closing her eyes as she turned around and departed the room with the cube tucked under her sleeve.

_Meanwhile, with Mew's group..._

Mew, Riku and Joe Dark waited outside the portal to Saturn's place for Gabriel to catch up with them. Mew leaned against the wall and impatiently tapped his toes on the floor. Fortunately, it was only a few minutes later that Gabriel came up the stairs.

And his first response was to ask, "Why are you still here?"

Mew shoved off the wall and declared, "Well I ain't dealing with Saturn alone!"

"...I suppose you're right," Gabriel sighed, never stopping for a second as he quickly passed the group by with a stern look in his eyes, "But we can't waste anymore time."

He entered through the portal and the other three followed after. Even upon reaching Saturn's base of operations Gabriel continued walking forward. His aura was so tense that Mew kept his distance, and easily imagined him slanting his eyes.

Saturn was pacing about in the garage while looking at a clipboard. It was impossible to ignore all the noise Gabriel was making for long though.

She sprung to face him and had a brief look of shock as he asked, "Huh? Gabriel? You **never** barge into my HQ like this!"

She had a wry smile that lasted about as long as Mew and the others escaped her notice. She tilted her head towards them and said with mild disdain, "Huh?! Why're you back ag-"

"This isn't the time to fool around Catherine." Gabriel stopped a couple feet away and propped a hand up to the hilt of his sword.

Saturn threw her hand out towards the others and declared, "Don't tell me you let them conscript you into begging me for another ride into-"

"CATHERINE!" Gabriel's roar shook the very foundation of the space station, and dropped Saturn's jaw to the point that her glasses nearly slid off her nose.

"This is a Protocol ENIGMA level threat." He said in a much, much quieter but firmer tone.

Saturn slowly nudged her glasses up into place and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. She dropped her clipboard, rushed for her wristband and resumed her high-energy attitude.

"Well why didn't you say so sooner?!" She tapped a few keys on here holographic keyboard faster than the human eye could catch and then slid across it to shut it off. She turned to the left and a garage larger than the last few Mew had gotten rides from slid out.

Inside was a ship similar in build to the Saggitarius Arrow Mk IV, but bigger and with more jets and wings to help it out. The color was also black and yellow.

"Presenting the Saggitarius Double-Shot Mk III! Bigger, better, faster, strong..." Saturn's enthusiasm deflated with the sagging of her shoulders and she sheepishly nudged her glasses up, "Ah forget it. We ain't got time."

She then looked up at Gabriel and firmly crossed her arms before her chest, deferring leadership right over to him, "So where we going boss?!"

"The Cosmic Cage." He said without hesitation.

Saturn's eyes bulged all the way out and she forced a couple coughs. Pinching the side of her glasses she remarked, "T-There?! Oh for the love of cookies and milk, what'd I send Jupes into this time?!"

She bounced straight over to her ship and used her wristband to force the door open and the ramp to slide down. She climbed to the top, grabbed one of the supports and spun back to face the others.

"Is this our full group? I'm counting one, two, three, four, five..."

"Six." Auris' soft voice spooked Mew and slowly turned the others' gaze towards the portal as she walked in, strutting with an air of confidence the boy Overlord was a little more familiar with.

Riku was stunned silent while Joe Dark couldn't help but comment, "Heh, you sure you're up for this granny?"

Not a second later Auris flicked her wrist towards Joe Dark and a circular shield rammed into his gut, grounding him on his back another second after. The shield flew back in a perfect arch and Auris raised and slid her arm through the lace straps, a perfect fit.

She then lowered the shield by her hip and walked right by Joe Dark without pausing for a second, "Try and keep up, Joe Dark."

Joe Dark laid there with his arms sprawled out and grumbled, "I don't like her."

Mew bent down to help him up while joking, "Heh, join Riku's club then."

Joe Dark helped himself up and the three of them ran ahead past Auris to enter Saturn's ship. Gabriel lagged behind momentarily. A proud smile swiftly turned cautious as he looked down and saw a cube hiding in the shadows of Auris' left sleeve.

He closed his eyes and whispered, "You don't need to go this far, Lady Auris."

"..." Auris closed her eyes and continued walking, "This is what I want Gabriel."

Gabriel remained uneasy up until they took off from Saturn's station. Saturn helmed the ship's controls and after regulating all the systems she spun around in her chair, the only one with a comfy back mind you, and addressed her small crew.

"Alright if we blast through at full power we should catch up with the others before they get in trouble!"

Everyone else sat on their mildly comfy floating chairs. Auris stayed detached from the others, secretly eyeing the cube she brought along. After a short period of silence, during which Saturn confidently crossed her arms and smiled, Mew raised his hand.

"Yeah actually speaking of that," He looked over at Gabriel and leaned down, planting his hands over his knees, "What kinda trouble _are_ we talking about here?"

Joe Dark grit his teeth and growled, "I still don't even know what a goddamn Aurian is."

Mew waved his hand aside and murmured, "We'll get you up to date later, this is more important."

Gabriel closed his eyes and an unsettling atmosphere permeated the enclosed shape in seconds. He held his hands together above his legs and waited until all eyes were on him to speak.

"Years of Aurian history has been lost to time, including our origins. But there is one being who exists as possible proof of what we used to be..." Gabriel spoke in a grandiose, yet ominous tone, "The Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage."

"He is beyond and by far the oldest living Aurian, dating back millions of years ago...And it is no exaggeration to say that were it not for him, Sancturia as we know it now would never have existed."

"He sounds...pretty mystical," Mew remarked with a mix of confusion and awe, "But...is he our enemy?"

"...His motives are complex," Gabriel gave Mew a direct glance and answered properly, "But they are not selfless. In pursuing his goals he inadvertently created the Planetary Aurians and tormented the Ten Sages three generations prior to Auris' time."

Mew widened his eyes but it was Saturn who got the leg up on him in expressing shock, "Whoa whoa WHOA!"

Gabriel faced her as she snapped her fingers up by her face and declared, "THAT guy was the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage?! Really?! Why's this the first I'm hearing of this?!"

"Because," Gabriel hung over and let out a long sigh, "He had a hand in the crime I swore my eternal servitude to atone for. And that vow forbade me from speaking of his existence."

"The crime you committed?" Mew hadn't forgotten the vow Gabriel had mentioned when they fought.

"...It is my greatest shame," Gabriel laid a hand on the side of his head and gave it a rough shake, "The fiend swayed me with honeyed words of fixing the universe and making things perfect for Aurians again. I tasted some of his power, and it cursed my body with immortality...And this green skin."

"Hmph, I wondered what was up with the Jolly Green Giant shtick." Joe Dark remarked.

Mew crossed his arms and in his head flashed the appearances of the other Planetary Aurians, Neptune and Uranus in particular.

"So this curse affected everyone else?"

"Yes, but of our group only Mars and Pluto retained their normal skin color."

Mew blinked a couple times then slowly swerved to look at Saturn. Saturn fluttered her eyelashes and crossed her arms over her body, feeling like Mew was undressing her with his eyes.

In reality Mew stuck to her normal skin color and remarked, "So what's up with you?"

"Hahaha!" Saturn couldn't stop herself from showing off when science was involved, "Its a simple matter of camouflage! Check THIS out!"

With one quick slap of her wristband Saturn's skin pigment swiftly turned lemon yellow. Mew nearly reeled back out of his seat and dryly chuckled.

"Ha...ha..." Mew fished his brain for some kind of compliment, "H-Hey, yellow compliments...violet?"

Saturn lowered her head with a bit of red in her cheeks and while hastily turning her skin back to normal she proclaimed, "Not fair, you tricked me cretin!"

"Cut the tomfoolery!" Joe Dark exclaimed and burned his gaze at Gabriel while aggressively summoning his dagger, "So long story short, we got to kill an old man to rescue those idiots?"

Gabriel glared at Joe Dark to restrain his temper with some success, "It is not that simple."

"What I don't get..." Riku remarked, "Is **why** this Sage did that to you."

"...Whatever motivations the Sage had, only the Ten Sages at the time knew," Gabriel slowly shook his head and gave his utmost honest recollection of events, "The Sage was incredibly powerful. Even the ten strongest Aurians alive working together stood no chance. The threat he posed necessitated the creation of the Neo Drive in the first place."

"The Neo Drive?" Mew remarked with a tilt of the head.

"Yes. Its power specifically countered the Sage's Cosmos Drive."

Mew rubbed the back of his head and murmured, "Then...shouldn't Kairi be ok?"

"..." Gabriel closed his eyes and the mood in the room got a little more dire feeling, "The Sages could obliterate his body, but not his spirit. He was driven by a powerful motivation that warped the very fabric of the world around him."

"Thus the Sages used their powers to seal his spirit away within his own Cosmos Drive, then broke it into five pieces, scattering them across the universe so they'd never be reclaimed. But miraculously...Shina did."

"I see," Mew paused with his eyes closed, and after a long drawn out time thinking about it his eyes slowly opened, his pupils shrank, and his skin got colder, "Oh. Ooooooh..."

"You understand now?" Gabriel murmured.

"Crap. Talk about bad luck for us. The Sage got the perfect body to keep his one weakness from beating him to double death."

Gabriel glared over his shoulder at Auris.

Mew punched his fists together and exclaimed confidently, "Well don't worry about it Gabriel! With all us working together we'll beat that old man and get the sisters back home again!"

_Meanwhile, in the Cosmic Cage..._

"S-Shina how can you say that...?" Kairi flubbed her words trying to convince her sister to see the truth.

The girl's glimmering eyes burned fiercely, loathing the presence of the two in her way. As Kairi tried to take one step forward but Jupiter waved her hand back and then tucked her fists close to her chest, eyeing Shina with a fighter's resolve.

"You're being a terrible big sister right now you know."

"Aren't you one of Gravitus' goons?" Shina remarked.

"_This woman is one of the nine I tried blessing for a higher purpose. A pity that she intends to turn her gifts against us in betrayal..." _The Sage murmured behind Shina's ear.

"Its fine!" Shina spoke confidently, spreading the individual pieces of her wings to increase their width, "I feel at my best now! So let Gravitus send his whole army here! I'll take 'em all on!"

Before Shina could make the first move her and the Sage reared their head back and zipped twenty feet backwards without leaving anything behind. A bombardment of dark orbs exploded like land mines upon hitting the ground. A wave of pressurized wind zipped through the smoke and Shina destroyed it with a flash from her eyes.

Then, a huge blast of darkness exploded point-blank in her face, kicking up a wind that blew the Sage's robes back and forced him to acknowledge the pressure it exuded.

"_M-More intruders?!" _

Shina narrowed her gaze and purred like a curious cat, then let out a loud gasp as the smoke parted.

Kairi's eyes froze in shock as she eyed the backs of five warriors standing in a unified group. Gabriel, Saturn, Jupiter, Riku and most unexpectedly, Joe Dark, were ready for battle.

A second later Mew dropped out of the sky in Dark Form in front of the center of the group and cracked a grin. He then happily stood up and glanced over his shoulder.

"Kairi, what did I say about doing stuff alone?" He joked.

"Right?!" Jupiter chimed in with a chuckle.

"M-Mew...Gabriel...everyone..." Kairi was at a pure loss for words.

"Its ok now Kairi, we're here," Gabriel calmly drew his katana from his sheath and pointed it towards Shina with a narrow gaze, "And this time, we will finish what our ancestors began."

Shina tightened her fists and floated upright. Mew stared her straight in the eyes and curled his knuckles a couple times. His heart beat fast, and he was already sweating.

"_What's up all this power? Its unreal..." _And briefly, he couldn't help but notice Shina's..._gifts_, _"...And so is that body. Gee, talk about good genes..."_

"Y-You...?" Shina shivered looking towards Mew in particular.

"That's right, its me! The big hero here to rescue the princess from the evil wizard-" Mew glanced behind Shina and saw that the spirit of the Sage's robe had been blown back...into a lovely set of feathery moth wings with an azure shine.

And not only that, he had compound eyes and an elongated abdomen. But that was where the similarities to a moth ended. He had eight spider arms with mantis pincers at the ends. On his back was the sturdy shell of a beetle that covered up to the back of his head. His thorax had been replaced with a wasp's stinger, and the general shape of his head and body resembled a human's. His mouth, in particular, opened like a humans but was filled with slimy, wormy tongues.

"Bug...man...?" Mew narrowed his eyes and puckered his lips.

"..." A LOT of thinking happened in Mew's head at that moment.

"_Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage = Origin of the Aurians. Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage = Creepy Bug Man. Modern Aurians = Humans. Bug Men Become Human? Kairi =? Bug Girl?" _

Mew's jaw slacked and he spun back to Gabriel to ask in a moment of hysteria, "Gabriel explain."

Gabriel shuddered as he closed his eyes and said with genuine sincerity, "That IS the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage."

"That doesn't explain anything!" Mew exclaimed.

"_Devimoth...?" _The curious whisper of the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage got Mew tilting his head back and going "Huh?"

The Sage clicked his many tongues and rubbed his slimy chin deep in thought, _"No...you're not him. You're merely a human that somehow managed to seize that sinner's power for your own."_

Mew propped a hand on his hip and swung the other out, "Look bug man I didn't steal this power from a guy named _Devimoth_. It belonged to a guy named..."

The longer Mew glared at the Sage, the more his mind started superimposing the last appearance of "D." over him. The resemblance was more than a little uncanny...

"Oh god damn it..." Mew gasped that out while slapping the side of his face and feeling a massive headache coming on.

The Sage swung his arms out and remarked, _"It matters not! You are a blasphemer all the same!" _

Shina flinched as the Sage ground his mantis blades together to make a sharp sound, _"But this'll make for a perfect demonstration of your power."_

"You betcha!" Shina was raring for a fight and wiggled her fingers in anticipation.

Gabriel and the others raised their guards with him commanding, "Everyone! Be careful!"

"STOP!" Mew suddenly threw his arms in the air and then brought them down to make a "T" out of his hands, "TIME OUT!"

Everyone, including the spirit of the Sage, froze up on the spot.

"_WHAT?!" _The Sage exclaimed in bewilderment.

Mew turned aside and thrust his finger out to imitate a certain famous lawyer, "There is a LOT going on here and I need some answers!"

He firmed his finger and glared at the Sage, "One, who are you? Two, how do you know 'D.' or Devimoth or whoever the hell he was? Three, how are Aurians BUGS?! Four, why do you want Shina? And five..."

Mew glanced around the area and proclaimed, "Why does this place look EXACTLY like Sancturia?!"

And nearing defeat in his tone of voice he muttered towards the wild, "And...and is that Sonic the Hedgehog running around over there?"

"_W...What manner of creature ARE you?" _The Sage's bewilderment grew.

"Actually..." Shina tilted her head back and perked up with curiosity, "I don't know a lot about you Mr. Sage. Can...can you tell us real quick? Please?"

"_Yes yes I suppose you don't remember much about our past. And perhaps with our story, these ignorant whelps can find enlightenment." _The Sage was surprisingly quick to please Shina's request. But hey, better than nothing!

With a wet cough the Sage composed his wings around his body like a robe and muttered, _"This is the only time I will say this so pay attention, blasphemers. For mine is a tale older than the oldest worlds...It is the origin of Aurians, and of our slow descent into sin."_

_Next Time: The Revered One_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: From Humble Beginnings**

_Tens of millions of years ago, when the universe had finally coalesced into its whole, we the Aurians were given an unlucky lot in life. Stuck to the dirt, crawling across a barren land. No sun. No sky. Our homes laid in mounds of mud, and our bodies endured the harsh cold of space._

_We were simply trash left to satiate the hunger of the cruelest hunters and the wandering predators. What was our purpose? We were too brainless to think of such things. Our race wasn't even lucky enough to have a name. _

_I scarcely recall my early years from the egg to the pupa, only that life was simple...Oh, how I do loathe those days. _

_But everything changed for our race one fateful, unforgettable day. Wreathed in light, with hair like an angel's wings, a Goddess greeted us. She was blessed with beauty divine and a caring heart bigger than our planet. She looked upon our feeble forms and played with us, teaching us the ways of her power of aura._

_Through careful observation our minds clicked with inspiration. The Goddess spent only a couple days with us, but forever imparted us with her knowledge. And then, she vanished, leaving behind a statue to forever remember her by._

_Many days, many months, many years passed. We molded the power of aura to our bodies and gained the ability to defend ourselves, though nowhere near as well as our Goddess. But daily life was barely the same. The same monotonous routines. The same planet. The same stars. Praying to the statue of our Goddess truly breathed life into those dullard days...And may very well have saved us from a terrible, terrible fate._

_The stars grew dark. Far, far away a terrifying darkness grew to consume all in its path. It was the first time we as a species learned to fear...and to cherish life. It seemed in its ever-growing appetite we were to be the darkness' final meal. _

_Many crawled beneath the dirt. But there were six of us who stood in reverence to the Goddess, praying to her desperately for our survival. And our faith...was rewarded._

_The darkness froze mere thousands of miles from our world, going dead silent for many days. We six stood and waited, eyeing the darkness until our eyes were dry. Then, suddenly, six lights shot forth from the darkness and fell before us like tiny stars. They glimmered with an allure not unlike a rainbow, and drew us in closer, closer, until our thimble limbs touched their glorious forms._

_Power surged through our bodies, imbuing us with sights and sensations we had never known before. The six of us were forever transformed into something far beyond our peers..._

_I, Lepido, was granted the power of Wisdom. Anything I wished to learn, I learned instantly. And that knowledge would never be forgotten. I used this power to guide the others, teaching them to read and learn. _

_Ficklewick, the Spider, was granted the power of Master. With it he could master anything he set his mind to. He was the weaver of seams, and granted us species the first clothes and homes, along with a more appropriate shrine for our divine Goddess._

_Aegisan, the Beetle, was blessed with the power of Valor. We no longer needed to hide in the shadows, for he stood alone against any enemy who dared try to devour us. He was an imposing warrior, and could craft and manifest any weapon he desired._

_Stingle, the Wasp, had the most peculiar power out of us. His ability of Final allowed him to crystallize his thoughts into pure power. With the help of Ficklewick, they created the Drives that ours and future generations of Aurians would utilize in their daily lives. All other spares were stowed away in a vault._

_Tellis, the Praying Mantis, was given the power of Limit. And though it wasn't obvious at first, his would be the power that would drive us towards a rapid decline in prosperity..._

_And then there was Devimoth. He was not so blessed as the rest of us. He got the Anti Drive, which molded him to the darkness of space. And that darkness drove him insane. _

_He started babbling on about curses, creatures beyond a static veil, and a beast that could devour all. We pitied him, but knew he could not be saved._

_When he begun lashing out against his own people, cutting the blood from his flesh and enjoying the pain that came with it, we had no choice but to exile him to the darkness that spawned his power. And there he lived for millions of years._

_While he toiled in solitude, we remaining Sages brought our race to new heights. For the next couple millions of years we used the Goddess' blessings to our fullest. We expanded our reach to the stars above, crafting entire worlds catered to each of our species. The dark depths of space were now full of life, and nearly as radiant as our Goddess' eyes. _

_None of it felt like enough. Not for someone as great, kind and selfless as her. We were her most loyal servants, her most trusted confidants. So close, that it made it easier for one of us to stab her in the back..._

_As our prosperity seemed at its peak, I caught eye of some frightening changes amongst our species. They were growing taller, their abdomen elongating to handle the added weight. Their arms and legs looked more...human._

_A curse had been inflicted upon us and in my infinite wisdom I knew EXACTLY who to blame. I was seething with just rage at Tellis, who had exerted his power of the Limit Drive over our race._

_His smug, calm demeanor represented his views as just. Cornered by my rage, he had no choice but to reveal his secrets. He had believed that we Aurians were stagnant in our evolution, and thus used his power to break through our limits and evolve into, what he called, a "superior" race._

_He affirmed that it would be slow, but also that it would be inevitable. _

_I could not even BEGIN to describe my outrage at his betrayal. He had been my most loyal friend. Our servitude to the Goddess was supposed to be ever-lasting. And yet...he would go against her wishes and turn us into something we were not? HUMANS nonetheless?! Those rotten, spoiled children whose crimes ushered in the age of Sin?!_

"_Why? WHY?!" I screamed until my vision was torn. I attempted to punish that traitor to the full extent of my power...But was restrained by the other Sages._

_Madness. Madness was the illness that inflicted my once faithful friends, and now tarnished our Goddess' gifts. I was truly the only sane one left. I had to flee, before the madness took me as well._

_I vacated our home, never to return..._

_Through the whispers of knowledge I learned how my people fell. Millions of years later, our race had become half-human, half-insect, and the worlds we had toiled to make for our beloved Goddess were now poison to our bodies._

_That traitor Tellis guided our people to a new world, Genestasia, and created the city of Sancturia. Then, leaving behind a son to lead a group known as the Ten Sages towards the further "prosperity" of our race, that traitor and the others vanished to the far corners of the universe._

_I could only stew in my outrage, alone in the cavernous maw of a dark world abandoned by our Goddess' light. Something HAD to be done. But what? And how? Even with my infinite wisdom, I felt like I had reached a wall..._

_It was only after years of thinking that inspiration broke through. For the first time in millions of years, my Goddess approached me, shrouded in her purest bathe of light and whispered to me..._

"_Fix it." _

_It was so simple, yet perfect. I would fix it. Everything. EVERYTHING that had been wronged would be made right. My Goddess said it, so I knew my cause would be truly just, and not that of the traitor's..._

_Indeed. One more glimpse into the "progress" of this...Sancturia showed the hubris of that traitor. Long since had the Aurians abandoned our Goddess and turned to these..."Ten Sages" as their idols. Their forms were barely recognizable as the dirt-crawlers I once adored. Now they stood upright, clasping their flesh paws in false prayer._

_I could not bear to wait any longer. I needed to fix this. And now that I knew I had to, my wisdom learned HOW. _

_It would require great power that I did not have. Mine was merely part of a great whole, after all. I hunted down the traitors one-by-one and consumed them whole, saving Tellis for last._

_He was the hardest to find for merely one reason...I could not recognize him. Not content with his blasphemy, he had turned his Limit Drive upon himself. The only thing I recognized was the unique shape of his mandibles on the sides of an otherwise human mouth._

_He had this lofty dream of mortality amongst his sinful creations. He feigned kindness in offering me a chance to experience humanity at his side. _

_I could take his terrible words only to a point. _

_When he insinuated that our Goddess was a figment of the imagination I...I...!_

_NO! Our Goddess WAS real! I felt her touch! I partook in her scent! She was real! And he was a heathen for suggesting otherwise! He had angered me for the final time. No years of friendship could ever overturn his blasphemous heart._

_He was a lost cause...Merely living to be fuel for me. I devoured him without any further hesitation. But in his last breath, he inflicted me with his curse at an accelerated rate._

_Humanity was inflicted upon me. I would become a sinful monster were I not to hurry. My Goddess' will still needed to be done..._

_Wisdom, Valor, Master, Final, Limit...I didn't need the taint of Devimoth's power. With those five alone my Cosmos Drive was complete. I needed to run a few tests, and do so with haste._

_I cherrypicked nine particular individuals across the universe to see the limits of my Cosmos Drive's power. And my expectations exceeded all that I could have possibly imagined. I knew then for sure that my just cause would see its way through to the end. And that my Goddess would be pleased..._

_But no change comes without opposition. The Ten Sages of the time caught wind of my existence and moved to oppose me. Alone, they stood no chance, I knew that to be true._

_Little did I know they were poised to commit blasphemy one final time. They created the "Neo Drive", the antithesis of our Goddess' power, and with it defied their destiny and beat me. And then, not content with proving their superiority one way, they then destroyed my body and sealed me away in my Cosmos Drive..._

_And until recently, my consciousness was frozen in a state of nothingness, where I could not even scream..._

Having reached the tail-end of his story at long last, the Sage clicked his many tongues and murmured, _"Do you feel enlightened now?"_

Mew's eyes were constantly fluttering as he expanded his mouth to silently go "Whoa". He looked left and right and saw that his comrades' reactions ranged from disturbed to uncaring...Well, ok, Joe Dark was the only one doing the latter.

Mew then snapped back towards Shina and extended a hand out towards the Sage, "I feel _something_ right now..."

He firmed out a pointer finger and remarked, "You didn't tell us why you're inhabiting Shina though."

"_There is no replacement for our divine Goddess but...this girl is very, very markedly similar to her appearance-wise. She makes a worthy vessel to carry out the Goddess' will."_ The Sage then began smiling.

Mew stood upright, tapped his foot on the ground and waved his hand out towards Shina herself this time, "Are you hearing all that?"

Shina's brows slanted towards the ground and then gave a brief nod. She then turned her head to the Sage and remarked with genuine sympathy, "That's...that's horrible. I never knew any of that."

"Uhhh, excuse me?" Mew murmured.

"S-Shina?" Kairi stuttered in fright behind him.

Shina then turned to face the others and Mew took one step forward, thrusting his pointer finger at Shina's face, "Hello! Sancturia to Shina? Ya might want to pay attention."

He then leaned back towards Kairi and whispered with a shrug, "Was she normally like this?"

Kairi hesitated to shake her head. Mew faced Shina again and narrowed his eyes as the Sage floated precariously behind her, _"Is he...filtering out what she's hearing?"_

The Sage chuckled somewhat. Shina waved her hands out and boldly proclaimed, "Oh I AM listening. Mr. Sage is right."

She waved her hand to the right and said, "Aurians had lost their way. Serving false idols is EXACTLY what allowed that monster Gravitus to be born!"

She clutched and swung her fist up before her chest full of determination, "But I now have the means and the power to help my people start over fresh away from his and the Ten Sages' influence! And if y'all got a problem with that, then you can take it up with me!"

A wide breath of chilling power soaked into the ground at the group's feet. Mew's teeth grit and trembled on their own, and his fists nearly lost their tightness. He forced himself to stare Shina in the eyes.

But when he heard a whimper he turned his head and saw Kairi trembling from head-to-toe. Her eyes watered trying to look her sister in the eyes while she mustered up the courage to say something.

Mew closed his eyes then opened them flashing a smile. He turned to Shina while holding a hand back, grabbing Kairi's attention.

"Sorry Kairi, fighting your sister's unavoidable. The rest of us will try our best to snap her out of it but..." Mew clenched his fist and gave it a hefty swing out before his chest, "In the end, you're the one who's going to have to sock her one in the face."

He swept his body to the side and ignited his hands and feet full of black flames. Everyone else drew their weapons sans Saturn, who gave her glasses a gentle nudge and then crossed her arms before her chest.

"You hear that Shina?! Your sister's upset that you aren't paying attention to her!" Mew exclaimed with a grin.

"I already have my sister!" Shina's eyes flared open and she waved a hand towards the ground, where that younger version of Kairi was currently hiding for safety behind cover.

As her radiant wings spread Shina rose further off the ground and proclaimed, "And I ain't letting a faker and his merry band of traitors steal her away!"

Mew's eyes widened at the sight of the younger Kairi and his jaw dropped, rendering him speechless. Joe Dark walked up beside him and mumbled sarcastically, "She's delusional. I can see why Alex loved her..."

"Joe, just...focus on the fight please." Mew groaned. He then tightened his fists and glared fiercely up at Shina while Joe Dark swung his dagger by his side.

"_You may wield the power of an Ancient Sage..." _The Sage spread the wings of his robe far and wide and raised his many arms to the sky, _"But my Goddess' power eclipses all! Shina Aurora...ELIMINATE THESE PESTS!"_

"You got it Mr. Sage!" Shina hunched forward and the air tensed up.

"Here she-!" Mew watched Shina appear directly in front of him already halfway towards spinning her right leg towards his head.

"C-Comes?" Mew was slammed in the head faster than his emotions shifted to shock. His body slammed upon its side on the ground and went hurtling through dozens of the fake houses.

But in the same second she kicked him, Shina glided around, then thrust her leg into Joe Dark's hip, leaving him to suffer the same fate as Mew. Then she glided to the left and struck Jupiter in the jaw with a two-legged axe kick that left a slicing azure crescent in the air.

Gabriel and Riku flinched and in their shock-driven haste swung their swords at Shina only to hit her afterimages.

Jupiter grit her teeth into a wild expression as the air pressure compressed around her body like a bullet. The moment she started looking down Shina pulled her head right back and then appeared inches away from the amazon.

"Bad move babe!" Jupiter proclaimed as she clutched her fists and hammered her forehead into Shina's. A large shockwave rocked through the cage and affected parts of the ground, killing both fighter's momentum.

Jupiter stared Shina deep in her eyes and chuckled...Up until the point she saw her blood trickling down her nose.

"...Huh." Was her attempt at sounding surprised.

Shina suddenly had her hands around Jupiter's waist and whipped her around faster than the fastest tornado, ending by using all her strength into throwing her back to the ground.

Jupiter had just enough time to flip her feet towards the ground and get caught by a bouncy square pad of aura. Saturn stood by, sticking the tip of her tongue out while whipping her fingers along her keyboard in a frenzy.

"There's so much data to collect here! Hey Jupes!" Saturn briefly whisked her hand up towards the air and proclaimed, "Try and hit her with your best shot!"

Jupiter twirled her arm around as the aura contained the energy from her landing, "You got it! One meaty punch coming RIGHT UP!"

Saturn unleashed the built-up energy to launch Jupiter straight back at Shina. Before she got a chance to throw her punch Shina blitzed right past, leaving her twirling in the air as she continued to go flying.

"Oooo, you're a fast one ain'tcha?" Saturn grinned from cheek-to-cheek even as Shina landed in front of her with a fully-charged palm held up.

Saturn swiped her arm to the right and tried summoning a barrier, only for it to get halfway there before a crystallized cone smashed through. Saturn swerved to her left and let the momentum from her barrier breaking push her to safety.

She hunched over slightly and wiggled her fingers by her pockets, "C'mon! Show me what else ya got!"

Shina moved those few feet forward in an instant then started glancing left and right as two mighty darkness blasts smashed into her sides simultaneously.

Mew and Joe Dark hopped out of the rubble nearby and Mew had a big ol' grin on his face calling out to Joe Dark, "Look at that, we're already synchronizing our attacks!"

"Ghhh...!" Joe Dark growled, slowly widening his eyes as his hand was pushed back against, same with Mew's.

Blue electricity filled the darkness as Shina appeared to be gently pushing them aside. She rose into the air, aimed the darkness down at their senders and proclaimed, "Hey! Anyone here lose their darkness?!"

She launched them back without a punchline. Mew and Joe Dark caught the darkness in their hands and tried to swallow it back up, only for that electricity to start snapping up to their shoulders and then proceeded to slam their bodies to the ground.

While Shina was distracted Gabriel flew in and sliced horizontally across her stomach. She didn't flinch and quickly turned her wide, fury filled eyes upon him.

Gabriel cautiously held his sword upright and felt sweat form on his cheeks, but kept his stare firmly on her.

"OUT OF THE WAY GABRIEL!" Jupiter roared from up-high. Gabriel hopped ten feet away while Shina cocked her head back around.

In the blink of an eye there was a massive plume of dirt where Shina stood as Jupiter drove her through the bottom of the false city. Mew was only just starting to get back up when the ground broke apart and rose beneath him.

Shina had her hand lightly held around Jupiter's fist and stood in the relatively same pose as the ground shattered around her.

Once they breached the city's underside a shockwave from Shina's feet stopped them completely in place. She then finished looking up at Jupiter, and shook her head.

"I looked up to you guys...You were supposed to be our biggest heroes!" Shina slanted her eyes and her voice turned outright vicious, "But you're just Gravitus' thugs!"

Jupiter grit her teeth and thrust her other fist out at Shina's face. It seemed to connect, only for her to find it caught upon Shina's other palm. Shina tightened all her fingers and crunched the amazon's bones, the effects reaching up to her arms.

Shina let go and floated Jupiter a few inches away, then thrust a high-pressure blast to send her hurtling through back up through the hole. All the separate bits of her wings detached and pursued their target.

Jupiter jerked back and firmly crossed her arms as the bits repeatedly stabbed into her skin. Blood was drawn and mixed with her sweat.

"Heh, this is a tough fight! I'm getting excited now!"

She was launched through the hole and into the center of a series of warped azure spears growing out of the ground. Jupiter had a brief laugh that slowly lost energy as the spears fired at her.

Saturn appeared before Jupiter and dramatically whipped her hand out to protect them with a round barrier. The spear tips rippled the aura on impact.

"Hahaha!" Saturn pressed a finger on the bridge of her glasses and turned sideways, "You're facing the greatest superheroine in the universe, nay, the COSMOS! And I-"

The spears started phasing through the barrier and Saturn sucked her lips in, a mild "Eep!" slipping through. Her eyes then darted around the battlefield and she proclaimed, "What are y'all standing around for?! Do something!"

Mew pulled himself up off the ground and looked around. Shina was floating back up. Joe Dark and Gabriel were on the other side of her, Riku was to the left of him, and Kairi was on her butt trembling at Shina. But at least she was a safe distance away.

Riku and Gabriel got the same idea and went after the spears. Mew glared at Shina but only got to for a millisecond before she was off in the air, grabbing the two warriors by the back of their heads and slamming them together.

Mew tried looking at her again and this time, focused on the Sage's spectral form. He then looked at the black flames in his hand and curled a fist.

He turned up and shouted, "HEY SHINA!"

After she effortlessly tossed Riku and Gabriel aside like trash she turned to Mew with a contempt filled glare. Mew punched upward and launched a black flaming missile towards her.

She swerved to the left like a frame-by-frame shot and the missile struck Saturn's barrier, covering the outside with explosive black flames.

Mew heard a bunch of shattering noises and saw fragments of the spears fall down.

"Heh!" Mew smiled. Shina glanced back and then down at Mew. She held her hand out and reformed the spears, having them aimed at Mew.

Mew's eyes widened and he veered to the right out of their way, stretching his arm left to rip one up and, with a quick flick of the wrist, toss it right back.

She moved forward past the spear and then with two faster movements got right before Mew with her face planted inches from his. Mew kept his courage strong and tried uppercutting her in the jaw.

It was his bones that felt the pain instead, right down to the elbow. Mew cockily smirked but inside was going _"OW OW OW!" _

Shina dug her chin into his knuckles and shoved his arm down. But while she was doing that Mew had snuck his other fist into the darkness. There he absorbed the darkness to increase his fist's mass until it was the size of Shina's body.

"GOTCHA!" He proclaimed at the very moment his fist fired out of the darkness beside her. He dragged her along his knuckles for a good many feet.

"Tch...!" Shina grunted with surprise, "Uh uh! No way buster!"

She suddenly stalled in place and sliced through the darkness with a whip of her hand. Mew pulled his hand out before he got cut and then sprinted after Shina.

He reeled his fist back and Shina widened her eyes, preparing to counterattack. Mew grinned and then opened a dark rift in his way while hastily proclaiming, "LATER GUYS!"

Shina fluttered her eyes as Mew disappeared into the darkness. She turned her head around and wondered aloud, "Alright ya fake, whaddya up to?!"

The Sage snarled his slimy mouth and muttered, _"Do not lose focus...he could be anywhere."_

Joe Dark leaped out from the shadows with his dagger dangerously close to the back of Shina's head, "He's not the one you should fear, bug."

Joe Dark got a sharp cut on her skull and she turned around with a furious look in her eyes. She began raising her right hand only for shadow-y tendrils to wrap around and pull them down.

Riku was behind her in Dark Form, pulling as hard as one arm would allow. Joe Dark gathered darkness in his dagger and sliced Shina straight up the center of her body, leaving a brief but vibrant black scar.

"Your brother's irritating but that works to our advantage here!" Joe Dark prepared more darkness for a stabbing attack only for Shina to clasp her hands up against the blade and fizzle the darkness out.

She ripped her arms down and threw Joe Dark to the floor. Her earlier motion pulled Riku in closer and snapped the tendrils off her arms. Right as Joe Dark began to rise so too did her legs, smashing them both in their heads with a mountain-splitting kick. And yet, for how hard she hit, her motions were as graceful as a ballerina.

The two shot through the air so far that they were basically out of the action for now. Shina then turned her attention towards Gabriel, who stood his ground firmly and stuck to his same defensive stance.

Before Shina could utilize her unnatural speed she found herself trapped inside of a tetrahedron with a familiar color. Then another layer shaped like a diamond formed over it, followed by a three-dimensional sphere, and then a cube.

Saturn haughtily nudged her glasses up while thrusting her palm down, "I got her this time Jupes! Let 'er have it!"

"With pleasure!" Jupiter smashed her fists together and then dove straight down. She enlarged her right fist to four times its normal size, blood sputtering from her wounds. She tightened her grit and wasted no time smashing her fist into the side of the outermost barrier.

Shina crouched down and laughed, "Ha! I can take it!"

But the barrier did not break. Instead, the whole cage trembled with a massive ripple. Saturn curled her lips like a cat's smile and proclaimed, "Oh YEAH?!"

A massive quake shook the ground as a thick bubble of pure force emerged from the other side of the spot Jupiter punched and hit the next barrier in line.

The barrier absorbed it and a greater quake rocked the ground. Saturn let the shaking air blow her coat up for dramatic effect as she crossed her arms and explained, "The power of my Containment Drive doesn't just contain all manners of force, it can also store it!"

She then punched her fist out and Jupiter mimicked the same motion, throwing more force into the barrier to start the process over.

"And by layering the barrier out precisely enough, I can AMPLIFY its strength!"

The physical force kept smashing its way through towards Shina, who stood her ground in the same pose with her eyes wide-open.

Saturn pulled her head back as far as it'd go and burst into laughter, "This ain't our first rodeo with cosmic forces!"

She rose with a mighty smile bursting with confidence, "But with the power of our teamwork, we can rise to meet the Gods at their level!"

At the final stretched the force of Jupiter's two punches combined together into a bullet of un-calculable power and bore down Shina's unflinching resolve. Jupiter backed away with a couple hops and braced herself as the barrier split wide-open. A violent glass shattering noise filled the entire cage and toppled most of this fake city over.

The air was vibrating so much that one could see the individual molecules that made it up. It was a rare sight that only these warriors could've handled. And when it was over, it did manage to have an effect on Shina too.

She trembled slightly after her body was launched roughly fifty feet back. She planted her left foot in the ground, swung her head up, then waved her hands towards her chest.

"I can _take it_." She declared in a rough-'n-tumble type of voice.

Jupiter scowled and hung her fists towards the ground, "Ah come on, that was our best shot."

Saturn meanwhile was tapping away at her keyboard with a manic gleam in her eyes, "Oh but this data is great! Its a victory no matter how it went down!"

"Cat I can't believe I'm telling ya this but...maybe this ain't the best time?" Jupiter said with a head-hung sigh.

As Shina rose back up the Sage was in a giggling fit, _"Wonderful! Splendid! And this is but a taste of what the Cosmos Drive can do you heathens!"_

The Sage eyed the nervous looks of his enemies and began to smile. But then he felt something he hadn't in forever: The cold.

Mew slowly emerged from the darkness behind him with his claw half-drawn and a murderous look in his eyes.

"_N-NO!" _The Sage spun and in turn so did Shina. But Mew shot his claw forth at just the right moment and slashed a couple of the Sage's arms right off.

A bright blue mist spewed out of his limbs as he screeched in terror. Shina turned her head back with a shocked expression while Mew reeled his claw back for a second go.

"Hold still Shina, you got a bug on your back." His tone was half-joking.

His second attempt ended with Shina grabbing him by the wrist tightly enough to break the darkness around it. She slowly pulled him in and locked onto his eyes. She was staring into his soul, he was looking into an endless abyss of stars...

The Sage covered his wounds and started hissing and screaming, _"HERETIC! BLASPHEMER! SLAY HIM NOW!"_

Shina's eyes started to tremble and her voice cracked as she whispered, "You look too much like him..."

"Shina, listen-" Mew was pulled up to be more level with Shina's face as she screamed, "NO! **YOU** LISTEN!"

"How dare you exist..." Shina squeezed her fist and even with all his strength Mew was feeling his bones break, "Why does Gravitus have to keep tormenting me and MY family?! What did we ever do to him?!"

She spun back and tossed Mew against the broken ground. Mew hastily dug his claws into the stone to slow down, but the weakened wrist hurt his efforts.

Shina appeared before him and swung her foot into his chin, then quickly planted her heel on his face to slam him down, cracking the ground around the impact zone.

"If that coward can't fight like a man then I'll just keep breaking his toys until he does!"

Shina flinched and turned around, shifting sideways to avoid the clean swing of Gabriel's blade. He immediately moved to slice at her legs not to hurt her, but to make her retreat. Shina's eyes trembled with rage and she clenched her fists at the sight of him.

Gabriel locked eyes with her and raised his body in defense. Saturn and Jupiter began to move but Gabriel subtly nudged his head to stop them.

"...You've changed Shina. I can tell from the look in your eyes." He spoke softly as his eyes slanted in a mournful manner.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm not the same little girl you _tricked_ into leaving her home." Shina slanted her glare but Gabriel responded by closing his eyes and remaining quiet.

"...Sis and I trusted you. But you were just another of Gravitus' loyal lap dogs. None of it was real! Your love was fake!" Shina swung her arm out and declared, "You just wanted me out of the way so Gravitus could get to Kairi!"

"You and Auris both used me," Shina tightened her fists and Gabriel opened his eyes with a firm stare, "But you're here and she's not. I'm not surprised. That drunkard's sitting at home doing nothing like she always does..."

"Judge me however you wish. I deserve it," Gabriel slanted his eyes and spoke with a firm, fatherly tone, "But you do not get to talk that way about your mother."

Shina suddenly appeared directly before Gabriel with her hand planted on his chest and her eyes burning like a hundred suns.

"She is NOT my mother..." Shina shattered Gabriel's chest plate and then forced the metal shards through his body, taking careful care to avoid his organs.

Saturn and Jupiter tried a pincer attack but Shina ducked down and started breakdancing, whipping the two up in a tornado that launched them skyward.

Shina rose and stabbed her hands up, summoning a spear for each foe. Saturn helped herself with a barrier but Jupiter took a piercing strike to the abdomen. Shina swung her hands to her hips and slammed the two far away onto the ground, turning back to Gabriel without breaking her stride.

"**I** saved Kairi! **I **DID!" She planted her hand on her chest and widened her eyes all the way, "And you won't take me away from her again!"

She curled her fist and muttered in a confident, grizzled tone, "You _can't_ take me away from her again..."

Blood trickled out of Gabriel's mouth but he remained the same stalwart warrior as always, "This isn't real Shina. You must know that."

"It IS real. You can't trick me. I am DONE playing the fool!" Shina raised her hand and three spears appeared overhead, poised to strike Gabriel.

Gabriel's grip on his katana remained firm as the shaking of the spears signaled their descent. He tried to swing ahead of time but the spears curved their forms to round his blade and impale his sides and arms. The spears vanished into the ether upon impact to be replaced by more.

Gabriel stood still and moved his blade around, failing to even nick one of the spears. Shina kept targeting different parts of his body. She wanted him to feel pain, to know even a fraction of what she felt.

Gabriel slowly held his blade out horizontally and summoned a shield with a glyph on it. When the spears came in contact with it time stopped momentarily.

The black expanse summoned forth was then slashed in half by the swing of Shina's hand along with Gabriel's barrier. She then dashed forth and pulled Gabriel off the ground with such force that it tore him off the rest of his armor.

The Sage loomed behind Shina with a dull-pitched laugh, _"The first of many blasphemers shall now fall..."_

Shina's hand trembled as it rose to grab hold of Gabriel's neck. Her fingertips stayed on the skin and couldn't grip any tighter.

"_Do it." _The Sage whispered.

Suddenly, some darkness lashed around underneath Shina's armpits multiple times and dragged her down.

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Mew proclaimed after pulling her in close and holding her extra tight. He forced her arms out and in turn, freed Gabriel.

Shina glanced over her shoulder with a mix of surprise and irritation.

"Really? A Full Nelson?" She murmured.

"Yeah, good luck getting out of this!" Mew proclaimed as he turned to the right and looked straight ahead at Joe Dark, who had **finally** made his way back to the battlefield.

"Here you go bro, free shot!"

Joe Dark's brow twitching could be seen aaaaall the way out there. He raised his darkness infused dagger below the chin and grumbled, "Don't move or I **might** hit you too."

He began charging forward, pounding away at Shina's body with a flurry of dark spheres until he was close enough to use his dagger. He wound it back and thrust it forth with all his might.

Shina seemed to roll her eyes and suddenly her body started breaking down to the atomic level. Mew was left staring blankly ahead and going "Huh?" right as Joe Dark stabbed him right below the chest.

Joe Dark's eyes widened. Mew coughed up blood and murmured, "W-Well, you got what you wanted finally..."

Shina reformed behind Mew with her hands raised and then fired a crystallized cone of energy at them. Joe Dark ducked down and used Mew as a shield to shove him away and then casually tossed him aside off his dagger.

He then charged Shina once more and stabbed towards her chest. She caught it in the center of her palm and a brief ripple of darkness emerged. She then rose up and used the elevation to push Joe Dark towards his knees.

"You're the one who was always trying to kill Alex..." She said with disdain. Joe Dark narrowed his eyes as Shina continued prodding him, "Why are you working with Gravitus?!"

"Oh get over yourself you batshit crazy bitch," Joe Dark's eyes flared wide-open as he exclaimed in a baffled tone, "Why the HELL **would** I work for him?!"

Mew laid a hand over his wound and sat upright with a groan, then a sigh, _"...We really got to work on his tact."_

He then casually glanced over to his right and saw Riku standing off in the distance. Curious, Mew left Joe Dark to tussle with an angered Shina and floated over to see his brother.

"I was wondering where you got off to." He said in a chipper tone.

Riku raised his head and followed his brother's descent by his side, then hid his shaking hand behind his hip and faced the battlefield.

Saturn and Jupiter joined back in but even with all three powerful warriors working together they were just getting tossed around like ragdolls.

"I think we overestimated our odds here brother..." Riku loathed to admit.

Mew sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "A lot of us have thrown out our best stuff and haven't even made her budge."

He had a shaky smile as he glance out the side of his face towards Shina, who floored Joe Dark with a punch and then tried to impale him with a set of spears. He barely escaped into the darkness in time.

"Now MIGHT be a good time to whip out that Genesis Form Riku, otherwise we're not going to last long enough for Kairi to get her act together..."

"If we can even rely on her..." Riku murmured.

Mew looked at him and murmured back "Riku" and he quickly said with a stern look, "Put yourself in her shoes brother. She has no reason to fight her sister, unlike you and Alex did."

"...Well shit," Mew bit his lower lip and faced the battlefield feeling tense, "Then what do we do? With the Cosmos Drive Shina is stronger than Justek was."

"...Then we'll have to face her the same way we did him." Riku started to face Mew with his hand extended out and Mew pulled away with a look of surprise.

"Whoa you can't seriously be suggesting we try** that** again are you?"

"We know it works."

"But we don't know WHY it did," Mew raised his hand out and shook his head, "No. I can rough it out for a bit longer. We got to have faith in Kai-"

"Brother," Riku raised his voice slightly, with a firm touch to get his attention, "Gabriel's down and Saturn and Jupiter don't stand a chance. Joe Dark is tenacious...but even he has his limits."

Riku gestured his hand out some more and glared with determination, "I can't do much like this. If we're going to survive, you have to do this."

Mew stared at his brother's hand for a few seconds and when he looked up, he saw something resembling a smile.

"We'll make it through this again. I know it."

"...Aaaah! When you put it like that how can I say no?" Mew pulled his hand back and then firmly grasped his brother's, "Put 'er there brother!"

An immense light started to envelop the two whole...

Meanwhile, Shina floated in the center of the battlefield with Gabriel, Saturn and Jupiter barely standing and Joe Dark's right arm broken at the elbow. Yet through sheer willpower he kept a firm grip on his dagger and edged towards Shina.

The Sage hovered over Shina and raised his arms to the sky, _"The power of the Goddess is absolute! Dark Kings...Elemental Overlords...? Bah! You false idols shall grovel at the feet of a true deity!"_

"_**None**__ can challenge my Goddess..." _

Shina's head started turning a little to the left...To meet with a bare-knuckle fist that crunched her cheekbones and sent her hurtling off her feet.

She went tumbling and smashing through the uprooted ground for a quarter mile before swinging her arms out to suspend herself upright. The Sage hissed with rage and rose high over Shina to squeal, _"Who DARES?!"_

Shina slowly raised her fingers to her cheek, where a faint but fresh bruise marred her stellar skin. She then thrust her glare at her assailant, a black and white garment wearing warrior with slightly longer hair than Mew's, only silver.

This warrior put up their dukes and summoned a sword in each hand, crossing them so he'd still be able to see his foe beyond them.

"I dare!" He proclaimed with utter confidence.

Shina curled her fingers into a fist and spread her wings, levitating off the ground with a fury in her eyes the likes of which had yet to be seen.

"Just cause ya two fakes fused together doesn't make you a real boy!"

"But it does make us...the Phoenix of Hope!" The warrior spread his wings and slanted his eyebrows with contempt towards the Sage, "Come, 'Goddess', and face us! We'll beat some sense back into you!"

"_Its time to stop playing games. Show this fool what the Cosmos Drive is really capable of!" _The Sage commanded with intense bile.

"Yeah! I earned this happiness..." Shina's body exploded with the radiance of a galaxy's outer rim and she approached Hope face-to-face with a distorted blade drawn off each wrist.

"And you won't take it away!"

Hope and Shina collided blades but it was Hope that quickly started pressing the advantage over her.

"Please...I'm the one trying to give it back!" He proclaimed.

**VESSEL OF THE COSMOS: SHINA AURORA**

_Next Time: Eyes of Delusion_


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Cannot Move On**

The clash between the Phoenix of Hope and Shina formed waves of pressurized energy that slowly shoved the weakened Planetary Aurians away. Gabriel and Jupiter accepted that but Saturn was a bit more stubborn about walking against it while tapping away at her keyboard.

"No! I still got a lot of data to input!"

The Sage swayed his right arms out and boldly declared, _"You're not fit to face the Goddess, you fused disgrace! Get out of our sight!"_

With his seemingly encouraging words Shina started shoving Hope back into a neutral position. Hope grit his teeth and muttered in disbelief, "Are you **seriously** not hearing any of this?!"

Shina slanted her eyes and Hope sighed, "I'll take that as a no..."

He squeezed his hands around the handles and his knuckles cracked. With a thrust open of his eyes a wind of light and dark unfurled form his body and he budged one inch forward, bending Shina back at the waist.

Despite being the closest to the clash Joe Dark held on the hardest. He looked to Hope with narrowed eyes and wondered impatiently, "So does this mean we're done following the 'plan'?"

Hope couldn't take his eyes off Shina while he tried responding with "Ummm". Joe Dark squinted and muttered, "Good..."

A thick fog of darkness covered all but his head, cladding him in the ebony armor of the Dark King and turning his dagger into a sword. He stood tall and still against the pressure the two fighters exuded and raised his blade to Hope's back.

"Cause I was getting sick of being the punching bag!" With a vigorous roar Joe Dark hopped over Hope and tried pounding Shina with a column of darkness.

Shina broke away a good twenty feet to the left. Joe Dark landed and immediately leaped the distance towards Shina with sword drawn as far behind as physically possible.

Shina flinched and that gave Joe Dark the opening to slash her across the gut. The might of his swing formed a scar wide enough to almost nip Gabriel, who visibly widened his eyes for a brief, rare moment.

Joe Dark then thrust his other hand out to assault her with a fifty-foot tall cone of explosive pure black darkness. Shina slid out of the attack with lingering traces of darkness on her crossed limbs.

She tried to pull her arms out only for Hope to speed behind her and blitz her in the back with his right shoulder. Her back arched and he attempted to swing his right foot straight up into the back of her skull.

She gracefully flipped behind and dipped her fingertips into his back, sharpening them with aura so she could slice his sides when she swung them out.

A pair of light cuts hardly made him bleed and thus Hope proceeded to clock her in the nose **hard** with his right elbow.

She stumbled back and Hope spun around, slicing her a couple times with his blades. He then whipped the blades around the other way and cut her again.

After giving the blades a couple twirls with a flick of the wrists he raised them overhead for a downward swing. Shina held them back on her palms, pulled them aside, using them to move in closer.

Hope stayed confident even as Shina swung her hands down and blasted him with a plethora of crystallized energy. He was STILL confident even though this made him let go of his swords.

Shina floated closer and then twirled in place like a ballerina, whipping around slicing waves of energy. Hope hardened his arms with light and crossed them up, saving most of his body from harm.

Shina instantly broke out of her dance and axe-kicked Hope under his arms. She then crossed her arms at the wrists and surrounded Hope with dozens of body-sized spears.

Before she made the call to fire a large orb of darkness smashed her in the face and started knocking her over. She pulled upright in a flash only to find Joe Dark charging her down, winding up in breathing distance a millisecond later.

The moment Joe Dark collided it was like a bull facing a boulder. He stubbornly pushed forward, but could not make his target break. Joe Dark exploded with darkness and kicked up his feet, burning through the ground and air.

Shina's expression slowly went from confident to worrying as Joe Dark smashed her through multiple fake houses and nearly hit the edge of the city.

Shina released a burst of aura to repel Joe Dark off, putting her toes at the very edge of the city. Joe Dark pulled his arm back and dragged the darkness around him into a howling sphere.

He flung it straight out and it began to scream louder as it grew. Shina swerved to the left at the last moment and left a few spears behind. As they hurtled into Joe Dark's chest he pulled his hand back and dragged the darkness straight towards Shina.

Shina's wings suddenly wrapped around the dark sphere like a pair of hand and infused it with blue electricity. She then took her wings and tried to smash the sphere upon Joe Dark.

A light arrow with a dark spiral on its outside suddenly pierced the center of the orb and nearly hit Shina's stomach. She pulled away and the arrow broke apart the ground she once stood on for many feet around.

The arrow's true form was the Phoenix of Hope's two swords, which were recalled into his hands as he dove down at her. His eyes were on fire as he held the swords back by his shoulders and then slashed forth with all his might.

Thin lines filled the air around and near Shina, giving her brief moments to flip up and twist her body between the gaps. The lines then grew into slashes of light and darkness.

Shina tilted her head right and called her wings back, ensnaring Hope along the way in a tight cocoon of aura woven between the bits. Hope struggled and his efforts cracked his cage, but not fast enough.

Shina gently turned and laid her right palm down to grab Hope by the face. Then, as her wings returned they shone with a magnificent azure flame that hurtled them both below the city.

After moving a couple thousand feet down Hope's back finally collided with the surface of an almost ethereal sea. Shina floated off and crossed her hands, summoning five spears over her head.

Hope fought the pain in his back and struggled a bit to stand. But as the spears went flying his swords were quick on the draw to slice them up. But one slipped by and cut him down the cheek.

He sprung right up after that and immediately charged Shina. She floated to the left and sent a few more spears flying in her wake.

Hope cut them down with a 360 degree slash wide enough to also strike her, stunning her long enough for him to get in with a shoulder charge to the gut.

He followed that through by rising and kneeing her in the chin. Trying to go further along with a twin downward slash resulted in him being open, and she sped behind him to wrap her arms around his waist.

She pulled him behind while rapidly descending towards the sea, and smashed him head first into it. Hope tumbled along the surface while she remained free to attack however she pleased.

Suddenly, the sea around her was drenched in an abnormal shadow, causing her to look up and watch as a massive sphere of darkness fell towards her. It was so big and unrestrained in its power, that many tinier spheres rained out from its sides.

The Sage muttered, _"What a meddlesome pest..." _

"I can handle this!" Shina proclaimed as she commanded her wings to rise up and form into the shape of a big drill. The excess aura twirled out from the bottom as twinkly strands, the frequency of them doubling once it started drilling into the bottom of the darkness.

The remaining spheres splashed upon the sea and created noticeable blasts. But none of them ever got close to Shina. Confidently deciding that the big problem was dealt with, she turned her attention back to the Phoenix of Hope only to find he was gone.

She quickly turned around at the slightest sense of his movement and saw the blurry shape of his body vanishing from sight. She tried turning around again, only to find the sharp edge of one of his blades grazing the left side of her face and cutting a few hairs off.

She turned around again in a panic and another blade zipped past the right side of her face. This time she ducked out of the way and started looking over her shoulder. Both blades were caught in Hope's hands a few feet behind her.

The Sage cringed and bent his arms up near his body as the Phoenix's blades were being driven towards him. Shina turned around, concealing the Sage behind her while holding her hands together between the blades.

At the same time Hope struck her shoulders she thrust her own blades out from her hands. He pulled his head back and got a cut on his forehead for his troubles. He then pulled away and sliced his blades down by the hips, sending waves of dark out.

Shina crossed her arms in defense but that was exactly as Hope planned it. He smirked and guided the darkness around Shina with a wiggle of the fingers.

The Sage was put into panic mode once more. Shina ducked by spreading her legs out and putting one hand to the ground for support, and the darkness faded upon colliding with each other.

She then sped forward, using her body to crash into Hope's legs and trip him up. He quickly turned around in mid-air and slashed at Shina, but she zipped around to the right and fired a few spears into her foe.

He crossed his swords in defense and fired back with an "X" shaped slash of light. Shina stood upright and cut through the center of it with her bare hand.

Hope then smirked and his eyes subtly looked up, "You sure you should be focusing on us this much?"

Shina paused to look up. Her drill had cracked most of the bottom of the dark sphere but ultimately it seemed like the darkness was prevailing.

Above the sphere Joe Dark was pushing against it with all his might. Darkness was exploding out of his body and burned behind him like a comet's trail.

"BEGONE!" He exclaimed as with one final thrust, he forced the darkness to consume the drill and speed the rest of the way down to the sea.

Hope slid into a dark rift and Shina stood there, frozen stiff, as the darkness smashed down upon her. The sphere contorted and spread down upon the sea for a while before exploding in a black flame pillar that could be seen back up in the fake city.

Black flames lingered on the sea in the aftermath and Shina was left hunched over, her wings looking extremely battered upon return. Joe Dark landed a few feet away and the Phoenix of Hope emerged beside him.

Joe Dark had his teeth in a scowl and raised his sword towards her. Hope crossed his arms and glanced at him with a mild look of annoyance.

"Can you PLEASE stop trying to kill her?" He asked very, VERY nicely.

"Maybe you haven't noticed but she's trying to kill US!" Joe Dark barked back.

"Look if you just focus your attacks on bug man over there," Hope flicked a solo finger up at the frazzled spirit, "I'm sure it'll break whatever hold he has over her."

"You're an idiot," Joe Dark grumbled before resuming his glare towards Shina, "She's doing this all on her own."

The Sage hissed in anger towards the two of them, _"My Goddess! What have you infidels done to her?!"_

Hope pulled his arms out and pointed on sword at the Sage, "Looks like your Cosmos Drive isn't as omnipotent as you believed it was!"

"_Silence! You have not even begun to see what true power is!" _The Sage boasted, making Hope roll his eyes.

"That's what you all say..." He responded with a smirk.

Shina began to stir. With a slight tremble she raised her head and her majestic eyes looked like they were watering.

"Why...?" Shina turned her gaze towards the Phoenix and proclaimed, "What did I do to deserve being tormented like this?!"

She pointed at him and said, "Your body! Your face! You're just a fake! You don't deserve to exist!"

Joe Dark forced Hope's sword down and stepped in-between the two gritting his teeth and rearing his head back with a scowl, "You stupid girl...Talking about fakes..."

He widened his eyes in utter fury and yelled, "This entire phantasmagoria of yours is what's fake here! Its so pathetic that it makes me sick!"

"Shut up!" Shina swung her hand out then laid it upon her chest, "I _feel _everyone and everything here! I-I can hold my sister in my arms and feel her pulse. Her body is warm, her cheeks turned red when I hug her...!"

When she widened her eyes a twinkling tear drop was shed from them, "You don't know what its like because you've never been loved, you heartless beast!"

Joe Dark bit his teeth down harder and was in a seething fit. Hope was concerned that he would recklessly charge in at that very moment.

"If your world is as real as you say it is..." Joe Dark thrust his blade out and sent pressure her way, "Then where is Whiter?"

Shina froze up and Joe Dark continued without giving her a chance to answer, "You created this world and 'brought' everyone here. So why isn't he here?"

"H-He's dead!" Shina exclaimed with a furious swing of her arm.

"Why would that matter?!" Joe Dark bit back with more fury than hers, "If your Cosmos Drive is _soooo _powerful it should be easy to bring him back!"

"I-I-I can do it!" Shina was trying and failing to make a strong argument for herself.

"Bull SHIT!" Joe Dark yelled, "If you could have you would have already!"

He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Assuming you actually ever loved him to begin with..."

Shina's eyes widened in a frozen stiff, emotionless glare towards Joe Dark, who by this point **might** be going a bit too far.

"Uhhh, Joe..." Hope tried to intervene with a firm grip on Joe Dark's shoulder but he was unstoppable with his anger and disbelief at this point.

"You delusional girl..._What did Whiter ever see in you?_"

"SHUT UP!" Shina's eyes exploded with fury and turned a shade redder than before. Her wings started to gain more bits to them, extending them to ten times their normal width. And with a single flap of them she took off hundreds of feed off the ground and blew Joe Dark and the Phoenix of Hope away.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM...OR ME!" A massive vortex formed in the endless azure sea beneath her, forcing Joe Dark and Hope into the air before the pull made them lose balance.

"STOP TRYING TO TRICK ME!" Shina's booming voice shook the cage and she squeezed her fists by her hips, filling the space around her wings with spears, "THIS IS REAL! AND YOU WON'T TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME!"

As the spears went flying everywhere Hope and Joe Dark parted ways to avoid impalement. Hope furiously swung his swords around to strength his defenses while edging closer to Shina. Joe Dark simply combined the Phoenix's methods by using pure offensive blasts as his defense while speeding towards Shina.

When he got there first Shina immediately put up a massive barrier and fired it out as a projectile to repel him back. The barrier burned white hot when it eventually passed through his body. The darkness kept his body relatively intact, however.

Shina launched more of those barriers in wider bursts to hit the Phoenix of Hope too. He used his blades to cut open gaps to pass through and started firing hefty waves of energy at Shina.

Shina summoned spears to pierce through the waves. The Phoenix batted them aside and charged through the center. Right as he was about to strike she let loose a barrier and he was forced to set up his own to reduce the damage.

He started over halfway back and suddenly was struck with inspiration. He pulled his right sword back like a javelin and flung it straight through the barriers. Shina waved her hand up and caught it on the palm, then started squeezing in an attempt to break the blade.

Though the blade trembled violently, it was far too resilient to get even a single crack. The Phoenix smirked and held his hand out. Instead of summoning the blade back, he summoned _himself_ to where the blade was and quickly kicked Shina in the gut with both feet.

He grabbed his blade and twirled around until light and dark radiated out from him like a tornado. Shina's wings nailed her to the air but were already starting to be pressured back.

Joe Dark managed to push through the barriers and cleaved down the right wing, weakening her enough for his partner to drag her down to the sea.

She crashed against the northern edge of the vortex and skipped a few times along the surface. The Phoenix landed where she crashed and slashed his blades down, sending a towering wave of light and darkness towards her other wing to cleave through it.

Shina floated upright and started speeding away, zipping to-and-fro so fast that it left afterimages in her wake. Hope hunched forward and sped after her.

The very moment before he crossed the first afterimage it started to twinkle. He slowly turned his head to the left and pulled away to the right as the afterimage bloomed into a deadly, flowery array of crystals.

The very tips of the bloom cut into his left arm and pushed him towards another afterimage. Hope grimaced and backed away in time, continuing to press onward in pursuit of Shina.

A faded shadow grew darker overhead. He looked up and saw Shina's broken wings curling into round fists and driving straight towards them, the air pressure building up and setting the fists on fire.

Hope rolled to the left a few times and sped ahead at double speed. The fists' impact ignited the sky in crimson and made it a little harder to see the remaining afterimages.

Large blasts of darkness started erupting from the ground, destroying the afterimages before their deadly bloom could get in the Phoenix's path. He looked up and saw Joe Dark as a black streak speeding faster after Shina. He shook his head and sighed at his misplaced enthusiasm.

Shina swerved to the right all of a sudden and rounded behind her pursuers. She unfurled her fists and reattached them as wings, then levitated a little off the ground.

She waved her hands around to gather in aura from the cage then flung them into the ground. Hope spun around and glided along the sea, paying close attention to the activity down below.

The surface bubbled and hefty geysers of hot aura erupted near the Phoenix's face. He backed away and stood directly over another geyser.

He braced himself with a barrier and used the geyser to launch into the air. He floated in place for a moment and watched as Shina slanted her wings towards him, and a sharp crystal emerged from each individual bit.

Hope wiggled his lips in a smirk and drew his swords beside his right hip. As the various crystals were expunged in a seemingly unavoidable storm he dashed forth as a bolt of light. Time slowed to a crawl as he bounced off the surface of the crystals to arrive next to Shina in mere nanoseconds.

He drilled forward as a light tornado to get through her, then reversed his flight and rose upward in pursuit as a dark tornado. He then became a larger, light and dark tornado and pursued through her one more time. He then emerged in his solid state and dragged out his slashes against her back until Joe Dark got into position down below.

When she was knocked down he slammed the blunt edge of his sword into her gut and left her gasping arched over the blade. Joe Dark pulled his blade away and stabbed the ground to consume her with a dark flame pillar.

With a wobbly body she nevertheless warped behind him and impaled a pair of swords through the back of his gut. Blood dripped from his mouth and he steeled his body against her attempting to cut up through his body.

The Phoenix of Hope had started to descend for the attack but hesitated now that his partner was in the way. Joe Dark grit his teeth and glared up with a ferocity that screamed "DO IT!", dispelling the Phoenix's doubts.

He continued his descent and brought both his swords down Joe Dark's body, snapping Shina's blades off of him. More blood leaked out of the Dark King's body and mouth but he bit down harder to fight the pain.

Hope aligned his gaze with the ethereal Sage and then pushed forward. Shina grabbed onto Joe Dark's body and dragged it back as a shield. Hope widened his eyes and stabbed his blades forward and diagonally into the Dark King's shoulders.

Joe Dark's gritted teeth trembled and he widened his eyes with a fury. Shina was left motionless with shock as Hope absorbed some of the darkness out of his partner's body to power-up his blades. The tips of the blades sped right past the sides of her face and narrowed in on the heart of her possessive specter.

"_H-HELP!" _His plea for aid rung in her ears and made her pull away not a moment too soon, for the blades had begun to pierce the Sage's abdomen.

Shina flew away a fair distance and trembled from head-to-toe as her enemies turned to face her, looking barely worse for the wear.

"_What are these DEVILS?!" _The Sage stuttered in fear.

Hope flipped his swords around and pointed them at the sea, "I'll get him on the next one."

"Fine, but I won't let you stab me again." Joe Dark grunted as he cricked his neck.

They took one step forward and Joe Dark swung his sword up, raising the Phoenix's sword before he took off running.

The Phoenix warped out of sight with his incredible speed and Shina turned to her side as both her foes prepared to hit her with their hardest pincer attack.

"_Quit toying with them! You know what you must do..." _The Sage forewarned.

Shina's eyes lit up and she pulled back with a single flap of her wings. Her enemies stopped themselves from hitting each other and veered straight towards her.

She then thrust her hands out and widened her eyes to their full extent. The Phoenix of Hope and Joe Dark suddenly stalled mid-air with their auras flaring up brightly.

"Tch...!" They both grunted and tried to force their way through, but simply could not.

"Gotcha, you horrible duo!" Shina swung her hands out and the next thing her victims knew, their massive supply of aura was ripped out of their bodies and erased down to the atom.

The two stuttered, and a second later the Phoenix of Hope split back into Mew and Riku, while Joe Dark lost the Dark King's armor.

They all fell flat to the ground and had visible creases under their eyes. Mew struggled to lift his head, let alone speak, "Ummm...e-excuse me?"

Even Joe Dark, the most tenacious of the bunch, couldn't curl his fist against the ground, "What did you DO you slimy bastard?!"

"_She is the Goddess of Aura, feeble blasphemer..." _The Sage cruelly reminded his defeated lot, _"You were so arrogant to think you could mar such __**divine power**__ without facing retribution. She has wiped clean the aura you hold dear...And without aura, there is no power. No 'you'."_

Holding his raunchy head up high the Sage wrapped himself in his robe and chuckled, _"Which makes you...less than nothing." _

Shina held her hand out and wrapped the three in her own aura, pulling them up level with her face. Mew grit his teeth and grumbled, "C-Come on! That's cheating!"

"_Whine about it in the afterlife..." _The Sage smiled with glee, _"There shall be no one to offer your corrupt soul salvation..."_

With a gentle flick of the wrist Shina launched the three into the air and through the bottom of the fake city. Without their powers at hand crashing through all that rock nearly killed them by the time they got up top. Right after they reached the surface the three were quickly slammed upon the ground and spit up blood.

Shina then warped up in front of them and spread her wings, which had returned to normal size, and filled them with an immense radiance.

"W-Well...this...isn't good..." Mew murmured with a mouth full of blood.

"If...we're going to die here..." Joe Dark closed his eyes and swallowed deep, then grit his teeth tensely for a long while.

"S-Shina...STOOOOP!" Kairi screamed from far away, but her voice could not reach.

At the pinnacle of tension, when all eyes were on the inevitable demise of those three, no one could have expected who'd show up next.

"HALT!" A commanding voice rung out and broke the tension instantly.

All eyes were then set upon the sight of Aurian Pluto, as he stood tall a few feet away atop a mound of debris. His twin swords planted at his feet, resting below his palms.

"I wish to bargain with you, Great Sage." He said with a mild degree of respect.

Shina turned aside and muttered, "Who's this guy now?"

"_The ninth soul I tested my power on," _The Sage chuckled with mild interest and rubbed his chin, _"What could your disgraced soul possibly offer me, elven king?"_

"A more worthy vessel," Pluto nudged his eyes up and gestured a hand out, "Your choice is...questionable at best."

Shina raised her hand up and asked, "Sooo he's another of Gravitus' thugs? I can kill him then?"

The Sage waved his hands down and chuckled, _"No no, lets humor him for a bit."_

Pluto sneered and cracked a smile, "I am merely stating facts. In terms of worthiness there is no comparison between a king and a delusional sow barely fit to be a wet nurse."

Shina slanted her eyes and grumbled in irritation. Pluto kept pressing on, "Out of the trillions of lives you could have picked you saw the potential in me. And how could you not? My magical capabilities far exceed any man or beast alike. I was attuned to immortality before you reached me. And my wisdom far, far surpasses that of a girl who didn't even finish high school..."

Pluto held his arms out and exclaimed, "I am the perfect candidate to wield the Cosmos Drive's power! It is my calling, NAY, my divine right as King!"

"_...You do raise good points," _The Sage didn't take long to start chuckling in mockery of the king, _"A pity you were not born a girl then. Only a __**Goddess**__ is worthy."_

Pluto grimaced then bit his teeth down for a scowl. He closed his eyes and breathed a hard sigh, "I see..."

The sound of metal clacking could be heard behind him as chains rose into view. He opened his eyes with a calm, stern glare and remarked, "I had presumed you wise. But you are merely a bug clinging to deluded ideals."

He picked up one sword and extended it out from behind his shoulder, putting the tip of the blade squarely at the neck of the chained up, younger Kairi.

"S-Sis! H-Help...!" She pleaded with a pale look in her eyes.

"K-K-Kairi...?!" Shina stumbled on her words and her voice was fraught with panic.

The real Kairi clasped her hands over her mouth and felt a chilling sense of deja vu watching this unfold. Pluto coldly twisted his blade into the young Kairi's nape and glared down at Shina.

Shina waved her hand out and all sense of majesty in her form was shed away to reveal a vulnerable, desperate girl.

"P-Please! Let her go I'll do anything! Anything!"

"See that, _oh wise Sage_?" Pluto leered at the specter and scoffed, "Your vessel is chained to human emotion..."

"_Don't listen to him! Kill him NOW!" _The Sage yelled in anger.

"Its time you paid for the folly of attempting to make a lab rat out of me," Pluto turned his head towards the younger Kairi with an emotionless gaze, "And understand...how unworthy your 'Goddess' truly is."

Without a second's pause Pluto cut the young Kairi clean across the neck, flushing the life from her eyes as the chains unfurled from her body.

As the blood spilled from her other's neck, the real Kairi closed her eyes and dropped to her knees at the same time Shina did. Her younger self fell to the ground like a limp doll.

Pluto waved his hand towards Shina and snapped his fingers. Chains emerged to envelop her body and drag her trembling, weeping body off the ground.

"My point has been made. And now...I will rob you of your power, 'Goddess'."

A red aura surrounded Shina's body and instantly the chains were atomized. Pluto grimaced, a chill creeping down his spine, and sweat forming on his face.

Shina thrust her head up and stretched her mouth, a pale screech ripping her throat. She swung her hands up, snaring Pluto's aura and tearing it right off him before he could blink. As he gasped for air and began to fall to his knees, she rocketed over and dragged him to the dirt by the neck.

She pinned his gut down beneath her knees and started throttling him hard enough to break the ground. Her voice was little more than a beastly series of screams as she started wailing on the King's face with her bare fists. Each impact sounded like a grenade going off.

The only thing that could break through, was the faint whisper of the young Kairi's voice, "S-S-Shina..."

She stopped immediately, leaving Pluto with a mangled, blue-blooded face, but still breathing. She flew on over to the young Kairi's body and picked her up. She was bleeding profusely and her eyes were foggy.

Without a second thought she used the Cosmos Drive to heal the wound and restore the purity to her appearance. She then wrapped her in a tight, warm hug.

Pluto coughed up blood and turned his head slightly to the right, hearing the faintest movement from the dirt in the ground.

"...T-Took you long enough, witch..." He said before wheezing up a good chunk of blood.

Shina turned her head to the right and hid the young Kairi behind as a figure drew closer. Mew and Riku had barely registered shock on their faces while Joe Dark scowled and muttered, "About...damn...time..."

Gabriel propped himself up on his sword and started straight ahead with a look of worry. Kairi peeled her hands away and through her watery eyes felt a familiar presence approaching.

"M-Mom...?"

Her doubt was understandable. Approaching the battlefield was a maiden warrior clad in shiny, silver armor. Her face was hidden behind a round helm with four black slits to see through, and a smooth mouth guard. Her neck was protected by an abundance of small chains that extended down to her chest plate, which wore the symbol of a runic sword stabbed through a table that seated ten, and radiated with light like a miniature sun. The arm and legs grieves were lithe but looked sturdy enough. There was a slit in the waist so the bottom half of the maiden's robe could fit through. Her shoulders were bare.

In one hand was a round shield with runes on the outer circle and a diamond heart in the center. In her other hand was a short sword with a diamond blade and a ruby colored tassel dangling off the back.

The lady looked not at Shina, but the Sage behind her and raised her sword. Her voice sounded a little more powerful, and divine, but was almost unmistakably recognizable as Auris'.

"I shall say this only once..." She stiffened the sword firmly at the Sage's neck, and the specter flinched, "If you value what life you have left, you shall let my daughter go."

_Next Time: Guilt of Two-Thousand Years_


	16. Chapter 15

_One hour ago..._

_As Mew, Joe Dark, and Riku discussed potential strategies with Saturn, Gabriel moved his seat over to Auris' side and saw her staring down at that same cube as before._

_Upon seeing him from the corner of her eye, Auris tucked the cube between her thighs and closed her eyes with a hum, "You're not going to persuade me to stop."_

_Gabriel shook his head and voiced himself quietly, "I won't. Your heart has made up its mind. But..."_

_He couldn't stop staring at that cube with a dread look in his eyes, "Why did it have to be __**that**__?"_

"_There is no other way," Auris said firmly, "Confrontation with my daughter is inevitable. I need all the strength I can get."_

"_The Null Armor offers an incredible boost in physical prowess..." Gabriel closed his eyes in a perturbed manner, "But at the cost of completely nullifying one's aura."_

_Auris looked down at the cube and fiddled it around to another side a couple times as she spoke, "Father created it as a last resort to deal with Sarajin. He had hoped to trick him into wearing it, and then the other Sages would execute him on the spot."_

"_...But that's not only one reason I worry about you wearing that." Gabriel was hesitant to say why._

"_I understand," Auris peered up across her left shoulder, "This is one of the few things that can reduce the power of the Anti-Genesis Theorem."_

"_You will be putting your life on the line against one of the strongest powers in Aurian history. Will a boost in physical strength be enough?" _

"_I don't plan to fight the Cosmos Drive," Auris said with a wily smirk. Gabriel looked on in confusion, and she gave him a brief glance aside to say, "Focus on your plan Gabriel, and trust in mine."_

_She squeezed the Null Armor cube and remarked, "This time...I won't stand down until my daughter is safe at home."_

**Chapter 15: Sins of the Mother**

The Sage did not flinch at the mention of Auris' demands and as a matter of fact, rubbed his slimy maw together to smile, _"So, another meddler takes the stage...Fufufu. And why, pray tell, should my Goddess yield to your unsightly armor, Auris Aurora?"_

"I am not speaking to her, bug," Auris pushed her sword forward against towards the spirit and her gaze seemed red-hot through her helm, "And I shall not repeat myself again. _Let her go_."

"_Hmph,"_ The Sage clicked his many tongues and began a deep, sinister chuckle, _"Shina...Don't you have something you want to say to this woman?"_

Shina's eyes narrowed with hate and bile and Auris felt her heart sink slightly. The girl rose to her feet and spread her arms down to her sides to shield the younger Kairi.

"Why are YOU here too?" Shina growled and then her voice deepened, "Did you also join up with Gravitus?!"

Auris lowered her hands to her hips and waited in silence as Shina's rage continued to grow, "Say something! Or are you just going to stand there and do nothing like always?!"

"...You made it all the way out here." Auris whispered with a subtle hint of praise in her voice.

Shina's eyes suddenly opened back up and she firmly nodded her head to say, "Y-Yeah. I did."

"Its hard to look at you now...My dear daughter," Auris pulled her head back a little, "You're not the little girl I raised anymore. You've grown into a fine young woman."

"...T-That's right," The sudden praise left Shina pausing to find her voice, "My travels made me stronger than you ever could have!"

"Stronger, yes. But wiser?" Auris shook her head and waggled her sword towards the younger Kairi clinging to Shina's hip, "Not so much."

Shina pulled her leg a little further out and **glared** at her mother, "I did what you _couldn't_ do and liberated Sancturia from its tyrant! Everyone is safe because of **me**, and you HATE IT...Don't you."

Auris breathed heavily through her helm, "Peace in our time huh? Is this what this world is meant to represent?"

She crossed her arms, tapping her sword along up it while peering around at the sights and people frozen in time, "There is blissful unawareness and false smiles as far as the eye can see."

As Shina's glare worsened Auris turned to face her and remarked, "This is no different than what the Ten Sages of my time wanted."

"Like you could do better!" Shina's voice cracked with laughter, "You...you and your...clairvoyance!"

She spit at the ground and looked like she was gritting her teeth, "That power never saved anyone but yourself!"

Auris laid her hands down by her waist and quietly sighed, "So you learned the truth."

"I learned _a lot_ about you...'mother'," Shina's eyes trembled and her voice cracked more, "I-I was just another sacrifice for your own peace of mind! You never loved me, and you never loved sis either!"

"..." Auris' arms tightened against her chest and she trembled, then took to staring at her daughter with a lost look in her eyes, "No child owes their parents any love. Judge me as you wish."

She gently swung her sword at the ground and showed an unflinching resolve, "But everything I did, I did because I love you both more than anything else."

"..." She closed her eyes and whispered an admission too strained to be faked, "I was...always too much of a coward to admit it."

Shina's eyes widened for a brief moment then resumed glaring at her with the same fire. She crunched her fists and remarked, "I **don't** believe you."

"And you don't have to," Auris leaned forward and propped her shield close to her chest, placing the sword down alongside the length of her leg, "But you're still not an adult, and I am still your mother. You can yell at me, curse me, hate me with all your heart..."

"But when I see you're in trouble...I will always come running to bring you back!"

Silence filled the air, broken by the Sage's chortling and slow, condescending claps, _"A valiant attempt, Auris Aurora. But this one hated you all on her own. If you thought your words would reach her, then you were sorely mistaken..."_

He then hovered his hands over Shina's head and muttered, _"The fool has come prepared to die. Grant her her wish with your incredible cosmic power..."_

"No..." Shina grit her teeth and baffled the Sage.

"_No?!" _And before he could register what was going on, he watched Shina deactivate the Cosmos Drive and return to normal. Her glare burned hotter when done with flesh and blood, and it left Auris unable to say a word.

Shina quietly raised her right arm and reached for her original bracelet, "You want to see how far I've come 'mother'?!"

She tapped the Valkyrie Drive and immediately after transforming drew her broadsword in both hands and pointed it at Auris. The blade, crusted over with blood in the upper half, divided her face down the middle from Auris' perspective.

A divine aura floated around Shina's body like heat. Her aquamarine hair shone brighter than the Cosmos Drive ever did. Determination could be felt from every inch of her stance. But Auris felt a sense of loss and melancholy in her daughter's eyes, but her attention swiftly drew towards the blood on the sword.

"See this?" Shina remarked with a cold tone of voice, "Its Alex's **blood**, from when I was forced to stab him in the chest and take his life!"

Her eyes thrust wide open and she raised her voice mercilessly against Auris, "He had nothing to do with us yet he helped me anyways! But he was just another pawn on the board for you to sacrifice!"

Auris didn't even breathe in response. Shina's blade clanked as she lowered it, aiming the tip at Auris' head.

"...This used to be your Drive. Now...With his fire and my soul fueling it, I **will** surpass you Auris!"

Auris clutched her blade tightly and leaned further in, "Then let us not mince words anymore. Show me your growth, daughter."

Shina pulled herself up and widened her eyes, sprinting straight at Auris to swing her sword down. Auris dug her heels into the ground and slanted her shield up.

The blade dropped and clanged on the center, breaking up the ground around Auris' feet. Auris shoved forward and made Shina stumble a couple steps back. Then, she took one step forward, performed a hard twirl, and swung her shield out like a projectile.

Shina shifted her sword downward to deflect the shield to the ground. Auris rushed in and slipped her fist around the blade to punch Shina in the nose.

Shina started swinging her blade up as she stumbled back. She managed to nick Auris' wrist before she moved it out of the way.

Her shield bounced off the ground and slipped perfectly back onto her arm. Shina tried another downward swing and Auris shielded herself again. She swatted the dull edge of the blade aside and then made an attempt to cut Shina's gut.

Shina leaped a few feet back and her chest visibly pulsed with a rapid beat. She flared her nostrils and took long, deep breaths through them to try and maintain focus.

Auris steadied herself upright and slowly walked forward. Each step, gentle enough not to move the broken ground at her feet.

Shina inched back and her eyes darted up-and-down her opponent's body. Suddenly, she darted forward and swung down at Auris' knees.

Auris hopped, easily pulling her legs up just enough to then slam her feet down atop the incoming sword. Shina was pulled towards the ground but dug her feet in to hold on. She then pulled her sword up with all her strength.

Auris calmly waited to be vaulted into the air. And Shina appeared to have anticipated that, as she ignited her blade and slashed waves of aura up after her.

Auris flicked her shield down and the weight of her armor allowed her to descend upon it. The shield was knocked around by the projectiles but not enough to worry her or anything.

She wrapped both hands around her sword's handle and pointed it down in front of her face. Right before she hit Shina, she plunged it straight down.

Shina's speed saved her at the last moment, or so she thought. In reality Auris' weight was great enough on impact to whip out a shockwave capable of knocking Shina down.

Shina fell on her back and went sliding a few feet away. Auris was given plenty of time to flip kick her shield back into her hand and start walking forward.

Shina stood up in a second and her eyes flared wide open. She twisted her hands around her blade and struck the ground hard to throw a plume of dirt in Auris' face.

Auris stopped and twisted her head to the right, then the left. She closed her eyes and paid extra attention to the subtlest of noises in her environment. Even if Shina came barreling forward at full speed, the slightest pebble moving would betray her efforts.

Auris felt something warm up in front of her and briefly opened her eyes to the size of slits. Light shone through the dirt and came at her incredibly fast.

Auris raised her shield to block a long, "X" shaped projectile. The impact made a loud noise, and she knew that was when her daughter would strike.

Blind on three sides, Auris took a gamble and turned all the way around. A quick slice along the edge of Shina's blade slowed it long enough for her to get her shield in position. But her muscles couldn't adjust to the impact in time and her arm bent up against the underside of her chest.

Shina bashed her blade against the shield two more times, breaking up the dirty shroud. Auris stepped back while keeping her arm in the same spot, and began to hunch over.

When the sword came down again Auris charged forward and hit the blade while simultaneously digging her feet down. A small shockwave sliced into the ground while Shina stumbled back.

Shina hastily put her feet down and flew in again. She swung down at Auris' shield and dashed to the left of her. She then spun around on a dime and performed a one-handed slash across Auris' back. Cutting the armor, but not breaking through.

And then she was able to pull away before Auris could retaliate. Again, so she thought. What began as a slash turned into throwing the sword like a dagger. Shina flinched and swung down at the sword too late, causing it to redirect and cut her right leg.

She stumbled back two steps and the pain kept her from going further for now. Auris slowly approached, sliding her shield onto the other arm.

Shina didn't move. There was no telling what trickery her opponent would try next. But one thing was for certain...She couldn't afford to take her eyes off the sword in the ground.

Auris dashed ahead and swung her shield at Shina's face. Shina had no choice but to back away. Auris used the momentum from her swing to quickly bend down and pluck her sword from the ground. She then rose right back up and tried slashing Shina across the face.

Shina swung her sword down and pulled her head back. That blade grazed her nose while hers went for Auris' arm. Auris flipped her grip and dragged her blade along Shina's, flinging a few sparks through the holes in her helm.

At the end of the clash Shina's blade lopped off part of her armor's elbow. Auris tucked her arm against her chest and backed away with a hop. She flipped her blade around a few times with careful flicks of the wrist.

"_Enough of this farcical battle!" _The Sage barked out enraged, _"You can end her right now!"_

Shina grimaced, grit her teeth, and centered her blade before her body. Auris shook her head and berated the moth man with a firm, motherly voice, "She won't listen to your demands. That is not who she is."

Shina's eyes widened with fury and she ignited her blade while charging ahead. Auris delicately swung her shield out and deflected Shina's warpath to her right. Shina stumbled, but she dug her feet in and swung back in an upward arch.

Auris slammed her shield into the blade and looked a bit surprised when Shina leaped off the ground and unleashed the built-up aura as a tornado.

The tornado attacked with many quick, delicate cuts as far as her armor was concerned, but it was so thick in size that it made it hard to see what Shina would do next.

Auris wagered there was only two ways she'd go: Attack from the sky, or descend with a powerful slash. Fighting against the wind, Auris knelt down and raised her shield overhead, then placed her sword near the ground.

Shina attempted a combination of Auris' guesses. First, pelting her from the sky with waves of aura. The energy split on contact with her shield and cut into the ground. Then, Shina dove and brought her sword down like a massive cleaver.

If she had put her feet down the attack would've had more weight behind it. But what she provided was more than enough. The damage she had done to the ground caused it to break and take Auris off balance.

Auris tried swinging her sword up in hopes that hitting Shina in the wrist would knock her out of the way. But Shina backed off in the nick of time and immediately lunged forward upon landing. With Auris off-balance it was easy to swing her sword into any part of her shield and knock her back.

Auris went flying for a while, remaining just a foot off the ground. Shina jumped all the way to where she was and drove her sword down towards Auris' stomach.

Auris released both sword and shield at the same time. The shield rested atop her abdomen while she flung the sword fast enough to cut straight across Shina's left cheek.

Shina grit her teeth and powered her descent with that rage, smashing down upon Auris' shield to slam them both into the ground. The two of them wound up forming a ten foot deep crater and threw many rocks high into the sky.

Auris' muscles ached. It was an unfamiliar feeling to have pain last this long. It was...welcoming. Yet, the pain in her body could never match the pain in her heart.

Shina continued to press down, her sword chipping away at the diamond on the shield. She dug her knees into Auris' so she wouldn't be able to try and escape.

Auris closed her eyes, and smiled. Shina flinched, as though she could feel the confidence her mother expressed.

Faster than an eye could blink Auris briefly slid her arm under her shield's straps and swung out to the right with all her might, tossing Shina off into the side of the crater.

At the very last second, Auris chucked her shield as well and it impaled itself into Shina's chest plate. Auris stood up and ran at Shina, slipping her arm into the shield and using this peculiar set of circumstances to hoist her off the ground.

She then spun right around a few times to dizzy Shina, and then piledrove her head first into the ground. She pulled her shield out and looked up. Her sword fell neatly into her hand, right in time for her to slice up the falling rocks.

She backed away with a hop when Shina tried to swing her sword back at her ankles. Shina stood up with blood smeared around her mouth and screeched angrily. Once more she charged at Auris and wildly swung her sword against her shield.

Auris was shoved back with every pound. Her heels started to rise against the crater's incline. When she had to bend at the knee just to hold off her daughter, she knew that she was at a disadvantage.

But to turn the tide of battle back in her favor required aura that she didn't have a drop to spare. For now, all she could do was wait out this fevered storm of attacks and hope the battlefield would shift in her favor.

After a few more loud strikes Auris swore she heard the ground break behind her. A cautionary glance showed she was right, and gave her an idea. She swung her sword back down and hit the cracked surface to break it. This gave her more footing to stand and hop back onto higher ground.

She scooped her sword back into her hand and leaned her sword down near the hip. Shina positioned her sword in the center of her body and paced left and right. Auris moved in the opposite direction every time.

Their eyes remained locked onto one another and not even the shrill rage of the Sage could change that, _"EEEEENOUGH! This is beneath you...This woman means nothing!"_

"A worm does not get to judge who is beneath them..." Auris responded coldly, and crossed her sword over her shield to point at Shina with it, "This means everything to her."

She then leaned her head back and whispered to herself in a playful, curious tone, "What will you do now, daughter?"

Shina slanted her eyes and gripped her sword tighter. She bent at the knees and Auris stopped in place with her sword held at the back.

Shina lunged up and budged her sword slightly. Auris moved her shield to anticipate it. Shina flipped over Auris' head instead.

Auris turned and swung her sword up to go for Shina's legs. Shina tucked her legs into her waist to dodge it. Then she turned her whole body around and, igniting aura around her, rammed straight into Auris' body.

Auris lost control of her stance once they started flying over the crater and Shina quickly took advantage of it to try and dislodge the shield out of her hand.

Auris held strong even after her back rammed into the opposite end of the crater and Shina dragged her through yards of the ground. But even at full strength there was little she could do to keep Shina from pulling her shield off.

This was anger that had been building for a long, long time and finally burst. And it made Auris smile full of pride.

With her mother's defenses lowered it was easy for Shina to pull away and grind her sword up from Auris' hip to her right shoulder. She cut through the armor and struck down into the skin.

Auris' ride ended with her smashing into one of the fake houses, half of which crumbled down on top of her. She stood up and a sharp pain came from her gut, making her stagger and lay a hand over the bleeding wound. She could hear her skin meticulously piece itself back together very, very slowly.

She closed her eyes and breathed nice and deep. A little blood slipped into her esophagus. She coughed, but did a fine job hiding so behind her arm.

Shina stood fifty feet away and Auris' shield was behind her. There'd be no reclaiming it now. Shina held the advantage in speed, especially with the Null Armor on.

Auris lowered her arm. Blood marred the silver sheen. Her heart pumped louder, and louder. It gave her quite a shock, filling her cheeks red and making her smile uncontrollably.

She still had sword in hand, and sprinted at Shina as fast as her legs would carry. Pain throbbed inside of her chest as she curved her run to make her daughter work to determine where she'd attack from.

At the last second Auris eyed Shina's left side and slashed at it. Shina grabbed her by the wrist and pulled the sword away at the last second. She cleaved her own sword down at Auris' shoulder. Auris paid her daughter back by grabbing **her **wrist gently.

Face-to-face, eye-to-eye, they fought with their emotions and not their words. Shina's eyes shone like a warrior's and Auris was reminded of herself, many, many years ago.

The shadow of the Sage loomed over them, and still he barked like a dog, _"She is at your mercy! Finish this!"_

"You will not control her you fiend!" Auris declared, "The future you have planned for her will never come to pass!"

"_Future?!" _The Sage scoffed in an insulted tone, _"This has never been about the future, but the past!" _

"_You are the prime example of the arrogance our kind has grown to have...You think you know so much..." _The Sage threw his arms out and exclaimed in an maddened tone, _"But you are blind and have lost your way! Just like the other races that litter the universe!"_

"_You need divine protection...and the guidance of a Goddess!" _

"And how do you expect to do that? By brainwashing the entire universe to follow your asinine religion?" Auris said, cold with every word she spoke.

"_No. I will return to the universe to zero. I stretched trillions of microfibers of my aura through every single corner of the universe. Every person, every THING is connected to my Goddess' Cosmos Drive. We see all, know all, and control all..."_

"_And we can return all to the way things were before. I will turn every Aurian back to what they were before. And not only that! Every living being will be transformed into an Aurian, and experience the same fate. We will all be unified, free of war, racism and conflict..." _The Sage reared his head back and spread his wings to emphasize a powerful shriek, _"UNDER THE WATCHFUL DIVINITY, OF OUR BEAUTIFUL GODDESS!"_

"You're a fool." Auris immediately responded, deflating the enthusiasm the Sage had.

Auris lowered her head to look Shina in the eyes with a smile, "Your Goddess doesn't exist...And your 'tool' is a person, with a name she's proud of."

Auris closed her eyes and her smile widened a little more, "She is Shina, Shina Aurora."

Shina's body stiffened at the sight of Auris widening her eyes and yelling, "And she will not lose to your attempts to break her family apart!"

"_...Of course not," _The Sage chuckled with sinister vibes as he waved the back of his hands out, _"You did a fine enough job of that on your own."_

Shina widened her eyes and with a firm nod suddenly summoned a series of aura swords around Auris. Auris eyed half of them then pulled herself free of Shina's grip and hopped back.

She flinched, looking down as her feet touched the ground. Her heart raced faster, but she continued to smile.

And her body stayed still all while Shina finished bringing her blade straight down the center of her chest and abdomen. Blood sprayed out of the scar and Auris fell onto one knee, then the other. Finally, her sword dropped out of her hand.

Auris closed her eyes and rested both hands atop her legs, while blood trickled down between them. Shina stood over her a few feet away and dropped the tip of her sword to the ground.

Her panting and wheezing didn't reek of any sense of satisfaction. In fact, she sounded outright furious.

"You...you could have won!"

"I gave you the best I could offer right now, and you surpassed it," Auris raised her head, "I acknowledge you as the better warrior, Shina. And as the victor, you can do whatever you want to me."

Shina's hand trembled and had a hard time holding on to the sword. The Sage rested his hands upon her shoulders and his tongues clicked upon his mouth, _"I don't trust her...Finish her the correct way."_

"R-Right..." Shina raised her hand to the Cosmos Drive and re-activated it. She levitated off the ground and lorded over the lowly Auris with her divine presence and omnipresent shadow.

Mew had sat back and watched this unfold with silence but now that the battle had gotten this bad he forced his head up and screamed in confusion, "H-Hey! Why...why is she not healing?!"

He turned to Gabriel and lightly punched the ground, "Gabriel! Hey!"

The samurai stayed solemn in his thoughts, and closed his eyes to shut off any outside influence. But his face showed a frown, and his body trembled.

Mew bit his teeth down and tried to stand. He was too weak, and it wasn't getting any better. He had just enough strength to face the real Kairi. She was still on her knees, her eyes blank and her body trembling.

"_D-Damn it, she's still not moving...! I...was I...wrong?" _Mew seemed to be the only one who cared to try and step in to help Auris. Even she was motionless and accepting of her fate.

Shina raised her hand and started gathering an incredible amount of aura at the palm. The Sage chuckled and rubbed his hands together, _"Any last words, meddling seer?"_

Auris slowly turned her head to the right. Kairi flinched, and her heart thumped loudly with life. A single tear trickled out of Auris' helm.

"I...will always love you."

The aura in Shina's palm expanded to the size of her body. Kairi's body started moving on its own, reaching for the rainbow colored stone on her bracelet as she pulled forward off the ground.

The atmosphere became muted as Shina fired off a point-blank energy blast. A blur sped in-between her and Auris and the blast split in two, carving through thousands of feet of land before exploding into radiant pillars of blue light.

The smoke quickly settled with a flap of Shina's wings and the Sage hacked up a gaudy cough, _"W-Who dares now?!"_

Kairi stood between them with her arms crossed before her face and beautiful rainbow-colored butterfly wings spread from her back. She lowered her arms and fiercely glared at Shina with watery eyes.

"That's **enough** Shina!" Her voice was breaking, in spite of how fired up she was. With her body shielding her mother Kairi pushed her wings back with her right arm and expended some of her power to help Auris heal.

She then curled her fist tight and exclaimed, "I'm your **real** little sister! And I'm going to be the one to bring you back to your senses!"

_Next Time: Memories of Joy_


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: A Dream, A Wonderful Dream**

"N-No...!" Shina clutched the sides of her head and backed away slowly. As she started shaking her head she swung one hand out and had a pale look in her sparkling eyes.

"Y-You're not real! You can't be real!" It was the first real acknowledgment she had made of Kairi's presence and it was straight up denial that she was even here.

Kairi slanted her eyes and fought back the sorrow buried within to look her big sister in the eyes and tell her, "Why can't you see me Shina?"

"Because you're. Not. REAL!" Shina stamped her feet down and flailed her left hand out towards the younger Kairi standing a few feet away, "She is!"

Kairi wasn't about to give that fake any attention. She buckled her feet down and stayed determined to convince her sister the truth, "Look me in the eyes Shina!"

She laid a hand over her chest and pleaded with all her heart, "You KNOW who I am!"

Shina stared straight out and Kairi's eyes began to wobble with her sister's reflection in them. Shina shook her head, starting slowly, then getting fevered with anger.

"NO! You're not HER!" Shina pointed to that fake again and her voice broke down desperately, "I saved her! I did! You're...you're just a fake created by Gravitus!"

The delusion ran deep within Shina's mind and seemed adamant about not letting go. Kairi turned her furrowed brows upon the Sage, and found that he was trembling with impotent rage.

He curled his pincers into his arms and growled, the volume rising into a full on screeching and hissing fit. As vile saliva spewed from his maw he lurched forward and his shout snapped Shina out of her mental conflict.

"_KILL HER! KILL HER NOW! DO NOT LET THAT BLASPHEMOUS DRIVE EXIST ANY LONGER!" _He was scared...of the Neo Drive?

Shina looked over her shoulder at the Sage and appeared shocked by his anger. Then she turned upon Kairi and levitated off the ground, spreading her wings to their full majestic width.

"I've let you impostors get in my head long enough!" Shina swung her arms down before her hips and began to glow, "I'm ending this NOW!"

The overwhelming pulse of Shina's power shook Kairi at the knees. It was a relaxed wave, but one hiding a terrifying sadness and rage.

Kairi stood her ground, and clenched her right fist. She then glanced slightly over her shoulder and murmured, "Mom...thank you."

She then raised her head high and with her eyes flared open murmured some more, "I...WILL put our family back together!"

She unleashed her own pulse of power to counteract Shina's, causing her to slant her eyes in disgust. Shina then flexed her fingers and a series of spears surrounded Kairi.

Kairi gazed at them all in a second and closed her eyes. As the spears descended she thrust them open with a symbol buried within her pupil, and a chilling aura surrounding her body. Absolute zero temperatures slowed the spears' descent and then froze them over inches from her body.

She then bent at the knees slightly and charged valiantly at Shina with a roar. Shina flinched and barely moved to the left in time to avoid the tackle. Kairi quickly did a 180 and dove at Shina again, where she dodged out of the way with a spin.

Shina then spread her wings and pointed one hand at the ground. As Kairi landed a series of crystallized blossoms erupted from the ground. Kairi kept sliding along the ground as she turned around, evading every blossom with carefully timed thrusts to the left and right.

She widened her eyes and charged forward, turning her body into a spear to piece the crystals. At the last one she kicked her feet out and smashed into Shina's gut, going down to the ground after.

Kairi bounced off on impact and dug her feet deep into the ground. Shina quickly got up and shook the hit off. She turned sideways and raised her hand out, sending out a large laser.

It flew into Kairi's face and she pulled away to the left, only for the laser to bend and curve after her. Kairi drew an aura sword out of her right hand and attacked the laser head-on. It bounced back briefly and then resumed its assault. It curved to the ground, bounced up, and tried sliding behind Kairi's arm to hit her face.

Kairi pulled her sword back and swatted it down, then leaped back high into the sky. The laser kept pursuing and started whipping around her to induce confusion. Kairi stayed calm and swung her sword around whenever the laser got close. Every hit chipped more of it away until it was soon too small to pose a threat, and one final cut eliminated it for good in a flurry of sparks.

Shina appeared as the sparks formed and latched her arms around Kairi. Then, with one hard turnaround she threw her towards the ground, then flapped her wings to summon a mighty gale that'd further the impact.

Kairi smashed onto her back and tumbled and bounced a few yards back, ultimately landing on her feet. Shina was closing in when she raised her head. Kairi grit her teeth and slid to the right. Shina swerved and remained level a foot off the ground as she pursued Kairi.

Kairi took to the sky as Shina swept the ground with a wide berth of aura, and then pelted her in the back with energy spheres. Shina turned and kept flying with her back to the ground, using a shield to deflect Kairi's attacks while thrusting spears towards her.

Kairi snatched one out of the air and felt her elbow crack trying to keep it in her hand. She dodged the other spears and lunged hers down with all her might, creating a sonic boom in the air.

Shina cupped her hands before her chest and aura spiraled between them like the formation of a new galaxy. She thrust them above her head then lunged them out to unleash a massive star-filled beam. The spear tossed at her and some of them she summoned were atomized in an instant.

Kairi curled her wings in front of her body and fended off the beam's powerful wrath. She was constantly being shoved back. There was an opening she felt she could exploit, but she'd have to be quick.

She cupped her hands together and pushed the pointer fingers out, gathering aura at their tips. When she felt she had enough she parted a slit in her wings.

She grimaced at a sensation behind her and her head turned on its own to see three spears aimed at her back. She fired her piercing shot through the center of the beam without a second's thought. This widened a safety net big enough to free up her wings and block the spears.

But at the same time Shina barreled through the center of her own attack and smashed her fist deep into Kairi's gut. It felt like her innards would pop out of her back at any moment. Kairi snapped off Shina's fist and went flying high over the fake city.

Shina instantly warped behind and raised her right leg as high as humanly possible, kicking the heel down upon Kairi's head. A few increasingly larger sonic booms burst out from Kairi's straight descent with the ground.

Kairi spread her wings near the end to slow down. The ground still broke on impact, but at least she didn't wind up on the underside of the city. She hunched over and panted a couple times from shock, then froze as a shadow was cast over her body.

Shina was there with her palm flooding with light, aimed at Kairi's face. Kairi bit her lower lip and lunged up, grappling her arms around Shina's one and pulling her down and around to the ground. She then locked one arm around her arm to keep her from moving and raised her other fist.

Her body trembled at the sight of Shina. Her hesitation lasted until her knuckles cracked from her tightening her fist just that little bit extra, but by then her punch came too late.

Shina broke down into atoms and hastily reformed behind Kairi, whose punch cracked the ground. Kairi pulled back immediately and tried to go for a counterattack. Shina grabbed her by the elbow and held her down. Then, she raised her other hand for a repeat of her last attack.

Kairi's eyes trembled and, for just that moment, Shina _hesitated_ herself.

"RAAAAH!" Kairi roared with determination and forced all her strength into her legs to stand, and then to pull her elbow free from Shina's grip. She pushed forward with the other arm and smashed her fist down across Shina's face.

A staggering blow that sent Shina stumbling back quite a number of feet. She recovered and pulled away with Kairi's knuckles grazing up the front of her face. Kairi staggered back and stood upright to catch her breath.

Shina breathed slowly as well. If the constant battling wasn't tiring her out by now, then clearly some other factor was at play.

In this moment of solidarity Kairi clutched her fists and thought, _"It feels like the Cosmos Drive can have whatever powers Shina wants to have..."_

Kairi grimaced, and felt a little outmatched, _"And Shina always had a good imagination. H-How am I supposed to combat that?" _

She closed her eyes but kept her other senses sharp, _"Think Kairi, think!"_

"_DO NOT LET UP!" _The Sage exhaled in a panic, _"SHOW THIS CRETIN YOUR DIVINE POWER!" _

Kairi forced her eyes open and watched Shina gather aura in her hands and raised them above her head. Kairi stood sideways and watched as her sister cleaved the aura down in a massive slicing wave across the ground.

Kairi zipped to the right and moved forward. Shina repeated the attack with little time between them, and Kairi sped to the left and inched forward. Shina divided her hands and attacked down both Kairi's sides, this time the aura lingered as walls to limit her movements.

Kairi scrunched her forehead and nevertheless charged forth into danger. Shina paid her bravery in kind by laying her palm down flat and unleashing a wintery gale. It didn't have much force, but was hundreds of degrees below zero.

Kairi could feel a chill down to her bone and was forced to use one of Mercury's Drive to keep herself hot enough to survive. Shina widened her eyes in surprise and gave Kairi the opening to slam her fist down atop her skull. The ground cracked into a foot deep crater and the winter's wrath came to an end.

Shina suddenly threw her hands up and grabbed Kairi's wrist. Kairi tried to pull free but Shina threw her behind before her muscles could budge.

Kairi used her wings to stall in place and then flung a large sphere of aura from each hand. Shina took them head-on and was barely shoved back. She then detached many of the bits from her wings and fueled them with aura to make them shine.

The bits sped towards Kairi and started pelting her from all directions. The many strikes added up their force to start pushing her back, and a couple were sharp and managed to cut her along the arms and legs. Kairi crossed her arms before her face for safety and then focused deep within to call upon Neptune's Drive.

Her aura changed into a wavy form and the bits began repeatedly bouncing off her. Kairi thrust her arms out and dove down at Shina with the bits in pursuit, continually failing to breech her defenses.

Shina's eyes widened and she dodged back as Kairi smashed into the ground and quickly rose to her feet, proceeding forward without pause. Kairi swung her fists wildly at Shina and she dodged around them, leaving traces of her frame in her wake.

The bits formed into a sword and slashed down at Kairi's back. It breached her aura, shirt, and drew blood from the skin. Kairi grimaced down to the knees but her eyes flared up even fiercer than before.

She drew a sword in each hand and twisted sideways, using one of them to deflect the bit sword's attacks while attempting to slice Shina with the other. Shina dodged a few more attacks then blocked the blunt edge of Kairi's sword with her wrist, then shackled their arms together with cuffs.

Kairi flicked her other wrist around to deflect the sword then chose to flip behind Shina, using the cuffs to lock her sister's arm up next to her neck. She then took a few strikes at her back with a bare fist.

Shina atomized her body and appeared behind Kairi with swords drawn up towards her back. The bit sword thrust forward at her chest. Kairi activated Pluto's Drive and kept the assaults at bay.

But with Shina's quick thinking it'd only be a matter of time before her attacks would gain the properties needed to break through. Kairi needed to get some distance, and fast.

She charged her aura and smashed her palms flat upon the ground to expand the aura into a burst. She then lunged forward and thrust her palms out to obliterate the bit sword. Then she spun around and swung a couple projectiles into Shina's body.

Shina swerved out of the way of the second one and levitated off the ground, surrounding herself with a ring of spears. She started shifting around Kairi to mesmerize her and make it harder to tell when the spears would come out.

Kairi moved only at the **exact** moment the spears fired and still barely made it out of the way in time. But as each spear touched the ground it left a ripple of aura that resonated with Kairi. The heat of battle was making it difficult to think, but that pulse, that simple and small pulse, gave her just the memory she needed.

"_Stingle, the Wasp, had the most peculiar power out of us. His ability of Final allowed him to crystallize his thoughts into pure power. With the help of Ficklewick, they created the __**Drives**__..." _That is what the Sage had said. And the Cosmos Drive, being a combination of all those Drives from the past, wielded those same powers.

And the Neo Drive could **mimic** other Drives so long as Kairi saw them.

"_That's it...!" _Kairi widened her eyes and dodged a couple more attacks, curling her fists and concentrating within herself. The power Shina wielded now was reflected in Kairi's pupils as a spear symbol.

She then summoned two rainbow-colored spears with a more straight, uniform design and fired them at Shina. In the brief moment Shina went shocked Kairi was able to scrape her across the hips with the spears.

The Sage visibly grimaced and pulled his entire body back in a slant. Shina remained frozen for a good while, allowing Kairi to summon more spears to deal with hers.

"S-She copied my..."

"_C-Cursed...Neo Drive...!" _The Sage's ill-timed words got Shina's attention immediately.

"Wh-What did you call it...?!" She gasped.

"_KILL HER!" _The Sage's pale scream destroyed any trace of her curiosity, _"KIIIIILLLLL HEEEEEEERRRR!" _

Shina felt compelled to swing her arms in front of her and summon a towering crystallized bloom at Kairi's feet. Kairi sped back and widened her eyes to activate Gravitus' Drive. Her aura surrounded the skyscraper sized bloom and pulled it from the ground, then flung it straight at Shina.

Shina pounded the front of her crystal with dozens of spears and then broke through it with a charge at lightning speeds. She got close to Kairi and attempted to slice her up with her sword hands. Kairi summoned her own swords hands and danced around and over Shina, clashing blades as sparks went flying all over the place.

The two locked blades in a cross and the resulting collision shoved them off each other immediately with a spherical burst of air. Kairi lowered her hands and squinted her eyes, a flash of the spear symbol in the pupils.

She fired a few spears out and Shina countered with more of her own. Kairi summoned more to shield herself with a wall and when it shattered, charged forward. She rammed her head into Shina's gut and staggered her back.

Then she pulled away and blasted Shina with a few projectiles. Shina widened her eyes and her aura grew in size, freezing the spheres inches from her body. She then filled them with her aura and launched them back. Not taking any chances, she had them explode when Kairi tried dodging them.

Brushing with the blasts Kairi kept moving away and waiting for an opening to charge in. When she seemingly found that gap, she first lunged a spear at Shina and then charged ahead.

Shina caught the spear in her hand and then atomized at the last second to evade Kairi's punch. She reformed behind Kairi and stabbed the spear at her back. Kairi's eyes flashed with an atom symbol and she broke down as well. It felt strangely fuzzy, like each individual atom had its own senses.

The sensation lasted for a second and she appeared behind Shina. She could immediately swing her feet up and kick her in the back to knock her up.

Shina stalled with her wings and turned around. She dropped her hands below her waist and fired a sole blast towards the ground. Kairi pulled away and when the blast hit it exploded in a massive dome, wiping out anything around and below it.

Kairi was forced to go higher and meet whatever Shina decided to attack her with. Shina twirled away and then threw a powerful kick forward. Kairi grappled her arms around her leg to hold her down. But she had been fooled. Shina had kicked with a solid afterimage, and the real deal pulled back.

The afterimage became very, very sticky and kept Kairi from pulling free. Shina made a sole crystal at her sides and they grew, twisting into spiral cones that could contain an immeasurable amount of aura.

The funneled energy fired into a pair of thick beams with the composition of comet trails into Kairi. The afterimage was destroyed, but now Kairi was trapped against the front of the beams and dragged into the ground.

Her body burned, the pressure was great. But as long as she could focus for even a second, she could summon the power of Neptune's Drive to deflect the beams into the ground and give her some breathing room.

But the beams still applied pressure, even after she blew them aside. The cannons would remain a constant at Shina's sides. Kairi could try warping behind Shina, but her reflexes seemed sharp enough for that to not be feasible.

No. There was another way.

Kairi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swallowed her hesitation. She then crossed her arms before her chest and thrust her eyes open with a pair of crossed pistols glowing in her pupils. She summoned a gun in each hand and sped along the smoothed ground.

Shina squinted and laid her hand out, commanding the cannons to fire. Kairi hopped over the right one then ducked upon landing to dodge the left one. Then she charged her barrels full of aura and thrust the guns up to take her shots.

Shina's eyes widened and the chill in her body could be felt from down below. Kairi's fingers trembled on the triggers, but when she found the strength to pull she broke the triggers and the grip behind them.

Two small but deceptively powerful bullets sped through the air and pierced the cannons in the middle of their assault. Cracks spread throughout, filled with the Neo Drive's power, and proceeded to explode into shards. Shina threw her arms up before her face and gasped out a shriek.

Kairi curled her fists and bounced straight up towards her, summoning a fresh pair of pistols to rapidly pelt Shina across her body. She started a prolonged scream as she slammed her feet down into her gut and dragged her towards the ground with every shot she fired.

Shina's eyes stayed stiff with shock even as she hit the ground. Then she broke up into atoms and flew away, reforming a good fifty feet in front of Kairi. Kairi panted heavily and her right eye grimaced shut.

She grit her teeth and looked down, watching as crystallized ivy grew from the ground and twisted tightly around her leg to keep her in place.

"T-That's...my..." Shina was at a loss for words. Kairi pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at the ivy, hoping that one shot would shatter it.

Shina suddenly thrust her hands out and squeezed them tightly, "STOP! STOP!"

She tugged her hands back with all her might and Kairi felt her aura being ripped off and crushed. Her heart beat hastened, but her body did not tire. The Neo Drive's rainbow aura formed back around her body nice and easy.

Shina widened her eyes and did the same motions to rip out the aura again. But another one reformed in its place, and Kairi regained the shotgun in her hands.

Shina rapidly tried pulling Kairi's aura out but another one would always take its place. Her ragged gasps and pained whimpers soon tired her out, leaving her hung over with her hands on her knees and asking, "Why why WHY?!"

Kairi could only guess at the answer as she looked at the shotgun in her hands, _"Each of these Drives have their own aura, and that includes the Neo Drive itself..." _

Kairi stared straight at Shina but found the Sage's panicked expression more interesting, _"Shina can only pull out one aura from a person at a time. When she tries a second time, the other one returns..." _

She slanted her eyes and came to realize what everyone else had ultimately been told, _"The Neo Drive counters the Cosmos Drive!" _

This filled her heart with so much fire that it put her in a mild state of euphoria. She pulled the shotgun trigger without hesitation and shatter the crystal ivy. Some of the shards lodged into her muscles but she didn't care.

"_I CAN save her! I can do it!" _She split the shotgun into a pair of rifles and ran at Shina as fast as the wind. Shina raised her head with big, doe-eyes and suddenly warped away hundreds of feet into the air as Kairi took aim and fired.

Kairi looked around for a while until she found Shina's shadow beaming out across the ground...cast there by a powerful, azure light.

Kairi's eyes grew wide as she saw not one, not two, but dozens of miniatures suns falling from the sky around Shina. Shina's aura exploded around her, and she pulled her arms forward and then stretched them back with tremendous force capable of shaking the air.

"You're not her! Y-You're just a fake! Stop trying to trick me!" The suns began a rapid descent across the entire city. The atmosphere of the cage turned red hot, and smoke sizzled off the ground.

Kairi twisted her fist back by her hip and saw these blazing stars as little more than an obstacle standing between her and her sister.

"This isn't a trick! And you **know** it Shina!" Kairi's pupils shone with the symbol of a galaxy and she thrust her eyes wide-open. Every single one of those stars were surrounded by her aura and made obedient to her will. She **loathed **using the power of Gravitus' Space Drive.

But, it allowed her to part the suns and open the way towards Shina. Kairi then thrust her hand out and made an even bigger hand out of aura. It rocketed through the air and snatched the stunned Shina in its grasp. Then with one hearty tug, Kairi pulled her back to the ground.

She dispelled the hand and twisted her fist tight, thrusting it out full strength into Shina's forehead and gritting her teeth until she could feel bone-against-bone.

Shina snapped off Kairi's fist with the sound of a shotgun going off and smashed back first into the ground, tumbling away quite a few feet and surprisingly, staying on her back when she was through.

Kairi staggered forward from the strength of her punch and stabilized by putting her hands on her knees. She was panting heavily and sweat dripped from her face onto the ground. She forced her head up and stared at her sister with trembling eyes.

"P-Please...just look at me Shina...!"

Shina cobbled together her strength to stand and had her head halfway towards the ground. She squeezed her hands around her head and started shaking it back and forth violently.

"You're not her you're not her! YOU'RE NOT HER YOU'RE NOT HER YOU'RE NOT HER!"

She flung her hands towards the ground and flailed them about without any sense of control over herself, "I had to be the one to save her! Me! It had to be me!"

Her aura was in a flux and pulsed like the ground at the beginning of an earthquake. She barely held her feet on the ground as she swung her head back and grabbed her head once again, looking to be in incredible pain.

"WHAT WOULD'VE BEEN THE POINT OF EVERYTHING IF I DIDN'T?!" She threw her head downward and squirmed to the right, "ALEX DIDN'T DIE FOR NOTHING!"

Kairi's heart was wrenched tight, but she had to pull her head up as aura starting shooting off Shina's body and flew all the way out to the edge of the cage. The blasts created large, barely visible images taken straight out of Shina's memories. From the first moment she could remember as a baby to the present day, it was a photographic memoir of her most cherished moments and the people involved in them. The images swirled around the cage, sometimes crossing over with one another.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Shina let out a pale wail and the images flashed, bringing the people within to life by the hundreds. Without a second's pause this massive swarm flew down and converged upon the sister's location to attack Kairi.

With their numbers bordering on the millions and growing larger by the second the battlefield became pure pandemonium as Kairi was swept up in the crowd and dragged far, far away from Shina, who remained untouched.

"S-Shina!" She cried out as she reached her hand out.

The beaten warriors behind her couldn't do anything but sit or stand there as the tidal wave approached. Suddenly, however, an unarmored Auris stood between them and thrust her right hand out with her eyes flared wide-open.

A stunning aquamarine barrier was erected from her palm, acting as a dome that tower hundreds of feet high, yet was stronger than the millions of warriors could ever hope to scratch.

She narrowed her eyes as the warriors battered the shield and murmured, "You can do it...Kairi!"

Kairi was clawed, grabbed and cut at but kept a fire alight in her eyes as she pushed forward. She squeezed her fists and exploded with aura, blowing most of her assailants off and propelling her forth like a bullet.

"You were always the kindest person in the whole wide world to me! I looked up to you and tried to follow your example!"

"Shut up...!" Shina muttered from within the crowd.

"You taught me so much about video games, reading and fighting! You were a better teacher than any of my teachers were!"

"Stop it stop it stop it!" Shina's voice got louder, and Kairi knew she was getting closer.

"I know you better than anyone else ever could! You loved to eat mom's stir-fry because she was the only person who cooked carrots the way you liked them! You always liked to sit on the right side of the couch when we played video games because you found it easier to see the TV!"

"No, no, y-you don't know anything!" Shina's voice broke down.

Kairi's eyes flared wide-open with further determination and she started punching away large chunks of the crowd and agile-y flying around the rest.

"You have a body-sized polka-dot pillow in your bed so you can always feel like you have someone sleeping next to you! You never took your shoes off in other people's houses because you thought people made fun of your big feet! You don't like cabbage, or beets!"

"SHUT UP S-S-SHUT UP!" Shina's voice was getting closer and louder by the second.

Tear flung out of Kairi's eyes as she yelled louder, "YOU NAMED YOUR OWN TECHNIQUES! YOU WERE A GRADE-A STUDENT! YOU WERE FRIENDLY EVEN WHEN PEOPLE WERE RUDE TO YOU! YOU ALWAYS SMILED WHEN I WAS DOWN! AND YOU LOVE YOUR FAMILY MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!"

There was so much Kairi wanted to say but time was running short and she could make out Shina's body within this bed of chaos.

"A-And most importantly..." Kairi reached into her right pocket and gripped tightly onto the headband buried within, "YOU HAVE A LITTLE SISTER WHO'LL LOVE YOU NO MATTER WHAT!"

Shina went silent and Kairi punched through the remaining wall of obstacles with the headband in her fist pulled behind her back.

"SHINA...!" She grit her teeth and punched the headband into Shina's face with all her might, and the tears rolling down her cheeks flying right off, "YOU IDIOT!"

The pandemonium came to a sudden stop as a resounding shockwave erupted from the impact and threw Shina a hundred feet back. As she slid along the ground the swarm broke apart down to the atomic level, leaving things the way they were before.

Kairi landed and dropped onto one knee, resting the headband close to the ground while trying to catch her breath. She looked over at Shina and saw her frozen upright with her arms limp by her hips. She didn't seem capable of moving, or even breathing.

"Shina...?" Kairi whispered in worry.

The Sage appeared behind her and flailed his arms around in a tantrum, _"CURSES CURSES CURSES! You heathen child! How dare you hurt my Goddess! Your divine retribution shall be SWIFT and PUN-"_

"...Hey, Mr. Sage..." Shina's body twitched and her voice started off meek and kind. But as she raised her head and turned to look at the specter her eyes stared with an icy chill and her voice reflected that.

"Why doesn't my 'sister' have that headband?"

The Sage clicked his many tongues and muttered, _"W-Why does that matter? Kill this fake at on-"_

Shina's eyes widened all the way and she pounded the Sage with a deeper, angered voice, "You TRICKED ME!"

The Sage was reduced to silence as Shina turned all the way around, throwing a hand back to point at Kairi, "**That**...is** my** sister!"

Then she pointed over to the younger one and exclaimed, "Not that FAKE you tried passing off to me!"

"_I-Its just a stupid headband you incredulous little girl...!" _

"JUST a headband?!" Shina growled fiercely like a lion and thrust a pointer finger accusingly at the Sage, "As if a mutated zealot like you could ever understand what a true bond of love is!"

Kairi's mouth was agape and fighting the urge to smile at her sister laying that ugly bug out like a rag carpet, just like he deserved.

"_You...!" _The Sage didn't get another word in before Shina raised her hand up and lit the palm with aura.

"Uh uh! You're outta here ya parasite!" A single blast seemed to be all it took to wipe the Sage's specter off the face of the universe.

Shina hung her hand down and breathed a sigh of relief. But as she began to turn the Sage's spirit suddenly returned behind her, now five times its original size and most of his limbs digging into Shina's body.

Shina lurched forward at the abdomen and trembled violently. The Sage hissed and howled, _"You think this power is yours you naive little larva?! This divine might belongs to the Goddess! Your foul touch shall not command it any longer!"_

"A-Ack...!" Shina gagged and hunched forward like a marionette being tested for the first time.

"Shina!" Kairi cried out in shock.

"_I should have done this from the start! I let your similar appearances deceive me...! But it seems that there is truly no replacement for our Goddess!" _The Sage started forcing Shina's arms up and his mouth oozed with slime, _"Still...! Her will shall be carried out by her most devout follower! I will return this universe to zero, and with it...Usher in a new era of eternal peace!"_

"N-Not on MY watch...!" Shina fought back and pushed her hands against the sides of her head. Suddenly, a projection of herself at truly titanic proportions appeared behind the Sage with its foot raised.

"_I'm not gonna be anyone else's meat puppet! Especially not yours!" _She stomped her foot down upon the Sage and seemingly, took him out for good this time.

Unfortunately, his specter returned behind her again, this time growing to level the playing field between them. Shina's spirit trembled and turned just in time for the Sage to throttle her neck with all his remaining limbs.

The strength of his grab slowly shrunk her spirit down to an easier to manage size, _"I AM the Cosmos Drive you naive runt! So long as my spirit inhabits it, you will never make me vanish!"_

He started shoving her down and his slime spewed all over her spirit, _"My devotion to the Goddess far surpasses your so-called 'love'! How foolish of you to think that you'd best me alone with such a frail power, heretic!"_

"She is not alone!"

Kairi was shocked as her mother suddenly ran right past her as a blur with the Null Armor cube in her right hand. Auris raised the cube to Shina's body and it activated upon contact with her chest.

Auris pulled away and the armor covered Shina's body with a similar appearance to what Auris had. The spirits both shrank back down to a more manageable size but the Sage still had his mealy hands wrapped tight around Shina's neck.

And the armor was already breaking at the seams, with sharp rays of blue light burning out of the cracks.

"_This IS power! No armor can contain it!" _

Auris shone a smug smile and laid a single finger up against her cheek, "The point isn't to contain it, you ugly bug."

Auris' bangs were swept forward as Kairi sped by in the air, a black shine in her pupils as her left arm became covered in darkness.

The Sage froze, loosening his grip on Shina's neck and giving him just enough time to mutter _"D-Devimoth's..."_ before Kairi grabbed ahold of his face and smashed him against the ground full of murderous intent.

Kairi squeezed her hand tightly around his face to keep him from talking or screaming and gripped the other hand around her elbow for support.

"You'll never mess with our family again you bastard!" Kairi's face stretched as she channeled all her remaining power into one furious, triumphant roar, "GO TO HELL!"

She crushed the specter's head under her palm and it, along with the rest of his body, broke apart into a small flurry of spirit particles that disappeared within seconds.

Kairi laid her hand on the ground and was very nearly out of breath. Her vision was hazing too. In the midst of this quiet moment she heard a loud "Clank!" and looked over her shoulder to find Shina dropping to her knees, and the Null Armor breaking off her.

The Cosmos Drive's power deactivated a little after and with it, everything in his fake city started to just...disappear, becoming twinkles of light in the sky.

Kairi got up and slowly walked around Shina. She looked up at her mother, who quietly closed her eyes, nodded, and backed up.

Kairi looked at Shina's face but she was looking at the ground with a quiet whimper.

"Shina...?" Kairi's voice raised her sister's head. Kairi began to kneel down right in front of her, taking her time as her sister's eyes looked mournful and watery.

Shina laid her hands on her knees and trembled. Her smile came off as forced just from how tired she looked, but everything else about it was genuine.

"...Y-You're..." She found her voice once Kairi had knelt down all the way, allowing her to pat her on the head, "So big now..."

Kairi's cheeks turned pink and her eyes darted for the ground, "S-Shina..."

Shina let out a louder sniffle and murmured, "You're not as cute as you were before."

Kairi's pupils shrank to the size of pin needles and she stuttered with red cheeks, "S-Shina!"

Shina suddenly forced her arms tight around her sister's chest and pulled her head onto her left shoulder. She let out a few "Hics" and her heartbeat thumped loudly in Kairi's ear.

"Its...its really you..." Shina murmured, a tear or two falling on the back of Kairi's head.

Kairi let Shina hug her until she was satisfied, then started to wrap her arms around her chest as well.

"Sis..." She whispered.

When they raised their heads to look at one another their eyes were practically full of tears. Shina smiled big and muttered, "I...I...I..."

"I...I...I..." The sisters had a lot to say despite being at a complete loss for words. The two pulled each other closer and opened their mouths wide to cry their hearts out.

They were left undisturbed for five minutes, by which point their bodies tired out and they collapsed on their sides exhausted, the tops of their shirts soaked with their tears.

With everything having quieted down Auris played the role of medic and used her aura to give everyone else enough strength to stand back up. Gabriel and her then worked together to pick up the two sisters and carry them back to Saturn's bigger ship.

Mew stood back for a bit with Riku and Joe Dark smiled at Kairi full of pride. Joe Dark tucked his hands in his pockets and grumbled, "Well...that's enough excitement for me."

"Hehehe!" Mew looked at him and chuckled. When he opened his eyes he saw Aurian Pluto standing detached from the rest of the groups. The two's eyes met, and Mew's began to slant with slight disgust.

Pluto raised his brow and started turning and walking towards Saturn and Jupiter chatting it up with one another.

"Ahem...!" He coughed to grab their attention and, much to Mew's surprise, the proud king suddenly raised his arms with his wrists pressed together.

"I surrender, Catherine." There was nothing about his admission of defeat that sounded genuine, but Saturn simply ate it right up.

"Awww, I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight!" Saturn quickly slapped the aura cuffs on Pluto's wrists and wagged a finger at his face.

"I got a few more things to wrap up here. So you better just waddle on over to the Prism Cube and sit your ass down! I got a nice cold jail cell waiting for you back home!"

"Oh, I look forward to it." Pluto's tone was dripping with sarcasm but he nevertheless turned and began to short walk to Saturn's other ship.

Mew parted from his family and approached Pluto from the side to ask, "Where do you think you're going?"

Pluto gave Mew a snide glance and smirked, "To jail."

"I can see that..." Mew snarked back, and then remarked as he crossed his arms, "That ain't like you. You're up to something."

"...I can survive Catherine's brand of justice," Pluto admitted without any further prodding, "But if given the opportunity you'd kill me in a heartbeat."

Pluto's smirk widened into a smile and his confidence had never been stronger, "A few hundred years of penance in jail is nothing. I have survived worse colds..."

He began to walk and left Mew with an ominous reminder, "Time is not on your side, young Mew. I will simply outlast your justice...And make yours and all other worlds bow to me as King. Enjoy the rest of your life, knowing that my throne shall rest atop your grave."

Mew closed his eyes and turned his back towards Pluto, letting out a sigh before fighting back calmly, "Y'know, you didn't have to step in and help us back there."

Pluto stopped and Mew turned around to face him, "It would've been better for you if we died first."

"...Hmph." Pluto hung his head high and scoffed.

Mew felt reluctant saying this to the Disgraced King, but it was bugging him too much for him not to, "Maybe there is a good King buried somewhere in that black heart of yours."

He stared at the back of Pluto's neck not with anger, but with wishful optimism, "I hope your time in jail will make you think about that a bit."

"...You're annoyingly perceptive...for an idiot." Pluto whispered mostly to himself as he wandered off to Saturn's ship.

After a bit more wrap up Saturn programmed the Sagittarius Arrow to take the others back to Sancturia while her and Pluto took off in the Prism Cube for her space station.

Pluto silently sat there and began his long wait for sentencing while Saturn fiddled around with pages full of data she got from the Cosmos Drive. Her eyes were extra bright, her glasses extra foggy, and her body was thick with sweat.

"This data, and this data, and this too! Yeah with this, and that...and all these other things! Hahahah! Shina Aurora, you and I are gonna have some FUN someday!"

But as of right now her and her little sister rested in the comfort of the Sagittarius Arrow atop a few chairs, with their heads resting on Auris' lap. She stroked the sides of their heads and closed her eyes, humming a simple lullaby that slowly made them smile...

_Next Time: Resting Up_


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: After Despair**

_Two days after returning..._

Mew, Riku and Joe Dark find themselves at the Aurora household, sitting on their couches. Gabriel stands by, leaning against a wall in a deep state of meditation. Joe Dark alternates which leg is crossed on top at a frequent pace, and rapidly fiddles his fingers over his crossed arms.

This has been a constant throughout the past couple of days and Mew's finally starting to tire of it. He looks at Joe Dark with half a smile and remarks, "Would you settle down a bit?"

Joe Dark half glanced at Mew from the corner of his eyes to say, "How long can those two girls possibly be out for?"

"They had a hard battle," Mew then scoffed nonchalantly, "Heck we all kinda did. They'll get up when they're ready."

He gestured his hand at Joe Dark and told him, "You don't HAVE to stick around y'know."

"Buzz off you," Joe Dark said in a grumpy, biting tone, "I can be wherever I damn well please."

He closed his eyes, and pushed deeper against the couch with his arms further crossed, "You owe me that much after nearly getting me killed! _Again_!"

Mew shrugged and quietly pointed out, "Says the guy who didn't even want to come with us at first."

"B-Because _I know_ you wouldn't have let me hear the end of it if I didn't." Joe Dark grit his teeth at the end as if that somehow made his statement any truer.

Mew leaned back in the couch with his hands behind his back and a wistful look about him, "And some could say...That Joe Dark's heart grew three sizes that day."

Joe Dark's squinted his eyes narrowly and some darkness formed around his body, "That's it, this is the part where I kill you."

"Haaaa..." Gabriel's deep, thick sigh broke the tension somewhat and he pulled off the wall to comment, "If you must scuffle do it outside of the city, _please_."

"Tall, dark and soft over there doesn't have the guts." Mew said with a big ol' confident smirk. Joe Dark growled very loud and scrunched his face up, then slumped into the couch and settled down by his standards.

"Hee hee!" Mew crossed his legs atop the table and changed subjects on the fly, "Everything worked out all hunky-dorey!"

His smile got wide as he listed their accomplishments off, "Kairi's got her sister back, Pluto's in jail, and none of us got turned into bugs!"

"I wonder if we can rest easy now." Riku commented as he sat on Mew's left. He looked over at Gabriel, and Mew leaned his head forward to do the same.

Gabriel's hyper aware senses caught their gaze and he then looked at his skin, which was still green. He closed his eyes and comfortably leaned against the wall.

"The Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage is gone forever now. That, I am sure about."

"But...your skin." Mew remarked.

"I never expected his demise would undo what had been done to us." Gabriel didn't appear too bothered by that though.

"...Speaking of," Riku chimed in with a question they were all thinking, "What happens to the Cosmos Drive now?"

"Its power rested entirely within the stone. The Sage merely had the ability to override Shina's control of it while his spirit inhabited it."

"Then that makes Shina..." Riku began to comment, but Mew finished for him, "Actually a Goddess?"

He waved his hand out and let out a dry chuckle, "Cause that Cosmos Drive seemed overpowered as hell to me."

"Ahem!" Gabriel coughed forcibly, and glared at Mew in particular.

Mew hung his head slightly and rolled his hand around, "Don't worry don't worry, I'm not going to make her our big problem solver. Heck I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to use that again!"

"And also," Gabriel looked between Mew and Riku, "I would advise against seeing her in general...For now, anyways."

"Huh? Why?!" Mew exclaimed.

"Because of our appearances," Riku deduced right away and looked over his shoulder at Mew, "We remind her too much of Alex."

"...And she's not moved past him." Mew quieted down and bobbed his head slowly. And Joe Dark, unbeknownst to them, hummed deeply to himself.

Mew kicked back against the couch and remarked, "No big deal. I'm just sticking around to make sure everything's ok, then we'll head back home."

"I wish Lady Auris would give us an update," Gabriel tilted his head back towards the second floor and murmured, "She's been up there for an hour now..."

Meanwhile, up in Shina's room, Auris sat down on a soft rounded stool at the edge of the bed. Shina had been tucked under the sheets and her pillows properly fluffed. She hadn't moved an inch since they got back.

Auris had a serene smile and glazed over look in her eyes. She retained a docile air about so her daughter would stay relaxed and comfortable.

This scene almost made it feel like the last two years hadn't even happened. She wished it were the case. Her motherly instincts tempted her to glide her fingers through Shina's flowing hair and gently brush her cheek. Her cold, smooth skin tended to be enough to wake her.

One small shiver and Auris found herself getting misty-eyed. She took her sleeve to wipe her eyes dry and then whispered to herself, "You're finally home..."

"Mmm..."

Shina's hands popped out from under cover and gripped the edge of the sheet. Her eyelids slowly opened and she raised her head up. Her fingers pinched the sheet on their own and it seemed to take her brain a few minutes to register it.

She then looked down and her eyes bulged open like her heart had skipped a beat. She glanced around like a cat caught out at night and wound up locking eyes with Auris, a few hairs dangling in her face.

"Good morning dear." Auris greeted her with a smile and slight bow of the head.

"M-Mom?" Shina sputtered and took another look at the opposite side of the room. She was checking her drawers lined with figures, the closet, and even the window outside letting sunlight through.

She then lifted her sheets up slightly and finally noticed that she was wearing her marine blue and sky blue striped buttoned Pjs, just as baggy as she remembered them. Auris had just finished washing them in the laundry yesterday, so they still had a faint minty scent and feeling of dryer warmth to them.

Shina let the sheet float down then plopped her hands atop it. Auris gave her a tender smile and reassured her of reality, "Welcome home."

"Wow," Shina gasped and hung her head, letting it all set in, and creasing out a smile. Her hands quivered on the edge of the sheet, even while she gripped it gently, "I...I'm home."

The trembling extended to the rest of her body and yet her smile never wavered. She looked to the window and tilted her head. If one closed their eyes and focused on nothing else, they'd hear the hustle and bustle going on outside.

Shina must have heard some kids playing around, as even from this angle Auris could see her cheeks widen for a smile. She was left to linger like that for a full minute before Auris felt it was appropriate to ask, "Are you feeling hungry?"

Shina shook her head.

"How is your body feeling?"

"Sore..." Shina faced forward and slumped back into the bed, "I-I don't think I'm up to getting up yet."

Auris closed her eyes and nodded, "Take your time dear. Just let me know if you need anything."

Auris started to rise when Shina suddenly spun her head towards her and shouted, "W-Wait!"

Auris paused upright and laid her hands down before her waist. Shina stared down between her legs and pressed them close and apart a few times.

"Um..." Shina couldn't bear to look her mother in the eyes for very long. Auris wasn't too surprised at the reason given, "I-I said something terrible things to you mom. And-"

"Shina." Auris knelt down beside the bed and gently stroked her hand down the right side of Shina's face, then wrapped a couple fingers onto the chin to turn her head and help them see eye-to-eye.

Auris shook her head slowly and said, "I never want you to think of me as being so fragile that words would hurt me."

She patted Shina's cheek and pulled her hand away, "You had every right to speak out. Don't regret that. Embrace it. Standing up for what you believe is a major part of growing up."

Shina gave a short, seemingly understanding nod and said, "But it still feels...wrong."

"I know it does." Auris remarked.

Shina looked to her eyes and asked, "Does it ever...not?"

Auris shook her head. Shina plopped her head down on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling with a pout.

"Growing up sucks!" She muttered in a childish tone.

"Hee hee!" Auris held a sleeve before her mouth to dampen her laugh then responded with a more appropriate nod, "Nobody has ever claimed to be a master at being an adult. Everyone learns at their own pace."

Auris patted Shina on the lap and smiled, "Shina...There's a lot I want to say to you right now. About you...about myself. Things that should've never gone unsaid for this long."

She pulled away and as Shina's doting eyes followed her standing up, Auris looked at her as if they were on the same level and remarked, "Whenever you're ready, we'll talk about them, ok?"

Shina gently nodded and Auris turned towards the door, "I'll let the others know you're up."

"O-Others?" Shina quickly pieced together what that meant, "You mean...the other people I fought?"

Auris looked over her shoulder with a smile and remarked, "Yes. They're making sure you're alright."

A few other details were starting to click back in Shina's head. After a bit of gaze wandering she remarked cautiously, "A-And what about sis?"

"Sound asleep in her room."

"Oh thank god." Shina gasped and laid a hand on her chest, then smiled softly to herself.

"...She's now as old as I was when I left..."

Auris hung her head only to be caught unawares by Shina slapping the sides of her face and then pumping her fists by her chest to proclaim, "I know what I gotta do first! I gotta prepare two birthday parties, make two cakes, and buy two dozen presents, one for every month I wasn't here!"

"I'm sure she'd love that." Auris remarked, then quietly tried to leave the room. But Shina still had one thing to say.

"Uh, while you're down there mom, there's something I'd like ya to do for me..."

A few moments later Auris headed down the stairs and Mew immediately sprung up in attention, "So what's the update?"

"Shina's woken up," Auris rested a hand on the rail and took a moment to give a serene smile, "And she's doing just fine."

"Whew!" Mew pretended to wipe sweat off his brow, "That's a relief!"

"But..." Auris finished descending the stairs and looked straight at Mew, her puzzled mannerisms confusing _him_ more than anything, "She...wants to speak with you."

Mew pointed at himself and Riku widened his eyes and wondered, "Really?"

Mew gave him a stink-eye for that before looking to Auris and wondering the same thing, "You sure she wasn't feverish?"

"I can't imagine she'd want to talk for long Mew. Just go say hi real quick." Auris egged him on politely and Mew rolled his shoulders and stood up.

"Fine by me." He headed for the stairs.

Joe Dark glanced aside and forced himself into the conversation, "If she's taking visitors then I'm going up after you."

Auris shook her head and bluntly replied to that with, "Maybe when you learn some manners."

"Bite me, grandma," Joe Dark snipped at her then stood right up and hastily made his way to the door, "Screw this...I'm going for a walk. Don't take too long."

Auris took a deep sigh and restrained herself from chuckling, "Oh what a difficult age..."

Meanwhile Mew snickered and finished heading up the stairs, where he boldly waltzed into Shina's room and mimed knocking on the door afterwards.

"Knock knock!" He said in a chipper tone, "Somebody order a serving of me?"

Shina leaned forward and pressed her fist against her mouth to stop a fit of laughter from going wild, "Pffftt hahaha!"

Mew recoiled and stammered out, "W-Whoa what?"

Shina tapped her chest with her fist and calmed herself down while Mew walked on up to the stool and remarked, "You sure you and Kairi are sisters? She's never laughed at any of **my** jokes."

He sat right down and Shina had to wipe a tear from her eye. She then looked at him with a quiet, unmoving stare.

Mew was hunched over somewhat and occasionally changed which way his head was tilted. He curiously raised a brow and noticed Shina's smile sink a little bit.

Then it became more of a frown, and she looked down at the ground while whispering to herself, "Its uncanny..."

Mew tried not to change expressions, but that proved difficult when she shed another tear, this time letting it go down her cheek. She quickly pulled her head back and quietly sniffled.

"...I see now." She couldn't help but whisper loud enough for Mew to hear.

"See what?" He asked.

"Oh..." Shina sealed her lips tight with a smile and shook her head, "Its nothing."

"..." Mew closed his eyes and hung his head to sigh, "Weeeeeell...I should probably get going then."

"Not yet," Shina remarked right away and then tried sitting up through the cricks and cracks of her bones, "I _think_ I need to thank you..."

"What for?" Mew genuinely didn't know.

"For helping my sister." Her answer caught him entirely by surprise and he sprung up in his seat.

"D-Did the Cosmos Drive tell you that or...?"

Shina shook her head and chuckled, "Naw, I kind of pieced it together when we fought."

"You were strong, and kind, and stubborn...All that plus the way sis' eyes lit up when you came to her rescue. She both trusts and looks up to you a great deal. That tells me you're the one who saved her from Gravitus."

Mew got this big old grin and felt the urge to brag. But maybe, just this once, he could dial it back a little. He gestured his hand out and said softly, "Eh...I helped, but your sister's the one who contributed the most."

Shina gave her fist a few short pumps by her chest and whispered "Knew it!", leaving Mew in a slight eye fluttering daze.

She then flattened her hand and put the fingertips before her wide smile, "Hehehe! I'm glad she made a few friends."

Her eyes then literally lit up with sparkles as she slapped her hands down at the edge of the bed and leaned forward, "And with some of the Planetary Aurians no less! How cool is that?!"

She hands started to slip and she panicked, "W-Whoa!"

Mew gently grabbed her by the wrists and pushed her arms back to safety. Her eyes darted up to his face and he smiled and remarked, "Careful there, wouldn't want you falling off."

Shina's cheeks turned pink and she quickly pulled herself back to where she laid while forcing a chuckle or two out. Her eyes then darted to the left and she remarked, "H-Ha ha...Alex shoulda warned me that you're a lady killer!"

Mew froze holding his arms out then dropped them atop his knees. A part of him wanted to press her more about Alex, but the better part of him knew it'd hurt both of them to talk.

After a long enough time that Shina's cheeks returned to normal she stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then leaned on her arm to face Mew with a cheeky smile.

"If it had to be anyone sis chose, then I'm glad its you."

Mew fluttered his eyelashes and murmured, "O-Okay?"

"However..." As Shina spoke, the air started to feel a little colder, and she began to smile with closed eyes, "If ya try anything _funny_...I'll be on yer ass harder than a herd of a million angry bulls!"

A cold drop of sweat formed on Mew's forehead and he squeezed his eyes shut, _"Yep. __**Definitely**__ Auris' daughter."_

When the tension quieted down Mew wagged his hand out and asked, "Anything else you want to talk about?"

Shina bobbed her head slightly to the left and remarked, "Eeeeeh...not right now."

As Mew stood up her heard a very, very loud gurgle coming from Shina and her face turned beet red. She rubbed her belly and said, "Guess my stomach clock's caught up with the present!"

Mew tucked a hand behind his back and propped his other pointer finger up, "Gimme juuuust a moment."

He wiggled his fingers behind his back and in a snap produced a red apple in his grasp that he flicked out coolly. Shina clapped it between her hands and stared at it with amazement.

"One fresh gala apple ought to hold you off until Auris whips something up." Mew winked at her and grinned. Shina couldn't even wait five seconds before chomping down on that bad boy, taking out a whole third of it.

Her eyes lit up again and she shook her head around full of bliss, "Shhooo ghooood..."

Given proper time to chew Mew then asked for her opinion while nudging his elbow at her, "Better than Alex's eh?"

She swallowed and then shook her head quite aggressively. Mew's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in a baffled tone, "B-But we practically make them the same..."

He shut his mouth, briefly sucking his lips in to make a "Pop!". He then breathed a quiet whistle and crossed his arms, tapping one foot on the ground while looking out the corner of his eyes at the ceiling.

"Alright fine, he can have this one," He said with little care in the world and then grinned at Shina and said, "You enjoy your rest Shina."

"And you should go enjoy some yourself, Mew." She then took another large bite from the apple. Mew smirked and turned to head out the door.

"Um," Shina's puzzled sound turned his attention back and he found her looking towards the ground, "You're losing your shadow."

She pointed at a patch of darkness on the ground and Mew stared at it with very squinted eyes. He then swung his hand down, raised his head and chuckled.

"Eh he's a bit unruly and abrasive, but if he gives you any trouble you got my permission to slap him around." He rolled his shoulders and shook his head on his way out the door, where he ran into Auris coming up the stairs.

Mew passed her by and casually remarked, "Sorry Auris, looks like an uninvited guest couldn't stop themselves from saying hello."

Auris closed her eyes and grumbled to herself. Then she looked at Mew and said, "You've got a hard job ahead of you with that one."

"Boy, don't I know it?" Mew laughed his way down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Shina started chewing away at the apple at a somewhat slower pace, with traces of pulp and juice on her lips. When she got down to the core she said to herself, "Ya should've asked for an apple yourself!"

She tossed the core at the shadow beside her bed and a pale hand pulled out and grabbed it. Then the rest of Joe Dark emerged, his feet swallowing the shadow back into his body. He gave a grumpy frown and tossed the core over his shoulder.

Shina placed her hands on the sides of her face and raised her voice a little, "Help! Help! There's a killer in my room!"

Joe Dark slanted his eyes and growled. Shina giggled and laid her hands atop her lap, "Well golly, you don't just come into a girl's room unannounced! What would the press think? It'd be a scandal!"

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark scoffed and a vein over his right eye started throbbing, "If this is how you plan to act then I'm leaving."

Shina waved the back of her right hand out and said in a carefree tone, "Go right ahead! Don't let the door bruise your ego on the way out."

She got a huge grin when Joe Dark tightened his fists in his pockets and hastily went in the complete opposite direction to slam his butt down on the stool.

"To hell with that! I'm not letting you and your crazy family keep bossing me around! I came here for answers, you!"

"Shina." She replied with her head raised high and confidently.

Joe Dark turned his head and grumbled, "Excuse me?"

"Its not 'you', its Shina. Shina Aurora," She waggled her pointer finger at Joe Dark in admonishment, "I spent two years with Alex, I know how to deal with grumps like you."

Joe Dark clammed up faster than she was expecting. He closed his eyes, spat out another scoff, then mumbled, "Whatever, _Shina_."

She giggled some more. It was fun messing around with this person a little, "So...What does the big, _bad_ Dark King want from little ol' me?"

"I want to talk to you about Whiter." Joe Dark set out to get down to business, but his request stunned Shina silent.

Her skin lost a little of its color and she had to turn away from Joe Dark for a moment to collect her thoughts.

"...Why do you care? You were his enemy." She said coldly.

"That...is none of your business." Joe Dark growled in a deep voice.

Shina firmly squeezed her arms under her chest, and flopped back against her pillows with a firm pout, "If you ain't tellin' then neither will I!"

That Joe Dark's head didn't explode is something no medical science could explain. He grit her teeth extra tight and grumbled, "You immature little...!"

Reaching a boiling point that be the envy of any volcano, Joe Dark swung his arms down and exclaimed, "He was my brother!"

Shina swung her head up and her eyes bulged out of their sockets while Joe Dark heavily panted to calm down. Her stare froze as she turned to look at her lap and mutter, "Oh my god..."

She then hastily looked at Joe Dark and bowed her head all the way down in one hard swing, "I-I'm so, SO sorry! I had no idea, honest!"

Joe Dark crossed his arms and leaned back without saying a word. Shina meanwhile raised her head back up and stared at his face. She stared for a short while, then fluttered her eyelashes. Joe Dark was doing everything in his power to not look at her, and failing miserably.

"Pfffft...!" A puff of air shot out of her lips, and suddenly she smiled and laughed, "Hehehe!"

Joe Dark flinched and stared directly at her with annoyance. Her laughter grew to the point of her having to brace her gut as she hunched over.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I-I can totally see it! Hehehe!"

Joe Dark squinted and rose to his feet, throwing his hands up flat by his face and turning away, "Ok. That's it. I'm getting _**out**_ of this insane asylum."

Before he got to the door Shina gasped for air and swung her hand out, "W-Wait. Come back..."

He paused with one hand hovering the doorknob. She leaned out to pat the stool and with a tender pair of doe-eyes whispered daintily, "Please?"

Joe Dark put his hand on the knob and it began to turn. One sigh later and he was shaking his head and making his way back with slumped shoulders and both hands in his pockets.

He plopped down onto the stool and Shina carefully worked her way back into the bed. She shook her head and whispered, "I just can't believe it. You're his brother...like, his actual flesh-and-blood brother."

She sat up and laid a hand on the side of her tilted head, "I...guess you didn't know about that until **after** you tried killing him?"

Joe Dark turned his head and scoffed from the corner of his mouth. Shina steadied herself and looked at him with a smile, "Well...sorry...But I hope you understand why I don't want to talk about him much."

"I don't give a damn about the whole novel," Joe Dark firmly turned his head at her and forced through gritted teeth, "Just...!"

He closed his eyes and his body trembled out of his sheer resistance against himself, "Just...tell me what you saw in him."

"..." Shina rested her hands on her lap and closed her eyes, "Alex...was crude, and violent. He had a quick temper and always talked back to everyone he met."

Joe Dark crunched his hands tightly around his arms and growled internally. Shina leaned her head back and had this soft, longing gaze looking towards the ceiling.

"He was always walking with a chip on his shoulder. The universe wanted to tear him down and make him a monster, but he refused to let that happen. He'd always try and do the right thing and defy the expectations of his peers. He was brave, yet scared...He was distant, but also close...He was hateful, but also caring..."

Shina closed her eyes as she took a deep breath and let it go, "...He let his worse traits show on the outside, but his better traits tended to win out in the end. And that's the part of him I was attracted to."

She then turned to Joe Dark and asked, "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Joe Dark crooned and hung his head. He growled softly. Then, he went dead silent, and laid his fingers together in a bridge before his waist. He shook his head as he lifted it back up, briefly revealing a lost look in his eyes.

Shina pouted and stared at him for a while longer before smiling. She then bravely remarked, "Guess that makes you my step-brother now!"

Joe Dark's eyes sparked to life full of mass confusion, "D-Do you mind repeating that?"

Shina gave a wily smirk and giggled. Joe Dark scowled in sheer, utter disbelief, "Don't tell me you two actually got MARRIED?!"

"N-Not at all!" Shina threw her hands around in the air, "But we did uhhh...Ummm..."

She froze up, and her face turned red. She then sharply turned away from him and murmured hastily, "Ya know what never mind."

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark scoffed and wiggled his lips around for a bit, "What did Whiter ever see in a loonie-bin like you..."

"I get the feeling we're gonna be spending a lot of time with each other," Shina's words sounded like a _threat_, "So you'll have plenty of chances to find out!"

"I'd rather **not**."

"Well if things go as planned you might not have a choice!" Shina chuckled, resting a hand a little below the waist and moved it in circles.

Joe Dark's eyes trembled, locked onto the sight of that as Shina's smile turned tender. He shook his head and quickly stood up, "I-I'm going now."

He placed a hand against the side of his throbbing face and a chill vibrated out of his mouth.

"Ok! See you later!" Shina slanted her eyes mischievously and smirked, "Brrrrooooooother..."

Joe Dark swung his free hand back and exclaimed, "Do NOT! I don't need a second one of you in my life!"

He forced his hand tightly around the door knob and began to turn. But before the door unlocked he froze there, and pulled his head back slightly.

"...Whiter didn't deserve to die."

Shina curled her fingers on the edge of the sheet. Joe Dark looked over his shoulder and muttered, "Especially not to that _bastard_ Justek."

"...H-Huh?" Shina's face turned pale as she watched Joe Dark head out the door. Her eyes darted around, and she plopped her head back upon the pillow to stare blankly up at the ceiling.

"...Alex was a-alive?" She whispered, a faint hope rising in her tone.

A knock on the door later and Auris entered the room. Shina started staring longingly out the window, barely registering her mother's presence.

"Shina?"

She flinched and turned her head around with wide eyes, "Y-Yeah?"

"I'm going to make dinner. Do you want anything?"

Shina went a while before nodding. Auris stood still, watching Shina face the window once again. There was a melancholic change in the atmosphere. Auris chose to make her presence scarce.

"...Mom?" Shina faintly whispered.

Auris looked across her shoulder and saw Shina sitting upright.

"...Alex will come back someday, won't he."

"..." Auris closed her eyes and placed her hand on the knob, slowly pulling the door open, "Don't go chasing ghosts dear."

She left the room and Shina slowly laid back down, pulling the sheets up to her neck. She closed her eyes, and heard something similar to a breeze brushing her ears. Though she shivered, a smile crossed her face...

"Don't worry Alex," She whispered, "I'll do my very best until you return. So you do the same, wherever you are..."

"_I love you."_

_Next Time: Sister's Day Out_


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Out and About**

A few more days pass on by after Shina woke up. Mew, Riku and Joe Dark have returned home, and Gabriel returned to his regular patrols around Sancturia.

Shina remains in her bed on this bright and early morning, now sitting properly upright with at least ten towering stacks of manga on her right and an equal amount of them to her left. She fiddles through one right now with a wide-eyed unblinking gaze.

Then came a knock on the door, and Shina said "Come in!" without moving her head. Auris walked into the room carrying a tray of food.

"Breakfast is ready dear." She said warmly.

"Oh!" Shina put a bookmark in and laid the book on the nearby drawers, then patted her lap with a smile, "Whatcha make today mom?"

Auris closed her eyes and laid the tray down flat. Fluffy eggs, a slice orange and two pieces of light brown butter and jam toast filled the plate. Shina licked her lips, rubbed her hands up before her chest then swiped up the fork and knife and said, "It looks delicious as always! Thanks!"

"You're welcome." Auris whispered.

As her daughter dug into the meal with ravenous intent, Auris stared at the growing stack of books and rested a hand upon her cheek, "You've read this much already?"

"Mmggglll frr mmmm...!" Shina swallowed a big load of eggs and then waggled her fork at the books, "I gotta catch up on my reading! I've missed two years of releases!"

She got right back in while Auris sneakily grabbed the bookmarked manga and took a peek at the cover. "Hunter x Hunter Volume 40", it read. Auris placed it down and shook her head.

"I'll never get the appeal." She lamented with a sigh, then smiled at Shina, who had already finished her meal.

She wiped the eggs off on her sleeve and belched, giggling as her cheeks turned pink. She then clapped her hands onto her knees and spoke enthusiastically, "All me and Alex went to were video game worlds. Maybe anime isn't real..."

Auris sucked her lips in then turned her head away as she let them pop. A few seconds later though she'd turn back upon hearing her daughter sigh.

Shina was looking out the window, drawn to the sounds of kids playing in the streets. She curled a fist up against the sheets and then raised her head high to bring it down with a heavy nod.

"Alrighty! Enough nappin'!" She grabbed the edge of her sheet and threw it right to the end of the bed and was standing up on the floor before it had finished landing.

"I wanna go see how much things've changed!" Shina pumped her fist towards the window.

Auris rested her hands before her waist and remarked, "Hopefully not in your pajamas dear."

Shina looked down at herself and chuckled "O-Of course not!", proceeding to whisper to herself "Foiled again..."

She then started unbuttoning her shirt on her way to her closet, flinging it off onto the edge of the bed once she had entered, with her pants joining soon after.

"Hey mom, is sis up yet?!"

"She's still resting." Auris said in a reprimanding tone.

"What?!" Shina blurted in utter disbelief, poking her head out and shaking it about, "Well that won't do at all! I ain't going out without her!"

"Want me to try waking her?" Auris suggested.

"Nuh uh! Leave her to me!" Shina ducked back into the closet and ruffled through many of her clothes. She could be heard grumbling indecisively every now and then.

After a few minutes Shina twirled out of the closet wearing her standard blue shirt, beige jeans ensemble, and stopped in the center of the room with her hand swung down beside her hip.

"Ta-da! It still fits me!"

Auris pressed her fingertips up to her mouth and giggled, "Of course it does, you haven't changed at all."

Shina curled her fists up to her chest and puffed her cheeks to proclaim, "Uh-uh! My muscles have gotten a little bigger from all that fighting!"

"If you say so dear..." Auris smiled and rolled her shoulders, then laid her hands down to her waist and gave her a warm look, "Have fun. But don't overdo it."

"Haha, me? Of course not!" Shina proudly stood tall and rushed for the door, suddenly hopping on one leg and muttering, "Ow! Ow! Leg cramp!"

She found her footing and swung the door open, then used the frame to swing right in front of her sister's door. She opened it up and headed on in quietly. A quick scan of the room and everything was just how she left it.

Shina tip-toed over to her sister's bed and looked down. She was wearing dark green plaid pajamas more fit for her size now. Her resting eyelids showed she was sleeping well.

Shina's heart sank a little as her mind replaced this Kairi with the one that laid here two years ago.

"_Was it only just that long ago...when I said goodbye?" _One blink of the eye and Shina was back in the present, where she looked at the nearby nightstand and saw a certain headband resting on top of it.

"Hmm!" Shina hummed and rubbed the metal plate that had been split in half. She then closed her eyes and _"SHINA, YOU IDIOT!" _echoed in her thoughts.

"Hehehe!" Shina looked at her sister and whispered to herself, "Sorry ya had to break my gift just to knock some sense into me."

Shina gazed at her some more. Her face was fuller and more womanly, and there were large bumps visible in the sheets near her chest. Her legs now stretched close to the end of the bed.

Shina's eyelids sank and she shook her head, trying to smile instead of frown, "You're still cute when you're sleeping sis."

She leaned in and gently pinched Kairi's cheeks. Her own skin was so cold it gave the proper jolt to wake her.

"Ummmbbblle..." A slight bubbling sound came from Kairi's lips as she opened her eyes and turned her head to the right.

"Wakey wakey sis!" Shina leaned in lovingly and tucked her hands behind her back, "We've got a full day ahead of us so ya better find your feet and get rarin' to go!"

"Oooookaaaaay..." Kairi murmured as her eyes gently drifted shut and back to sleep. Shina giggled and trotted out the door to wait for her sister to come along.

When the door shut and Kairi was left alone, her sister's voice stopped dragging its feet through her ear canal and rammed into her brain like a bullet train. Kairi thrust her eyes wide-open and went "HUH?!" then pulled herself upright with her head swung at the door and exclaimed "WHAT?!"

A few minutes later we find Shina leaning up next to the front door and Kairi barreling down the stairs in her everyday clothes. Her hair was a mess she was trying to straighten out with spit on her palms.

"W-Wow sis, you're even more excited for this than I am!" Shina exclaimed with delighted praise.

Kairi's head was throbbing her heart was racing and she was so stiff in the legs from having not moved for nearly a week now. So many questions, yet Kairi could only single in on one.

"W-What do you think you're doing?!"

"We're gonna have a fun day out, just the two of us!"

Kairi tried catching her breath and calming down, _"I-I must still be asleep. Y-Yeah. A dream...That'd explain..." _

She nervously opened one eye and both suddenly bulged open when she saw Shina nonchalantly bobbing her hips forward and back and humming a merry tune.

"Mmmmrrrr...!" Kairi internally screamed at how carelessly her sister was flaunting this kind of attitude.

"You just got up Shina...! A-And you want to go OUT?!"

"Of course! I need to see how things've changed in Sancturia!" Either Shina was teasing her or she legitimately was oblivious. With her, it could go either way.

"Aren't you...forgetting something?" Kairi tried not to be blunt about it though.

"Uhhh..." Shina looked all over herself then raised her head and shook it around, "Nope! Got my clothes, got my wallet, got my sister! Everything's accounted for!"

"_Ohmygod..." _Kairi was stunned, absolutely _stunned_, that her sister would ignore the obvious complication that **everyone thought she was dead**.

But no, apparently she's just going to strut on out into the open and everything will be hunky-dory!

"We're burning daylight sis! Lets go go GO!" Shina pumped her fist in the air and started turning towards the door.

"Eeep!" Kairi chirped. Her body suddenly sprung forward all on its own and tackled Shina's legs to drag her to the ground.

"Whoa!" Shina exclaimed playfully, her breasts cushioning the fall with a slight bounce.

Kairi gripped her sister's legs in a tight vice and said "Y-You're not going anywhere!" defiantly, unsure herself where that strength of voice even came from.

Shina looked entertained by this show of restraint and chuckled, "Aww you wanna wrestle first sis?"

She quickly slid her legs out from their confinement and raised them up, using her flattened hands to leap backwards and get the drop on top of her sister like a pouncing tiger. She then quickly put her sister's head in a gentle lock under her right arm and pulled it up.

"Ya may be bigger now sis, but I still got a few inches up on ya!"

"What's with all the racket?" Auris softly inquired as she made her way down the stairs.

Kairi grit her teeth and tried to yell out, "M-Mom! Shina's trying to leave the house! Tell her to stop!"

Auris fluttered her eyelashes and then warmly smiled, "I forgot to mention, try and be back before it gets too dark out."

Kairi's eyes widened and her resistance soon plummeted. She could faintly hear her sister scream "You got it!" as she got off and helped her stand.

Then, the next thing Kairi knew she was being dragged out of the house by the arm while stuttering "H-H-Huh?"

The last thing she saw of her mother was her gently waving them off, securing in Kairi's mind that this must still be a dream. No way this blatant disregard for sanity could be real.

Kairi tried digging her feet into the ground but her sister pulled stronger. She tried getting her hand free but it didn't matter. Shina seemed blissfully unaware of her resistance.

Ultimately Shina let go but only so she'd swing her arms as she strolled through the streets. Kairi kept pace and rubbed her sore wrist then looked around.

Of **course** everyone was looking at them. There was a literal dead girl walking around like it was a normal day in the life for them! And they were singing "Lalala la la!"

And if they were staring at Shina, they were staring at her too! Oh, Kairi so wished to go back to bed already...

"Shiiiina...?" Kairi tried to whispered to her through her teeth and Shina suddenly spun around and started walking backwards.

"Where shall we go first?"

Home, obviously, but that was _clearly_ not going to work, _"I guess I could try moving us to an uncrowded area..." _

Kairi started looking Shina in the eyes but found difficulty finding her voice again, "U-Ummm, maybe the Pyramid? We could say hi to Gabriel or..."

"Oh I got it!" Shina clapped her hands and excitedly said the feared words, "Lets go to the mall!"

"_That's the most crowded area of all!" _Kairi yelled internally as her skin turned a shade paler. Alas, the course was now set and there'd be no steering Shina off it.

Best Kairi could hope to do was ride the tide out and **maybe** nobody would bombard them with questions.

"_How long was I asleep for anyways? Did everyone make it back safely?" _Kairi's pupils shrank as dread filled her mind,_ "Oh god, somebody had to have notice us coming back already!"_

Her eyes darted around so quickly it made her feel a little dizzy, _"Any one of these people could pounce on us anytime! Shina's not ready for this! THIS IS THE WORST IDEA IN THE UNIVERSE!"_

Kairi felt sick to her stomach the whole way to the mall and tried to rationalize how to make this work, _"No its fine! The mall's usually so crowded no one'd probably pick Shina out!" _

As they entered through the sliding front doors the area was indeed packed with people of all ages. And given there's about three floors worth of stores and shops stretched across a mile big area, that said a lot.

The sun beaming in through the glass ceiling gave the mall a warm vibe and brought out the best in people's attitudes. Kairi didn't come here often but if there was anything she needed to get, this tended to be the place to go to, even if the prices weren't the cheapest.

Business was bustling and that kept people's eyes off Shina for the time being. Kairi rested a hand on her beating heart and breathed a sigh of relief. But god knows what Shina would pull next.

Kairi stood back with bated breath as Shina propped her fists on her hips and looked around, "Awww, doesn't look like they got any new stores since I was last here."

"There's a new coffee shop on the west side..." Kairi mumbled.

"Yeah but coffee's 'bleck'!" Shina emphasized by sticking her tongue out for a moment, then stared off into the distance behind Kairi for a bit before clapping her hands together.

"I want to go clothes shopping!" She tugged at her shirt near the chest and remarked, "I've been wearing the same thing for two years now! Its time for an update!"

"S-Sure?" That could work out just fine...as long as Shina didn't-

"Off we go!" She threw her fist into the air and marched onward towards the crowd.

Kairi winced and murmured, "Do...that..." But alas, she followed her anyways. The other Aurians didn't seem to care that she yelled. No no no, what made Shina stick out was her height, and her ridiculously long hair. It was much easier to hear whispering amongst the crowd indoors than outdoors.

"Is that?"

"Isn't she dead?"

"What's going on **now**?"

Were some of the more common things heard. Kairi heard them anyways. Shina, on the other hand, did not seem to. They pushed through the crowd at a brisk pace and wound up at the place Shina wanted to go the most: Wear Weavers, a clothing store that claims their stuff feels like the silk from a spider.

The store used dim orange lights for a haunted atmosphere and had fake webs in the corners. But despite appearances this place didn't sell primarily gothic clothing. If it did well...then Kairi wouldn't know how to handle her sister's sudden identity crisis.

At least the darker lighting would make it harder for the customers and employees to recognize Shina.

"Ok, so the women's section is riiiiiight...there!" Shina pointed the way forward and headed along with her sister in tow.

Kairi quietly stood by as Shina rolled her finger through the rounded clothes racks for stuff in her size. She picked out three different shirts before finishing the first one. They all had to be blue, of course.

Shina was enjoying herself, but that worried Kairi.

"_She's not saying anything about what happened." _She didn't want to be the one to do it. It didn't feel right. And this still didn't feel real. Just her and her sister, out and about like normal siblings would do.

Her time got lost being adrift in these thoughts and suddenly Shina was staring her down a few inches from her face and saying, "Heeeello? Ya dozing off again sis?"

Kairi pinched her lips shut and shook her head. Shina stood up, revealing a dozen shirts and pants on each arm, carried with the weights of feathers.

"Good! I'm gonna need you to hold on to some of these while I try them on in the fitting room!" She passed off half the load and Kairi's arms dropped to her waist before she hoisted them up.

Shina wandered off to the fitting rooms and her voice was giddy with glee, "I'm going clothes shopping with my little sis. What fun!"

And that indirectly guilted Kairi into keeping her mouth shut and trodding along after her. For the next hour she then stood outside the fitting room as Shina mix-and-matched all the possible clothes pairings she could. Whenever she needed to switch out she'd toss a one article out and have Kairi toss another one in.

Kairi heard her muttering. A lot of disappointment, a few gasps of shock, and one deep purr. The break did help Kairi relax a little, at least.

Eventually the door swung open and Shina waltzed out. With a dazzling twirl she stretched her arms out and let Kairi take a nice long look at what she decided on.

She had a dark blue crop top, XL size so it'd properly hang down and cover her breasts while still exposing part of her mid-riff. On her bottom half was a nice smooth pair of black bell bottoms. The small display of cleavage up top along with the mid-riff nearly made Kairi faint.

"S-Shina what the heck is that?!" She proclaimed unrestrained.

"Its my new look!" Shina said with pride on her face as she plopped her feet down and leaned forward with a smile, "Don't I look great?"

"W-Well..." Kairi gazed her sister up and down and she didn't look...bad. This was just so...so...**bold**, in a way her bright, smiling face couldn't cover up.

"Yeah...you look great...Shina." Kairi gave two thumbs-up and her grin twitched.

"Awww, thanks!" Shina's cheeks turned red and she wobbled around embarrassingly. If that was how she was going to act when complimented, then maybe Kairi wouldn't have to worry about her becoming more...provocative.

"Oh!" Shina suddenly raised herself up and rushed back into the fitting room, then came right out holding another crop top that was...green.

"I got a matching shirt for you to wear too!"

Kairi's face felt like it was losing all color and she hastily swung her hands up in protest, "A-Are you crazy?! I-I can't be seen wearing that!"

Shina pinched the shirt at the shoulders and held it up proudly, "But it'd look great on you! You're older now, you gotta liven your appearance up a little!"

She then started nudging her brows knowingly as she murmured, "Especially for that Mew fella."

Kairi's face did a complete reversal and turned bright red. She pulled back and avoided looking Shina in the eyes, "U-U-Uh I...don'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout!"

"Uh huuuuuuh..." Shina smirked.

Kairi threw her fists down in protest and proclaimed, "H-He's not into that sorta thing anyways!"

"Oh _really_?" Shina gave a wily smile. She didn't believe her for a second.

"Y-Yes really!" Kairi said in earnest.

Shina draped the shirt over her arm and remarked, "Well I'm gonna buy it anyways, juuuuust in case you change your mind."

She then wandered back into the fitting room and put herself back in her old clothes. Kairi leaned back and laid her hand on her hard beating chest. Right now she preferred the "being bombarded with questions" route.

When Shina was done she carried out her pick of clothes to the front counter and paid for it with cash. Nobody batted an eye, and they made it out of the mall without any further fuss. Kairi was left on baggage duty.

Shina stretched her arms and hummed deep in thought as she looked around.

"Lemme think here..."

"Please somewhere quiet, pleeeease somewhere quiet..." Kairi's hopes and prayers would go unnoticed as her sister spun around with a particularly daring idea.

"Hey sis! Do you have any idea how any of my old school friends are doing?"

"_Crap!" _In the midst of all the craziness Kairi somehow forgot another huge problem...Shina had missed out on her last two years of school!

"I-I'm sure they all graduated..." Kairi's mouth moved all on its own, "Ummm...But I know Bobby's working at the school as a part-time teacher."

"Is he? That's great!" Shina clapped and rubbed her hands, "Oh I bet he'll be ecstatic to see me again! Lets go pop in and say hello!"

"S-Shina wait!" Kairi stretched her hand but only managed to grab a few hairs on her sister's head by the time she turned and walked off.

'...Haaaaaaaaa!" With a long winded breath Kairi ran to catch up, _"M-Maybe this is a good thing...The sooner Shina confronts reality, the better."_

Kairi's expression turned uneasy thinking about that, and she growled hesitantly. The march to doomsday was a long and tiring one, and left Kairi with a dry mouth by the time they reached the school.

Shina stayed a couple hundred yards back and breathed out a deep sigh, "Ahhhh memories..."

She closed her eyes and started listing them off, "Kindergarten baking...1st grade math...2nd grade english...3rd grade economics..."

While she was drifting off into nostalgia land Kairi looked at the front door and saw the man named Bobby walking out. She bit her teeth and hastily ran ahead, hoping to avert this terrible encounter.

Bobby fluttered his eyelids and gave a tired smile as Kairi ran up to him panting her lungs out.

"Hey Kairi, what's up?" He asked, looking a little confused.

"O-Oh nothing much!" Kairi forced a smile and shoved both hands into Bobby's stomach to force him towards the doors, "Why don't we go inside real quick?"

"Ummm, excuse me?" Bobby's face quickly turned flustered.

"HEEEEEEEEEY!" Shina suddenly hollered out, and Kairi froze on the sight of Bobby's face turning pale and his eyes looking past her completely.

"Oh no." Kairi gasped.

She could hear Shina sprinting on light feet towards them. School supplies rained out of Bobby's arms.

"S-Shina?" He murmured.

Kairi wobbled out of the way and Shina hopped towards Bobby, giving him a big hug using his shoulders as support.

She quickly pulled her head back and remarked, "Whew, you're a little sweaty there Bobby!"

"_You think?!" _Kairi thought with her eyes wide.

"Shina...?" Bobby whispered, his pupils shrunk as she stared deep into his friend's eyes.

"The one and only!" She proclaimed, letting him go. In return, he began to raise his hands to her face. He paused and shook, and when he got his hands on her she shivered and blushed. He rubbed his hands around slowly and his trembling worsened in the eyes specifically.

"It...it really is you." He said.

"Uh huh!" Shina smiled and nudged him in the gut with her elbow, "Look at you, teaching kids now! I knew ya could do it!"

Bobby let go and touched her shoulders next, and even as he rubbed down her arms all he had to say was, "But...but...how? You were-"

"Oh, I know I was gone a while but its alright!" Shina grinned big and turned to Kairi, "Sis bailed me out of a major jam, so now I'm back and better than ever!"

Bobby turned to Kairi. Kairi pouted her lower lip and rolled her shoulders.

"I-I...see..." He let go of her and backed away, putting the back of one hand on his forehead and looking a tad feverish.

"I'm...glad you're back Shina..." He said with low energy in his voice.

Shina gave him a couple puzzled blinks and remarked, "What's up with that stiff formality? Have ya forgotten what ya used to call me?"

"T-That was something we used to say as kids..." Bobby sounded embarrassed.

"It was only two years ago!" Shina swiped her hand down and leaned forward a little with puppy-dog eyes, "Say it once, for ol' times sake!"

Bobby's stressful look in his eyes faded with a dragged out sigh and he rubbed the back of his head, "How could I say no to that face...Shinster."

"Hehehe!" Shina smiled satisfied and stood up, "I'd love to stay and catch up but you seem busy with work and sis I still got a few places to go!"

She turned around, waved her hand back and said, "See you around Bobby!"

Then she started walking off, much to Kairi's disbelief. She looked at Bobby with a sheepish grin and ran after her sister. He stayed behind and had shivers all over his arms...

"_That...was about as awkward as it should've been." _And it was still pretty early in the day too. Shina was an endless supply of energy. This would only end when she wanted it to.

It didn't take long for Shina to veer towards the left and settle down in place. Kairi turned and saw that she was looking at the "Moviepalooza" theater, all bright and lit up like a christmas display.

"Hmmmmm!" Shina's hums were now an omen of doom.

She turned around and said, "Pick one."

"Huh?" Kairi blacked out for a second there.

"A movie! Pick a movie!" Shina grinned.

"Why...don't you pick one?" Kairi replied.

"Cause, I want to know what kinda movie you like sis!" Shina egged her on with nothing but the pure kindness in her doting smile, breaching Kairi's (admittedly) weak defenses.

Kairi closed her eyes and turned to the giant billboard hanging over the movie's entrance. There were 20 movies playing. Ten brought here from Earth, five from alien worlds, and another five produced here in Sancturia itself. Aurian cinematography wasn't very good due to a lack of budget, but it made for the occasional laugh.

"...That one." She pointed at the one on the far left.

Shina rubbed her chin and murmured, "Slasher Robot Factory 2: Gears of Revenge? Wow, can't believe they made a sequel already!"

She grinned at her sis and playfully taunted her, "Sure it ain't gonna be too spooky for you?"

Kairi confidently pumped her fists by her chest and remarked, "I-I've handled scarier stuff than any movie could ever produce!"

_Fifty minutes later..._

"AAAAH!" Kairi jolted up in her seat, sending many popcorn kernels flying out of her bucket.

A chainsaw revved up on-screen, and sloppily edited in gore soon followed. Shina laughed and eyed her sister with a grin.

"What was that sis?"

"S-Shut up!" Kairi meekly bit back with her eyes squeezed shut.

A loud "Bang!" went off, followed by a scream. Shina jolted in her seat with a childish "Eeep!", prompting Kairi to glare at her and murmur "Et tu, Shina?"

For a run time of about two hours, the movie went by surprisingly fast, and the two sisters left the theater still shivering with goosebumps.

"That was...ok," Shina muttered with a shrug of her shoulders, "It lost a lotta steam after the halfway point though."

"Ironic, since that's when the steam powered robots shut down." Kairi's remark made Shina paused and gasp.

"Hey, that's pretty good sis!" She said with a humored tone. Kairi's eyes widened and she blushed.

"U-Uh...yeah." She murmured.

"I also didn't like when they revealed the robots were being run by people. I thought it ruined the first movie's theme." Shina sighed and rolled her wrist around in the air.

"Oh well, maybe if they make another sequel they'll iron the problems out."

"You're always so optimistic about sequels...Didn't Star Wars Episode XIV teach you nothing?" Kairi said with lament.

"Hey, its not the movie's fault that they had like three different directors working on the same script!" Shina defended her position with the same enthusiasm she used for everything else.

"Hahaha!" Kairi smiled and Shina laughed before doing the same. Then, both their stomachs growled simultaneously.

Shina rubbed her belly warmly and remarked, "Sounds like its lunch time."

Kairi touched her belly and murmured, "Ughhh...I knew I shouldn't have had all that popcorn."

"All that butter's gonna give ya a butter belly sis!" Shina leaned in and pinched her Kairi's slightly chubby waist, causing her to giggle and playfully sway her sister's hand away.

"H-Hey!"

Shina pulled her hands behind herself and leaned out towards the rest of the city, murmuring aloud, "I wonder if **that** place is still around..."

Shina wandered off and Kairi trailed behind. It took her a little bit to realize that she had a permanent smile on her face now. She had to touch it to be sure.

It was probably the worst thing to do, as the feeling of joy soon left her body and was replaced by that sense of dread from before. The watchful eyes around her didn't help.

"Mmm..." With an uncomfortable hum, Kairi slumped slightly and stuck closer to her sister as they reached their destination.

"Mambo Italiano!" Shina looked up at a one-story building with a rustic vibe and an ivy wrapped wooden arch placed before the entrance. Warm scents of marinara sauce exuded out of the chimney.

"This place is just how I remember it!" Shina walked on up to the arch and looked at the nearby display board, "Oooh, they're even having a special on shrimp alfredo today!"

Kairi hurried to catch up as Shina opened the front door and the bell chime overhead alerted the employees that they were here. The server up front approached and started to say "Ah, table for two?" only to drop the menus out of their hands and recoil.

"O-Oh my goodness!" He alerted everyone else and soon all eyes, customers and employees alike, were on Shina, with Kairi squeezing behind her to avoid being seen too.

"Yep! Me and my sis are hungry!" Shina said, happily rubbing her belly and licking her lips.

The server's knees were weak picking up the menus and standing properly back up, "R-Right...right this way then..."

He shivered the whole time he took them over to their table, which was in a corner away from most other people in the building. He then hastily put the menus down and ran off.

"Huh, must be busy!" Shina chose to interpret events as such as she plopped down in the cushioned bench and Kairi sat on the opposite side of her.

Shina pulled the menu up and flipped it open, eyeing all three sides in a slow, hungered gaze. Kairi slowly picked her menu up but continued to stare at Shina. When Shina's gaze turned her way she quickly looked down at the menu.

"Pick whatever ya want sis! I'm buying!"

"Uh...huh." Kairi ducked her head behind the menu.

"..." Shina's expression softened and she pinched the top of her sister's menu to pull it down to the table.

"Sis, you've been really quiet all day." She said with some concern in her voice.

"I-Its nothing to worry about Shina." Kairi gently shook her head and forced a smile.

Shina flattened her menu on the table and cupped her hands, planting her elbows down for support and calmly remarking, "Is it cause everyone's looking at me like they saw a ghost?"

"...!" A jolt ran up Kairi's body and she gulped tensely.

Shina gave a wide smile and giggled, turning a slight eye towards the many people in the restaurant, "Let'em stare. I'm home, and that's what matters."

She looked directly at her sister and spoke with a slight air of maturity, "If they want answers, they can come to me for them."

She reached out, took Kairi's hands into hers, and put them to rest in the center of the table. Then she looked her lovingly in the eyes and said softly, "We lost two years sis...I just want to know the kinda person you are now. What ya like, what ya dislike...How you've been doing in school, your hobbies..."

Shina calmly closed her eyes and tried to reassure her sister with a few words, "You don't have to protect me. And...I don't have to protect you."

She took one finger up and bopped Kairi on the nose, "But I'm gonna. Cause you're still family to me!"

As Shina retracted her hands, Kairi was left feeling like a giant fool. She slumped back in her seat and looked Shina in the eyes. She wasn't the same goofball she remembered her to be. That two-year journey had changed her in very subtle ways.

"_I was so worried about Shina thinking that things would be the same as they used to be...That I wound up thinking that way myself." _

"...Shina I'm sorry." Kairi hastily gave out a heartfelt apology as she lifted herself up.

Shina swung her hand down and scoffed, "Ah schucks don't worry about it! Its fine!"

She grinned extra wide and started chuckling, "I **was** worried that you were your same ol' shy self..."

But then her eyes lit up full of pride, "But then you told me off in the clothes department and I was like...'Wow! Is that MY sister?'"

Kairi's cheeks turned pink as Shina kept heaping on the praise, "You never woulda told me off back then! You've really grown into a strong, independent woman sis..."

"I-Its all thanks to you." Kairi's thanks were instantly shot down by Shina shaking her head.

"Naw, I don't think I'm the one to thank." She whispered.

Kairi's cheeks got redder and she looked away. Shina giggled and then murmured aloud, "Looks like you still need some maturity in the love department though!"

Shina reared her head back and smiled, "Fortunately Shina Aurora, the Sage of Love, is here to help!"

Kairi quietly looked her in the eyes and said her name. When her sister settled down she told her, "I...I know you lost two years but...Please try not to overdo it."

Shina picked her menu up and remarked, "Overdo it? Me?! Ha!"

She settled down the intensity of her smile and whispered, "I'll keep that in mind sis."

Kairi picked up her menu and soon after the waiter cautiously approached, trying his hardest not to look at Shina as he held up his notepad.

"W-What can I get you..._two_ lovely ladies?"

"One special, add some Parmesan!" Shina folded her menu and handed it off.

"Ummm...I think I'll try the spinach lasagna." Kairi handed her menu off and the waiter bowed his head.

"Absolutely. Our server will be back soon with some water..." He quickly vacated the area, shivering in fright.

Shina then faced Kairi and said, "Spinach? You used to hate that stuff!"

Kairi sheepishly rolled her hair up in her pointer finger and murmured, "W-When I turned 16 my tastes in a lotta foods changed."

"Oh I getcha! I used to HATE crab, now its one of my favorite seafoods!" Shina put her hands down on the table and asked, "How about cinnamon?"

"I put that sometimes on my morning toast. It adds..."

"That sweet but sharp 'Pow!' to every bite?" Shina thrust a fist out and Kairi enthusiastically nodded her head.

"Yeah, it does!"

The sisters started talking about food, which led into other topics, even as they ate their meal.

This was the way things were now...And neither of them would change it for the world.

**STORY 3: Sisters END**

**NEXT: STORY 4: Fractured Hearts**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: There's No Place Like...?**

In the morning at Mew's mountain home, the weather couldn't have been any nice if it tried. The sun beamed perfectly between the mountains, there wasn't a hint of clouds in the sky, but the temperature remained a fair seventy degrees thanks to the cool mountain enclosure.

Groups of birds flocked to the trees and chirped their little feathery hearts out, while herds of billy goats hopped through the lands. This was a fine way for anyone to be woken up by...Anyone, but Mr. Grumpypants himself, Joe Dark.

After yet _another_ tiresome night sleeping on the couch, Joe Dark found his eyes forced open by the ceaseless squabbles of nature outdoors. His heart galloped with irritation as he pulled his head up off the arm of the couch. A soreness in his neck necessitated a quick rub, and he growled at having to do it.

A sharp sizzling sound came from the kitchen and he peered over to find Riku having just flipped scrambled eggs in a pan. He then quickly looked to the dining room table and saw Mew at one of the seats holding a small notepad.

"...Mmmrrr..." The fatigue of sleep couldn't weigh him down for long and he got off the couch not with a spring in his step, but by dragging his feet like anchors.

He braced his neck and cricked his head around. What a _lovely_ way to start the morning. He couldn't even get halfway out of the living room when Mew swerved his head back and greeted him with the usual tomfoolery.

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

"Tsk! You try getting a good night sleep on the couch!" Joe Dark bounced back with his default bitterness. He forcibly pulled an empty chair out and plopped right down with a slumped posture, laying one arm onto the table.

Mew resumed staring at his notepad while Riku walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate in one hand, and using his powers to carry the other two.

When the plate fell before Mew he laid his notepad beside it, rubbed his hands together, and picked up a fork to dig into the plate full of scrambled eggs.

Joe Dark looked at his plate briefly and then picked up his fork, not bothering to look directly at his plate as he scooped some eggs up and put them in his mouth.

"Mmm, delicious!" Mew said, pulling his head back as the flavors shot up into his brain. He then pointed his fork at Riku and remarked, "You did great for your first time Riku!"

Riku smiled a tiny bit, and Joe Dark glared at him while his fork remained in his mouth, _"Give me a break, that raccoon would be happy eating dirt."_

Riku turned his attention towards him and gave him a little sass, "Don't you have something to say, Joe Dark?"

Joe Dark pulled the fork through his lips and grumbled, "You'll get my thanks when the meal is good..."

After a brief pause he dug his fork into the eggs and strained to put them into his mouth again. He squeezed his eyes shut and a quiet "Mmmm..." slipped out.

Once the three had cleaned half their plates Joe Dark found himself fixated on Mew's notepad. Staring long and hard at it made it impossible for Mew not to notice and butt in.

"Curiosity getting the better of ya Joe?" Mew smiled and picked up the notepad to wave it at him.

"Hmph, no," Joe Dark lied and then tried to stick to his guns with it, "But since you brought it to my attention now, what's the point of it?"

Mew looked down and said, "Its a list of things I still need to get done."

Joe Dark tried to subtly peek at its contents but all he managed to catch was "Help-" before Mew slyly pulled it away.

"Oh, so you do care eh." Mew said, nudging his brows up and down.

"Like hell I do," He pulled back and said in a grumpy manner, "Its none of my business what you do."

Riku got a look at the list himself and said, "You shouldn't push yourself too hard brother. We got a lot done. Take a break."

"Yes, **please**," Joe Dark said with a stern glare, "Don't go dragging me into another life-or-death battle for the rest of my life."

Mew flipped the notepad shut and rolled his shoulders, "I can't help it. I got an itch I can't scratch."

Joe Dark looked at him smugly and said, "If you're so desperate for something to do why don't you put some more damn beds in this house?"

The "get out of his chair" response was instant, and he snapped his fingers and proclaimed, "That's perfect!"

Joe Dark blinked his eyes and muttered "A-Are you serious?", bringing Mew's pointer finger to his face as he enthusiastically proclaimed, "YES!"

"I'm...going to agree with Joe Dark here," Riku said, as if he could sound anymore forced about it, "There's not enough room in the house for more beds unless you take out all the other furniture."

"THAT'S the problem?" Joe Dark spat in disgust and slapped the back of his right hand on the table, "How about _money_? I don't even know where the hell you're getting all these eggs from!"

"The store." Mew spoke as a matter-of-fact.

"The store..." Joe Dark dully replied.

"Yeah. I got money," Mew whipped out a pointer finger towards his room, "I've had a debit card in there for as long as I lived here."

"...Are you trying to make a joke?" Joe Dark closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm serious! I don't know **how** much money's on there but whenever I've felt like mixing it up with my meals I've always had enough to get what I want," Mew cocked a shrug and added, "If there's a limit though I don't want to try and push it."

"And just **how** many video games am I going to find in your room, paid for with THAT magic card?" Joe Dark dug his hand into the tableside and started to stand only for Riku to calmly hold his arm out and glare at them both.

"Cut it out. Our budget situation aside, there's still the matter of space."

Joe Dark's aggression stalled and Mew plopped back onto his seat, "Yeah, true."

"What's the problem?" Joe Dark scoffed and brushed his right hand towards the ceiling, "There's a second floor. Just use that."

"You've been inside the house. Have **you** noticed a way up to the second floor?" Mew, admittedly, had a point.

"...Pffft," Joe Dark laid his hand flat and firm on the table and it exuded darkness, "I'll MAKE a way up then."

Mew slapped his hand down on his and faked a smile, "Only if you're willing to pay."

"You're no fun." Joe Dark's darkness faded when he squeezed his fist.

"But hey! That sounds like a fun way to spend the day!" Mew got up, looked at the other two and remarked, "Lets comb the house over, see if there's something we missed that'd let us get to the second floor!"

"Fine by me." Riku stood up, and Joe Dark dragged his ass off the seat after.

"Whatever. I'll play along just to stop the damn neck cramps."

"Cool!" Mew clapped his hands and pointed at Riku, "You can check my room."

Then at himself, "I'll check out here."

And finally to Joe Dark, "And you can go everywhere in-between!"

Mew and Riku split up with little fanfare while Joe Dark stayed behind and cricked his neck around.

"More busy work...Hrmmm..." He dragged his feet towards the hall and looked around. There was a closet for the heater on the left, and the bathroom on the right. Mew's room was dead ahead.

"_He can't seriously be expecting to find a hidden compartment in this house..." _He slowly glided his hand along the wall and stopped at the right side of the door frame.

"Hrrmmm..." He was thinking about the list Mew was working on. That one word, "Help", caused a certain **unimportant** mannequin to appear in his head for a brief moment.

His eyes squeezed shut and his head turned right towards his chest. He slowly raised it back up and grumbled, "I never got an answer from her..."

Letting this sink in, he spat out in abject disgust towards himself, "What do I care anyways?"

He turned his hand into a fist and ran his bare knuckles along the wall. The bumps were plentiful and a little rough on his weak skin. So far, nothing stuck out as odd.

But then again, he only got a foot along the wall before taking another break. Melancholy couldn't help but rear their ugly head when he didn't need it.

"_This used to be __**my**__ home," _Standing in this hollow hall only brought out indifference, _"I had a mother, and a father...A brother..."_

Straining his mind did nothing. Not even the faintest of faint memories wanted to have anything to do with him. His fist shook against the wall and he pulled it to his chest to then punch it hard, and grit his teeth.

"_Did this place mean nothing to me?!" _

It was good that his rage was internalized. Otherwise, he may have missed the sound that shouldn't have been there...An echo, behind the "solid" wall.

"Is everything ok?!" Mew suddenly popped out around the corner and scared the crap outta Joe Dark.

"Jesus!" He placed his hand flat on his chest and fiercely barked at Mew, "Don't scare me like that!"

"You're one to talk!" Mew casually waved his hand around and walked closer, "I heard a 'Thump!' and thought we were under attack!"

He stood beside him and looked at the same wall. Riku joined in a little later. Mew tilted his head and asked, "Sooooo...did you find something?"

"Maybe?" Joe Dark had to be realistic about this, "I heard something on the other side of this wall. But its probably just unused space..."

"Oh..." Mew's face sagged with disappointment, and then he wandered off back to the kitchen. But not before peeking around the corner one brief time to say, "Be a little more careful with your fists then ok?"

Joe Dark sneered and then stuck his tongue out at him after he had already long gone. He shook his head and faced the wall, staring at it with more grandiose than it deserved.

Riku stuck by for a moment to commentate on his findings, "Maybe you're on to something."

"I wouldn't know. This place is a stranger to me." He wound up muttering out loud.

Riku looked at him and Joe Dark quickly sneered his way to say, "Don't you have your own place to look through?"

Riku brushed him off with an only-handed gesture and returned to Mew's room. Joe Dark faced the wall with a fierce look in his eyes, and began to squint.

He placed his left hand on the wall and glided it towards the left, then moved a little downward. He stopped, closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. His hand moved on its own to a part of the wall that looked no different from the rest.

In his head, a fuzzy recollection showed him looking at this wall from the perspective of his mother's cradling arms. Her hand pressed down on the wall, and in the present day a "Click" was heard.

He opened his eyes and a square shaped part of the wall was pushed in. He backed away slowly as a split appeared through the center of the square both up and down, and the remainder of the wall slid up into a gap. And behind it, was the staircase the three had been hunting.

Mew sped around the corner and nearly tripped over himself. Then his jaw dropped, "Whoa! Sudden secret passage, hel-lo!"

His loudness got Riku out into the hall in record time, and his jaw dropped a little too.

"How did this get here...?" Asking what was on everyone's mind.

Mew put his hands behind his head and remarked, "Isn't it obvious?"

"_Oh god."_ Joe Dark groaned internally.

Mew grinned and boldly suggested, "Our parents were secret agents! Why else would they have a secret staircase?"

Joe Dark and Riku joined together to glare at him. Mew blinked a couple times then rolled his eyes and threw his arms out, "Or they wanted to hide something important give me a break, spies are cool!"

He was the first to head towards the stairs and Riku went next. Joe Dark stayed in the back and inquired, "Shouldn't you remember who Whiter's parents were?"

"I only remember as much as Alex let me. **Our** parents didn't seem to be a high priority."

"...Right." Joe Dark grumbled and tucked his hands into his pockets.

One short climb later and they found...utterly nothing! No top secret base. No mind-blowing secret. Not even a folder full of old tax reports. Just a bunch of empty, unused space, and a whole lot of dust.

Mew stepped foot at the top and hollered out "What?!" only for a plume of dust to get sucked into his throat and him to start coughing a lot.

Riku waved his hand around and kicked up a gale to gather all the dust up and toss it into the corner of the room for now. He then patted his brother on the back with his fist until he stopped coughing.

Mew hung forward, laid his hands on his knees, and stared out into the room. Joe Dark finally got to take a look around himself and for once, he shared the same thoughts as Mew.

He didn't know quite what he was expecting, but it was certainly more than this. This room had a high enough ceiling and heat inside so it wasn't meant to act as an attic. And there was a window on the opposite side to enjoy the sights...if this house had been anywhere BUT here.

"Somebody had lived up here." He said.

"Yeah!" Mew waved his hand out and exclaimed, "And they took all the cool stuff with them!"

"Will you quit getting hung up on that?!" Joe Dark exclaimed.

Mew stood up and grumbled for a while with his arms crossed. Riku stepped between the two and surveyed the empty space. He then turned and brushed his hand out at them both.

"It looks like there'd be plenty of space to fit a bed here."

Mew stopped being fussy long enough to give a modicum of serious thought to the idea, "I guess but then again it is very dark here."

He smirked from the right of his mouth, "Not that you'd complain."

Joe Dark folded his arms against his chest and muttered, "We'll just get a light in here too. And drawers, a night stand, the whole she-bang."

Mew blinked hard a couple times and sounded baffled as he asked, "Wait you serious?"

Joe Dark placed a hand on his hip and leaned around as he took in a deep breath and sighed, "Its better than nothing. At least here I'll have some goddamn privacy."

"Fine!" Mew carelessly shrugged and smiled, "If that's what you want I'll accommodate."

Joe Dark turned to him and raised a brow, "Wait, are **you** serious?"

"Sure! Riku and I can handle the construction work," Mew planted his hands on his back and leaned back to stretch. When his bones cracked he let out a grunt of exertion and merrily proclaimed, "We got plenty of daylight to burn, so lets get right on it!"

He spun around, waved his hand down, and headed down the stairs with Riku shrugging it and following after. Joe Dark froze there, murmuring to his lonesome, "Huh..."

He closed his eyes and turned to face the rest of the room. With the image of it recently imprinted in the back of his mind he thought about that brief snippet of the past that led to him discovering this room.

Nothing came about from trying to push the memories free from within, however. Perhaps they were just as stubborn as he was.

"Grrr..." Joe Dark stomped one foot down and then spun around and made his way for the stairs. He only made it halfway down when he slowed to a stop.

He squeezed his fists in his pockets and his body trembled in resistance against him turning his head back, and the rest of him following suit. He hurried up the stairs and flared his eyes as wide as they'd go.

"_Joseph." _

His heart skipped a beat as a tender whisper infiltrated his mind. He looked around and felt his skin get colder, shaking him down to the bone.

"...M-Mother?" He muttered not of his own volition.

When he faced forward again he saw a corporeal bed and two figures with faces and legs made of fog laying on top of it. One a woman, the other a man.

The woman held a baby close to her chest and sounded frustrated, _"He won't stop crying."_

"_Have you tried a lullaby?" _The man suggested.

"_A song? You're better at that, you do it!"_

The man's response was unheard, but it prompted the woman to grunt in admission of defeat. She then looked to the baby boy and after some forced coughs began to hum a soothing melody.

Joe Dark laid a hand where his heart was as it skipped another beat. The melody played being one he hummed not too long ago.

"T-That's..." He grit his teeth and ran at the bed. He tripped on a crack in the floorboards and passed right through it, turning it into a cloud of scattering dust before he landed.

Hitting the ground was nothing new for him. But he laid there for an extended period of time staring at his hand and pretending he had a bit of that "dust" gripped in it.

He lightly tapped his fist on the ground and pulled himself up, feeling something wet on his right cheek that he **promptly** ignored.

"..." He turned the other way and dragged his feet down the stairs, giving the room one last look. When he landed in the hall he looked around and muttered, "Where are those chuckleheads now?"

He heard a light "Thud" from outside and made his way for the front door. Mew had pulled a large chunk of rock from the mountain and placed it down in front of him. Riku meanwhile stood adjacent to him and looked it over.

Joe Dark shut the door behind him and that drew unnecessary attention on him from Mew.

"There you are. Hey I was wondering," Mew pointed at the rock and asked, "Wood or metal?"

"Wood or...metal?" Joe Dark muttered.

"Yeah, for the frame."

"...Wood, I guess." Joe Dark slowly sat down on the steps.

Mew rubbed his chin and held his hand out. He mentally carved up the rock into the shape of a bed frame and pulled the excess away for now. What remained had four posts and a head to lean pillows against. It was a little prettied up, but nothing fancy.

Mew then flicked his wrist out with high energy and snapped his fingers. The stone flashed brown and a second later was now some of the finest mahogany wood this side of the planet.

He then faced Riku and asked, "Whaddya think?"

Riku rubbed his chin and then waved his hand out. The wood flashed brown and transformed into smooth cedar, "That might be sturdier."

"If we're looking for sturdiness then we'd be better off with metal," Mew held his hand out and turned the wood back to mahogany, "This is comfier."

Riku nodded but nevertheless held his hand out and did a quick work on the posts at the end to shave off the inward corners, "Now the mattress will be secure."

"Good call," Mew snapped his fingers and bobbed his head, then turned to the remainder of the rock, "Speaking of the mattress."

Joe Dark hung his hands between his legs and drifted out of focus. His chin pressed up against his chest as he closed his eyes and did nothing but think.

_A rainy night. So many drops fell but not a single one hit. It was dark, darker than the blackest black. He was being carried by someone in a hurry. And he was crying._

_Faint light entered his purview while he was being lowered to the ground. He suddenly saw a knitted basket at the __**very**__ edge of his eyes, because that's what he rested in. _

_The lights were blooming in the air directly above him, getting brighter and brighter and obscuring the face of a woman above him. The woman's mouth moved but the rain overpowered her voice._

_At the end of it all she smiled, and ran away...And the baby's cries grew louder, alerting someone nearby to open their door and check on him..._

"...!" Joe Dark gasped himself awake and slowly, quietly panted. He then placed a hand over the right side of his face.

"Hello? Earth to Joe?"

Joe Dark looked up and Mew turned around. He suddenly flinched and asked, "Is...everything alright?"

Only then did he noticed that he was scowling, or that more of that wet feeling plagued both his cheeks. He committed to the scowl and let out a blunt scoff.

"J-Just caught some dust in my eye..." He swung his hand down and looked away, "Mind your own damn business."

"...Well, first I gotta know what type of stuffing you want in this mattress."

Joe Dark looked out from the corner of his eye and dryly said, "Cotton."

"Cotton? Simple, but always reliable." Mew then got to work converting the remaining stone to cotton with Riku's aid.

Joe Dark resumed watching once he knew they were ignoring him. But he now had to contend with what he had recalled.

"_That's...right..." _He laid a hand up against the side of his face and grit his teeth in a painful scowl, _"I was...abandoned..." _

And suddenly, the struggle to remember anything made sense. But what didn't click was: _"Why?"_

"..." He looked up at Mew and Riku hard at work stitching the cotton into a mattress with needles and a whole lot of patience. Mew occasionally nicked his fingers but pressed on with a smile.

"...Hey." He quietly called out to him. Mew looked over his shoulder and hummed.

"What..." Joe Dark bit his lower lip to stall for time, "What **do **you know about Whiter's parents?"

Mew stood up, his eyes rolling back into his head as he twirled the sewing needle around in his hand, "Not much. Just how they died."

"...H-How-" Joe Dark bit his lower lip again, this time on a more permanent note. He then waved his hand out and turned his head away.

The next few minutes passed by slow and uneventfully. Perfect for thinking. If only there was anything good **to** think about...

"Hmmm...!"

Joe Dark looked at Mew from the corner of his eyes, then tried to ignore them again.

"HMMM...!"

Joe Dark looked at him a little more intently and saw him tucking his hands in his pockets and hanging his shoulders with a hefty sigh.

Like it or not, he couldn't be ignored. That's just the sort of life Joe Dark lived now.

"What **now**?" He muttered.

Mew turned aside and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, "Haha...I just realized we're going to have to put this up in your new room."

Joe Dark looked at the mattress. Even if they had downsized the thing it wouldn't fit through the front door let alone the hall. He then gave Mew a half-assed glare and grumbled.

He lifted himself off the steps and dragged his feet over to the bed. He froze up for a moment with one hand hovering over it.

The bed was without its sheets and pillows but was otherwise complete. No stitch was out of place, the mattress itself being snug within the frame. And just by looking at it Joe Dark felt...safe.

He closed his eyes and waved his hand out to summon a dark rift below the bed, slowly swallowing it up and spitting it out in the center of the attic. He then puffed out a sigh and put his hands in his pockets.

He felt a rough pat on the back and Mew rested his hand down while saying, "Thanks for the save."

"You **really** can't get stuff done without me." He replied.

Mew gave a closed-eye smile and backed away, crossing his arms with a sense of satisfaction beaming from his face, "There's still a lot to get done, if you want to join in."

"...I'll pass." Joe Dark closed his eyes and hopped into his rift to land beside his new bed. Mew poked his head in after him.

"I'll whip up the bedsheets and pillows next. Anything you want on them?"

Joe Dark was no doubt going to regret this but...

"Do what you want." He then hastily waved his hand up to shut the rift.

He laid one hand on the bed and cautiously pressed down. The mattress molded around his fingers, offering very little resistance. He laid the rest of his body down and stretched out. His feet just avoided falling off the edge.

There was enough room for two people, but he hogged the space in the center all to himself. He laid his hands on his chest, and let his body melt into the cotton. It was like...slowly becoming one with a white cloud on a sunny day. The mattress gave in just enough, and not a centimeter more, to provide him with optimal comfort.

His heart beat slowed down, until he could no longer hear it.

He closed his eyes and felt movement near his cheeks. It was a smile.

He laid there with the weight of the world off his shoulders, even if was just for a little while. His mind unconsciously drifted through the last few days. He had known rest. He had known a reprieve from hunger. And, he had stopped feeling...lonely.

There was a name to put to all this, and his name was...Mew.

"_...We were enemies. But he took me into his home...Why?" _He raised a hand up and stared at it longingly, _"My so-called mother and father discarded me." _

He squeezed it into a fist and it shook, _"What does he see in me that they didn't?"_

A large flannel sheet draped over his body and fell down to cover him up to the shoulders. He lowered his fist and sat up, seeing Mew standing beside his bed and clapping his hands off.

"Came just in time. You looked like you were cold." He smirked and then turned away for the stairs.

Joe Dark looked at the sheet. It was half an inch thick, black, and had a skull pattern on it. Sure, Mew's powers were cheating its creation a little, but that didn't stop it from showing the care that was put into it.

"...Hey, Mew." Joe Dark gripped the edge of the sheet and watched Mew pause at the top of the stairs to look back.

"What's up?"

Joe Dark stared long and hard at the sheet and his mind repeatedly echoed _"Thank you"_ in an attempt to escape. He raised his head and bluntly scoffed at Mew.

"Don't screw up the pillows."

Mew smiled, his eyes arched in a strange way, as if he saw right through him. He then headed down the stairs, waving his hand up in a quick gesture of "You got it".

Joe Dark then sunk under the sheet and decided he'd take a little nap. A nice, simple nap. No rain. No cold. No ground.

This was...home.

_Next Time: The Wizard of Bodies_


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: The Man of a Million Bodies**

Its been a couple weeks now since Shina was brought home safely. For the first time in what felt like a while, Mew was able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

And admittedly? It was a little boring. Not that he was wishing for a threat to suddenly attack the planet out-of-the-blue, hell no. But like...nothing's going on. Kairi's been spending every day with Shina, and his days with both his brothers have fallen into a routine.

Get up, eat, bicker (mostly with Joe Dark), sit, watch TV, eat some more, tend to the garden, eat more again, then go back to sleep.

It broke up the monotony that he'd been dealing with for a long time. He had a real, if somewhat dysfunctional, family now. And no demon to bother him.

But it felt like it'd be so easy to get back into a rut of doing the same thing over and over again. **Something** was missing to add more variety to everyday life. The answer was nipping at his heels but he couldn't piece it all together.

Right now he had the living room, specifically the couch, all to himself, and laid out atop it with his hands behind his head. He stared long and hard at the ceiling and wiggled his eyes and mouth every few seconds.

He then peeked his head up over the counter and looked around shiftily. He then sank back down and reached into his back pocket to pull out his notepad. One quick flip later and he was eyeing his list of things to do. The bottom half was concealed behind a thumb. The top half spoke about "Helping Venus" and "Helping Mercury", with "Rescue Shina" crossed off below them.

"Hmmm...What to do, what to do..." He wagged the notepad around and distracted by the bliss of thought it was easily snatched away.

"Heeeeey." He raised his head as Riku held the notepad by his chest and reprimanded his brother calmly with his usual stare.

"What did I say brother?"

Mew propped himself up with his hands and said, "You know I can't help it."

Riku sighed through his nostrils and raised the notepad before his head, raising his right brow, "Venus and Mercury...?"

He casually tossed the notepad back and remarked, "Saturn's friends?"

"Sort of?" Mew snatched and shut the notepad with a finger, "Their conditions are a little _different_ than the others."

"How so?

"Try...one's a gas ghost and the others' sharing his body with another man." Mew said as seriously as he could try to.

Riku blinked his eyes and slowly nodded, "I...see."

"I wanted to figure out a way to get them back to normal but..." Mew scratched the back of his head and forced the rest through his teeth, "Our powers aren't fit for that sort of miracle."

A few seconds of silence later Mew brightened up and asked, "So what are you up to?"

"I thought I'd try exercising my powers outside." Riku looked at his one hand and squeezed it.

Mew hopped off the couch and instantly suggested, "Mind if I join you?"

Riku looked up and shook his head, "Not at all. But we'll have to keep it simple."

"Fine by me! Wouldn't want to wake grumpypants from his nap." Mew looked at the ceiling and smiled. Joe Dark had been spending a lot of time in his room, but it did wonders for his attitude. Now he was 5% less snippy!

Mew went to the door and grabbed the knob. Riku said, "After this we'll try and come up with a way to help your friends."

"Heh, thanks. I can use all the help I can get."

The VERY moment he turned the knob open the door was suddenly kicked open and smashed him in the face.

"DID SOMEBODY LET OUT A CRY FOR HELP?!" Proclaimed the intruder with a very, very obvious identity.

Mew pulled out behind the door and rubbed his red nose, "Ow! What the hell...?"

He saw Saturn lowering the foot she assaulted his door with onto his front step and as she proudly crossed her arms he widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Saturn?! What are you...HOW are you...?"

"That's not important!" She said with her glasses gleaming as bright as her smile, "My justice senses foretold that you would need my assistance, so here I am!"

Mew grit his teeth and instantly saw through her facade, "How long were you listening to our conversation?!"

"T-That's also not important!" Saturn shifted straight back onto her own course and proclaimed, "I have come here to say, _and rub in your face_, that I, in my infinite depths of brilliance, have come up with a solution to our lovely little Venus' plight!"

Mew stopped rubbing his nose and stared at her with every reason not to believe a word she said, "Bullshit. What changed between then and now?!"

"Two words!" Saturn put the appropriate number of fingers up as she said them, "Cosmos. Drive!"

Mew reeled back a little and then threw his hand up in protest, "Hang on a second. You rejected using Mr. Reality's powers to solve problems but Shina's fair game?"

"What kinda villainous scum do ya take me for?" Saturn turned her head slightly aside and forced a scoff before talking to herself, "Forcing another person to do my dirty work. Where do you come up with these silly ideas?"

As she shook her head Mew grabbed the front of his face and dragged his fingers down it, "I wasn't...Ugh, whatever. Then don't you need to go to Sancturia? Why are you **here**?"

Shina suddenly leaned in from the left and waved her hand around a lot while she proclaimed, "Already taken care of!"

"S-Shina what?!" Mew reeled back some more and Shina stepped more into view. She was wearing a tank top with an undershirt to cover her breasts, and had her hair in a long ponytail.

She tucked her hands behind her back and chuckled, "Yep! Ms. Saturn explained everything to me."

Once he got over the initial shock Mew had a much easier time speaking calmly, "A-And you're ok with using the Cosmos Drive so soon?"

Shina wagged her pointer finger up by her cheek and shone a ditzy smile, "Weeeeell I didn't quite understand a lotta the science Ms. Saturn was spouting but..."

She pumped her fists up and her face roared with determination, "My help is needed, so there was no way I was gonna say no!"

Saturn looked over her shoulder and laughed boisterously, "Hahaha! You'd make a fine superheroine Shina!"

"Really?!" Shina's eyes shone brightly, "Can I have one of those super suits?!"

As dangerous as it was to fight this hurricane of hyperactivity, Mew gave his hardest "Ahem!" and extended his arm to wave his hand.

"I-I'm glad Shina, but that doesn't explain why you're here."

Saturn did a few calming coughs and furrowed her brows, "To be honest I don't get why I gotta be here either."

She nudged her head to her left while rolling her eyes, "But Venus **insisted** I bring you along."

Mew blinked a couple times then leaned out the door, intentionally pushing Saturn with his shoulder. Floating almost out of sight at the corner of the house was the little gaseous phantom they'd been talking about. Her face, now easier to see under Earth's sunlight, tried to smile.

"Hello again mister." She whispered.

"Hey there, how's it-" Mew smiled back and waved his hand, only for Saturn to shove him back into the house with one hand.

"No corrupting her innocent mind cretin!" She firmly pointed a finger at his face, "You can come, but you ain't allowed to talk, look, or be within a hundred feet of her!"

Mew chose to dutifully ignore every rule she laid out and got to a more pressing matter, "Come? Come where? We're...not handling this here?"

"Haaaa, I'll explain along the way!" Saturn waved her other hand up and with two snaps of her fingers, a cone-shaped ray descended upon the center of Mew's garden.

"This appointment is scheduled and I'd be doing my duty AND my boasts a disservice if I was late!" Saturn didn't even take one second before she was throwing her right arm in front of her body and yelling at Mew, "C'mon hustle hustle!"

Mew hopped down and immediately turned around, "Sorry Riku, duty calls!"

"I'll hold down the fort until you get back. Don't worry."

"Aaaaaaassshually..." Saturn turned back and thrust a pointer finger at him, "Riku was it right? I'd like you to come with us. I think you'd be interested in where we're going."

Riku fluttered his eyelids and just rolled with it, "Ok?"

He quietly followed along behind his brother, who stared up at another new ship floating high in the sky. He had dealt with Saturn's lack of common sense more than enough, but this was a baffling low for her.

"You brought your ship down to the planet?!"

"Of course! How else would I pick you up?" She said as a statement of pride.

"What if you got seen?!"

"Duh, that's why I cloaked it!"

Sometimes, there are battles that are just not worth fighting. Hanging his head in defeat, Mew walked on up to the ray of light, joined by the others in a small circle.

"Yay, another trip to space!" Shina clapped her hands a few times.

"I'm surprised Kairi didn't decide to come with." Mew remarked.

"Oh I know," Shina sighed and blissfully rolled her head around with a hand on her cheek, "I hate to leave her alone. She's probably all torn up having me out of the house..."

_Meanwhile..._

"Finally..." Kairi stretched herself out on her bed, pulled out a normal book, and laid a glass of water down on her nightstand, "A little peace and quiet..."

_Back there..._

Shina wiggled her nose and muttered "Huh" as she crossed her arms under her chest, "Funny, it felt like I was gonna sneeze."

Saturn pinged her ship from her wristwatch to beam them up, and as they began to dissolve into matter Mew widened his eyes and felt like he was forgetting something **very** important.

The ship zipped off to space like a bolt of light once its passengers were in. And a lone gust of wind swept through to the front door, where a yawning Joe Dark now stood.

"Mrrrr, what's with all the bloody noise?" He looked around and muttered, "And where'd those two-"

He bit his lower lip and told himself, "No, don't jinx it. They're gone. You have the house...to yourself."

He turned around and made his way to the kitchen, as his stomach commanded. He glared at the oven with great intensity and declared, "Today...we battle."

_Meanwhile, in space..._

Saturn's ship speeds through space so fast that the lights in the black abyss streak by, consuming the darkness in white. But the ship remains stable at all times. If there's one thing Mew can give Saturn credit for, she lives up to her boasts of being a genius.

Mew joined his brother on the hovering couch after enjoying the sights for a bit. Saturn was about ready to go into more detail about what they're doing.

"Ahem!" She coughed a couple times then crossed her arms, her confidence exuding stance making her feel a foot taller, "Just fair to warn ya, we're going to be diving deep into enemy territory!"

"Ooooh, we gotta go fight a villain to get what we need?" Shina leaned in on her chair with great interest.

"Oh absolutely!" Saturn tensed up and described their "enemy" with aplomb, "He's one of the most dastardly dastards in all the cosmos! His wickedness knows no bounds! He terrorizes fashion senses over the whole universe with his gaudy shades of blue! And most importantly...!"

She leaned down and squeezed her fists before her chest, "He doesn't like robots!"

"The fiend!" Shina gasped, being the one person in the room taking this all seriously.

"Uhhhh..." Riku was left in a tender daze and turned to his brother to whisper in his ear, "Help me out brother."

"Translation: She just doesn't like him, he's probably not a bad guy." Mew leaned back into the couch with his hands tucked behind his head, flashing a smug smirk at Saturn when she looked his way.

"Hmph!" She stood up and socked her mouth twice, "The guy we're going to visit is a master biologist. Like, much as I _hate it_, the dastard is **da best** in the universe."

"Oh? Could it be you aren't as smart as you claim to be?" Mew said, admittedly enjoying himself a little too much.

Saturn pounded her fists against her hips and leaned straight out at Mew, "I've majored in technology all my life! Heck, a computer gave birth to me! So sue me that I ain't a wizard when it comes to bodies! Not like you're good at anything at all!"

"Bah!" Mew swayed his hand down and tried shifting subjects, "I still don't get what the plan here is."

"Case in point..." Saturn stood up and lorded her superiority in smarts with a smile, "Don't worry, you don't have to understand! You're just here cause Venus wanted you, remember?"

"..." Mew shook his head and sighed, "I guess I'll just ask the other guy when we get there."

As he decided to get up he saw Riku taking a solemn look away from him, muttering one word, "Biologist", with intrigue.

He puckered his lips and then looked over at the window, where Venus floated by her lonesome gazing at the stars. He then saw that Saturn was chatting it up with Shina. The two's endless supply of energy were a perfect fit to keep them distracted while he snuck on over to the phantom girl.

"Hey there." He calmly spoke and tucked his hands into his pockets.

She turned her body and nodded at him in a wistful manner, "Oh. Hello."

"Getting a little stargazing in?" He looked out at the endless sea of white mixed with black streaks and remarked with a big grin, "Hey look there goes Aquarius, and Sirius...And Ursa Major."

"Hmmm..." Venus' despondent sigh pulled Mew's attention back her way.

"Are you nervous?" He could see the grooves representing her brows slant slightly.

"I don't know."

"...Right." Mew pouted and felt bad for even asking. After a few seconds of looking out at the stars Venus spoke up again.

"Mister," Mew looked at her right away and she whispered, "Thank you for being here."

She turned to face him and gave a gentle bow, her cloak raised to show she was trying to extend her arms out, "I know you tried your best to help me."

Mew's heart sank and he turned aside, putting one hand behind his head and biting his teeth down, _"Ah man, don't make me lie to a child..." _

"N-No problem," Mew strained his teeth and let out a long sigh, "But...I didn't do anything. This is all going to be Shina and Saturn's doing."

"But you still tried. You didn't have to help me."

Mew perked up with a smile and remarked to himself, "True..."

The two gazed out at the stars for a little while, and then Venus remarked, "Its so pretty. Mama and papa used to travel like this all the time."

"Oh yeah, they were...space cowboys right?" Mew asked, itching the back of his head, "Heh, when you get your body back will you follow in their footsteps?"

"I don't know..."

Mew gave her a blank stare and realized, _"Guess there's a lot for her to think about right now."_

He put his hands behind his head and stared up deep in thought, _"There's gotta be something I can do to help her out."_

Off to the side, Shina looked away from her conversation with Saturn and smiled, "Looks like someone's breaking your rules Catherine."

Saturn turned as well, then nudged her glasses with her pinky, causing them to suddenly fog up, "Someone's breaking the rules?! Where? I can't see anything!"

"Hehehe!" Shina giggled, and continued to look at Mew with a long, warm hum.

A couple hours later, the ship suddenly announced to its crew, _"Now entering the Eastern Quadrant." _

"Ah, we're just about there!" Saturn hopped on over to the controls and fiddled around without looking at them, "If you want your minds blown, look outside!"

Mew was the first to run to the wind, beating out Shina by a millisecond, who glued her body to the glass. Riku and Venus followed after, as their lightspeed journey slowed down exponentially, and space returned to normal around them.

And when they could see the sights, something incredible and truly bizarre awaited them in the distance.

It was a spherical planet that was woven together with gigantic double-helixes. The gaps within were filled with something resembling muscle tissue, but thin enough that anyone could see the giant brain acting as the planet's core. Nerves pulsated with electrons from the brain throughout the rest of the planet, giving it a glimmering white glow.

"Welcome...to the Macros Biome!"

"Whoooooa!" Mew's interest now shot up at least a hundred percent and he was grinning from cheek-to-cheek, "That looks so cool!"

"Finally! A planet that ain't another Earth!" Shina proclaimed, matching Mew's excitement if not surpassing it outright.

Mew looked over his shoulder and asked, "So does the person know we're coming?"

Saturn's whole body flinched as she hastily replied, "Of course! Duh!"

Mew felt a tap on his shoulder and turned his head to see Venus rising up to his ear to whisper, "She didn't."

Mew enjoyed a giggle at Saturn's expense while she took the ship on a beeline towards this strange new world. There was no atmosphere to speak of on this world but Saturn reassured everyone they'd be able to breathe. Upon approaching ground level Mew could see the buildings and some people.

The buildings were built as towering spirals of bone marrow growing out of the ground with the windows built out of eye lenses. Mew scratched the back of his head and muttered, "Gotta commend the guy for such a strong commitment to the 'Master Biologist' title...Hmm?"

As the ship prepared to land he noticed there was something...curious about the people of this world. They came in many shapes and sizes. Some big, some thin, some tall, some small. Some had four arms, others had four legs. There was one with a spider abdomen, another had a long neck like a giraffe. That's not even getting into the ones with features indescribable in human terms.

But what they all had in common was the same shaped head with colorless skin.

"Whoa..." He said calmly.

The ship rocked as it landed, followed by a hiss coming from the back, signifying that the ramp had been unsealed. Saturn gallantly marched towards it, waving to the others to follow along.

"C'mon! We got work to do!"

Riku had gotten there ahead of her and cautiously stood at the edge of the ramp, "Is it safe to walk out here?"

Saturn shoved him in the back and exclaimed, "Oh get a mood on ya cat's behind!"

Fortunately like a cat, Riku landed on his feet. Then the others unloaded from the ship one at a time, ending with Shina, who quickly started hopping along the planet's surface.

She stopped after a few of those and turned around pouting her cheeks out, "The gravity's normal? Aww, and the ground's not even bouncy like it should be!"

Saturn folded her arms and explained, "That vile fiend runs a tight ship...Literally. The muscle fibers are woven so tight I doubt even the Elemental Overlord could break through them."

Mew cared more about all the strange folk walking around. He didn't sense any hostility from them. In fact, a lot of them turned their heads and gave a fair greeting.

"Howdy!" Said one with black goop in their teeth.

"Hola!" Said one wearing clothes made of wood.

"xcuy!" Said one with uhhhh...tentacles stretching their head up off their shoulders.

No hostility didn't make them any less weird though. Mew, riddled with goosebumps, trembled and turned around to look at Saturn.

"Sooooo...which one of these is our man?"

Saturn looked at her empty wrist and began counting down her fingers from five, and once at one she thrust her finger out towards Mew, "That one standing right behind you!"

"Ha ha good joke, I don't even sense anyone-" Mew humored her by looking behind but suddenly leaped back in fright into Shina when indeed, she wasn't pulling his leg.

This one person stood half a foot shorter than Mew with skin somehow paler than the others. His lightning yellow eyes were behind round lenses with a thick white border and no bridge between them, nor support for his ears. Bits of blue glass stuck to the sides of his lens like extended bird wings.

Dark blue veins popped out of his skin from his chest up to his eyes, where they split into a "Y" before connecting directly into the sclera. He wore a coat wrapped tightly around his small body that extended down to his waist, then parted into four arrow-tipped cloths down to his feet. The coat was flashing with bright blue glitter and the sleeves were lined with pulsating lights resembling veins, with the wrists covered by thousands of elongated eyelashes.

Most of his azure hair was combed back to his neck while up top it was kept spiked, the elevation of them starting low on his left and right but meeting at an inch-high peak in the middle. Just the only thing normal about his clothes was that he wore plain pants. He didn't even have the decency to cover his glossy toe-nails with socks or shoes.

"Impeccable deduction as always Catherine." He said with a voice sounding at least five years younger than his appearance would suggest.

"Ha! You'll never get the drop on me villain!" Saturn barked in response.

As this one man shook his head Mew gave him a hard long glare. They were tucking their hands behind their back and standing upright like a proper gentleman.

"...Are you sure this is the one?"

"I sympathize with your doubts. No surprise, my many selves have baffled many a customer over the years. But I can assure you I am the genuine article," The man rubbed his fist on his chest and smiled with pride, "For unlike my others, I am 350 billion, seven-hund-"

"His pitch is .01 decibels lower than the rest of them." Saturn interrupted.

The man snapped his fingers out and calmly remarked, "That too."

Mew slapped the side of his face and sarcastically whispered, "Of course, how could I be so stupid?"

The man strutted on up below Mew and murmured, "Ah, you must be the 'delinquent dummy' Catherine spoke so fondly of."

"What?" Mew spat as the man slipped right behind him and over to Riku.

"And you're..." The man's eyes glided over half of Riku's body before he curled his lower lip, bit it, and reached for the stump of an arm.

"Yes, yes...A curious case this one." Riku stayed visibly discomforted until the man let go of him and bowed his head as a sort of apology, "I look forward to later talks."

He then went right on over to Shina and his eyes instantly locked onto the Cosmos Drive. There was some slight shaking in his knees as the bones clacked together.

"Fascinating. The rumors were true then. The Cosmos Drive was real..." He laid a hand flat on his chest and bowed his head, "As is the beauty of the one wielding it. Such supple curves and elegant long curtain hair. Why, in all the Aurians I've had the honor of examining, you're a one-of-a-kind sample."

"Awww how sweet," Shina blushed her cheeks slightly but smiled and shook her head, "But I'm already taken, sorry."

The man raised his head and murmured, "Oh, I can tell just by looking."

Mew raised his brows and thought, _"The heck does that mean?"_

He could've sworn the man was looking at him for a moment and smiling. But as soon as he looked his way they had already moved on over to Venus.

"And you are?" He stood there, as she floated like a silent breeze. He extended his hand to her and remarked, "I'm not a monster. You can feel safe around me."

"I'm...Venus, mister." She whispered.

"Venus...Yes, Catherine has told me quite a bit about your predicament. Rest assured, you will have your body back by the time this day is through."

He then spun around to Saturn and remarked with a wry smile, "Catherine...I see you're as small and spry as usual."

"Hmph! Always gotta be in tip-top shape when handling mischievous gremlins like you!" The choice of words were at odds with the familiar, friendly tone she took.

"Ah yes. We are 'rivals' in the way of our professions, aren't we?" The man played along with a bigger smile.

"I'm sorry but," Mew waved his hand out and turned his head with brows raised, "Who are you?"

The man turned and folded his arms behind his back, "My deeds have been ingrained in history under many different titles and names across an uncountable variety of languages."

He nonchalantly waved one hand out and closed his eyes, "But in terms of what you know, you can refer to me as Commandant Macros. Or just Macros, if you prefer."

"As for what I am well..." He then opened his eyes and wiggled his fingers around, "I consider myself an artist. Humans, animals, demons angels and monsters alike...I have studied them all down to the microscopic details. These fingertips...could mold gods out of flesh and bone as easy as if I was working with clay!"

His tone got a little heavy near the end, and the others were staring at him like he was a lunatic. He gently coughed, patted his chest with his fist, then tucked it behind his back.

"Of course, that's so vapid and..._uninspired_," Macros stepped away from the crowd and motioned his hands towards the others wandering his world, "I'm more interested in...preserving life."

He glanced over his shoulder with most of his head and smiled, "Extinction is an ugly term, isn't it? The end of all life, the last gasp of breath...of a world once rich in history and culture."

"I study the bodies of millions of species to fight back the terrifying whims of Mistress Death. For extinction...should never be the end of anyone's story."

Mew tilted his head and remarked, "Sooo...you bring back species that have been wiped out?"

"If its possible yes. Not much to do if a planet's wiped out before I ever make contact." Macros lamented with a sigh.

"Then what's with all the clones?" Mew asked, nudging his elbow at them.

Macros gave them a one-second long glance and answered, "Oh, that's just a hobby. With all this DNA being so easily replicated I figured...Why not? Might as well see how far I can push this body of mine with the limits of science!"

His smile got wobbly as a clone with a swarm of flies for its head walked by and waved at him, "...Though I may have started going overboard after the 54,688,241th one. Happens to the best of us."

"I have a question." Riku spoke up and sounded a little harsh in tone.

But Macros simply smiled as the question was asked of him, "Saturn mentioned schedules and appointments. Does your profession include business with other clientele besides us?"

Macros's eyelids shut slightly.

"Whaddya mean Riku?" Shina remarked.

"All this DNA he claims to have? I could see a lot of people wanting to use it," Riku glared at Macros and firmly remarked, "_Bad_ people."

Mew and Shina started looking towards the man and found him shaking his head but not necessarily out of denial.

"You're not wrong. I've had customers of both shades," Macros gave Riku a sincere look in the eyes and said, "But before you label me your enemy, let me explain my five rules."

He tucked his hands behind his back and closed his eyes, "Rule one: Human or alien, god or monster, male or female. I will not discriminate on the customer, or the job asked of me...However."

"Rule two: I refuse any and all corpses that have begun to rot. If there's even a .00001% state of decay, I'll toss the body in the fire before the buyer can object."

"Rule three: My lips are sealed. Customer confidentiality is the most important trait of all. Even if the gods rained judgment upon me, I would not yield. What is the worst they could anyways?"

"Rule four: Do not give me money. Information is the greatest reward. Attempting to play to some sense of greed you think I embody is the gravest insult you can dole out to me."

"Rule five: Respect. I respect those who respect my work."

He slowly opened his eyes and obeyed his fifth rule in tone of voice, "I hope that cleared things up a little for you."

Riku growled slightly, "So you won't accept work if it doesn't further your interests."

"That's about the gist of it, yes."

"Even if it means someone uses your work to kill others?"

"Extinction is a foul beast lurking in the darkness, ready to pounce. I must be ready for it anytime..." Macros waved his hand out and noted, "So I'll accept whatever aid I can get, even if my source is less than savory."

"You see the world in black and white, so my existence, which stands between them, must really ruffle your feathers," He raised his head back and smiled, "You cannot even begin to fathom the volume of the blood on my hands...But, if that bothers you so..."

"...I don't think I'm in a position to judge you right now," Riku muttered, nevertheless firmly pointing his finger back towards Venus and saying, "And apparently, you're the only hope this girl has. But if you fail her, then we'll have a problem."

Macros nudged his brows up and whispered confidently, "Then I'll just **not** fail."

He turned around and looked behind his shoulder, "Now, shall we?"

He began to walk and the others followed, with Riku being the last to go. The planet had the same sights wherever they went, save for the people, so Mew decided to fill the dead air with conversation.

"Actually, I got another question."

"Go ahead." Macros replied.

"You and Saturn seem to have a history...Did she ever introduce you to a guy named Gravitus?"

Macros turned around and pointed at Mew from across his chest while looking at Saturn behind him, "Catherine, you never told me he was perceptive."

Saturn hummed very loud in frustration. Macros, meanwhile, waved at Mew and said, "Unfortunately..."

He pinched his lips with his fingers and glided them across like a zipper. Mew's head hung slightly, shooting back up when Macros gestured his hand out and remarked, "Catherine? Could you please...?"

Saturn crossed her arms tightly and started off with a very long sigh, "Yeah, Gravitus came here a couple times."

She waved her hand out and remarked, "Our little blue goblin here helped me build his robotic body."

Shina snicked loudly behind them, "Pffft. Oh yeah, I saw that in one of the Bug Man's visions. What the heck was up with that gaudy looking thing?"

Mew's face tensed up and he could see Saturn preparing to open her big mouth out of the corner of his eyes. He quickly turned and covered her mouth while eyeing her fiercely to "Say. NOTHING."

Shina was left with a blank stare and tilted her head, waiting for an answer that'd never come.

A short amount of walking later, a different kind of building began to peek out in the distance. It was shaped like the top half of a single lung, thin veins and all, but was colored blue. It stood at least two-hundred feet tall and was rounder than two football stadiums. Whatever contents were inside laid behind a door built to resemble the contraction of muscles in the sinuses.

Macros stopped in front of this door and lowered his hands. A visceral material oozed out of his sleeves and covered his hands like gloves. He squeezed his fingers and then raised one glove to tug at the wrist, giving off an elastic snap.

He then turned and crossed one arm before his chest, and gestured the other at the door.

"Now...Let us undo the harsh winds of fate, and give this innocent girl her body back."

_Next Time: Venus Reborn_


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: To Live and Breathe**

There were many ways that Macros' laboratory could have looked like. A pulsating organ? A vibrating muscle? Some unmentionable other thing? Turns out for as gaudy as his tastes were, he kept his laboratory in relatively simple shape...By his standards.

The inner workings of the lab had the rounded shape of a football arena with rows of capsules lining the walls. Each capsule was big enough to house an adult human and was lined with some dry, vein-y membrane on the outside. In the very back of the lab was a giant tree made of nerves that pulsed with light, sending "signals" into a large computer complex that was controlled via a piano because of course it was.

Macros, in a stunning display of near mind reading, suddenly turned around while gazing at Mew in particular and asked, "So? What do you think of my lab?"

Mew pouted somewhat and pinched his right hand down in a clamp, giving it a dry shake, "Ehh...I expected bigger."

"Ha!" Macros chuckled, "You should have seen the first model then! About as large as a newborn moon..."

He pretended to wipe a tear from his cheek and whisper to himself, "Ah, to think that was 349 billion, six-hundred..."

Mew stared at him for so long that he couldn't help but stop and smile his way, "Is something on my face?"

"Not at all. Its just..." Mew pulled back and shook his head, "How do I put it? You seem..."

Macros' brows and smile perked up slightly, like his heart beat was rising with anticipation. Mew leaned back and sighed, "Never mind."

"Hmmm." The curious man rolled his shoulders and turned around, bringing his guests closer to the center of his workshop.

And from there it was easier to get a look at all the capsules...And boy, were there a **lot** to take in. Mew found it fruitless to try after he hit the first thousand and rubbed the back of his head in frustration.

But Riku, on the other hand, seemed to have took it all in just fine and gave a firm glare at Macros as he asked, "Why are all these capsules here?"

Macros playfully brushed his left hand out and explained, "**These** capsules are DNA containers for work I have yet to complete."

He then looked over his shoulder and remarked bluntly, "But that's not what you're asking, is it?"

Mew watched as his brother tensed up and asked in an even firmer tone, "I'm sensing your energy in some of these capsules. And...why do they all have rockets?"

Macros took pause and turned around, taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh through his nostrils, "Remember my rules? Well, lets just say on the off-chance someone were to take issue with them and try to kill me, I like having back-ups."

He slipped a surprising detail with the brimming smile of a child, "In fact, I have one capsule hidden away on every planet in the universe!"

Riku's eyes narrowed and Mew was ready to jump him if he tried pressing the matter further. Not that he felt any more comfortable hearing this information. He glanced aside at Macros and was hoping for that "Just kidding" to pop out of his mouth.

"Though that's their secondary purpose. Their primary goal has always been to collect DNA samples from the native species and deliver them back to me," He whisked his right hand out to snap his fingers at Saturn, "In FACT, that's how we first met isn't it?"

Saturn crossed her arms and raised one brow at him, "Y'mean how I first started surveillance on your criminal butt!"

Macros' cheeks rose in glee as he closed his eyes and daintily remarked, "And its been a lovely two-thousand year friendship."

Saturn stuck her tongue out. Mew chuckled and tucked his hands in his pockets, "Well...cloning shenanigans aside now..."

"Yes yes. We have a lot of work ahead of us," Macros clapped his hands a few times with barely a sound, "Saturn, if we may?"

Saturn pocketed her hands in her floofy coat and dragged her body along up next to him, "Yeah yeah. Can't trust you to explain this with any shred of respect towards science."

She twirled around and the bottom of her coat went flying up all of a sudden as her eyes flared open, "Alright listen up! Cause we're only going to go over this once!"

"But feel free to ask questions." Macros calmly added.

Saturn immediately thrust a pointer finger at Mew and said, "EXCEPT if they're stupid and useless ones."

Mew flinched but quickly sighed and accepted his lot in life. Shina happily waved her hand and stood on her tip-toes for added attention hogging action.

"Can I start?! Please? PLEASE?"

Macros smiled and answered with, "Why you're here is the first thing we'll be explaining."

Shina dropped and laid her hand before her gasping mouth, "Wow, its like you read my mind!"

"A-HEM!" Saturn coughed while not-so-subtly nudging Macros with her elbow, "**I **will be explaining stuff!"

Macros turned to her and bowed, "By all means. Go ahead."

Saturn glared at him, as did Mew, though with envy at how he easily got under her skin just by being _polite_. She crossed her arms and with a whisk of her right wrist up she created a stick made of aura, followed by summoning a sort of chalkboard from a holographic projection off her wrist watch.

"First up, I wanna tell you why we're doing it **his** way," Saturn creased her eyes shut and tapped the stick on the board to summon a human-shaped body with metallic looking skin onto it, "My initial plan was to transfer Venus' consciousness into a robot body."

She slumped her shoulders and tapped the stick again, causing Venus' current body to appear beside the robot, and two arrows pointing in opposite direction between them.

"Problem is that Venus' entire consciousness is spread out throughout her gas body. If I tried a mind transfer into the robot..." Half of Venus' body shifted over to the robot, while the other half disintegrated into nothingness, "She'd lose most of herself in the process. And who knows what the flibbity that'd do to her motor skills, memories, etc."

"Yes, the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage was a miracle worker to even manage as much as he did now..." Macros said with a sort-of diluted sense of bliss in his voice.

Saturn's rough cough snapped him out of it, while her waving the stick at him suggested it was his turn. Though first he pointed at himself, prompting her to grunt fiercely like a hungered lion, and then he chuckled and faced the others.

"And so our lovely techno master came to me for aid. I was ecstatic at the prospect of examining one of the Sage's works, seeing as how my advances on Saturn here ended with me getting tazed and kicked in the nuts..." Macros wily smiled at Saturn, "For all the good that did."

Saturn's brows arched and Macros guffawed, gesturing a hand up at the board. Amazingly, it responded to his wishes and pushed Venus' current body over to where the robot was, and in its place now existed a huge red "?".

"Naturally there were a few complications with the request...One, I had no idea what our little phantom looked like in her original state."

Mew raised his hand and Macros acquiesced after getting the nod from Saturn. Mew then gestured at Venus and glided his hands over the sides of her body, "Can't you tell a lot of it from her frame?"

"Certainly I know her original age and a few other details," Macros crossed his arms behind his back and proudly declared, "But I am a perfectionist. I will not accept even one detail out of place. The skin is but a mold to be placed over the finer details."

He brushed his palm out towards Mew and spoke with plenty of aplomb, "The color of her hair, the imperfections on her skin...Was one bone shorter than the others? Did she have a little more mucus protecting her stomach than others do? I wish nothing more than to recreate the pure essence of Venus in its entirety! No exceptions!"

In response to this enthusiasm, all Venus could do was tilt her head and look up at Mew with the clearest confusion in her face.

"I don't get it myself but if that's what he wants..." Mew whispered and then raised his voice upon waving a hand out at the scientist, "Then what does Shina have to do with any of this?"

Saturn perked up and smiled like she was ten feet tall, then slapped her stick back upon the board, clearing out all the data on Venus to summon forth walls of random text and numbers.

"For once I'm glad you asked!" Saturn brushed the underside of her nose and grinned, "While you were busy lollygagging on your couch, I studied all the data I collected in our battle with the Cosmos Drive!"

"And my conclusion?" Saturn whipped forward and crossed her arms as all the data converged, creating images of the copies Shina had made in the fake Sancturia, "Is THIS!"

Riku tilted his head and wondered aloud, "The fakes?"

Saturn swung her head forward so hard her chin smacked her chest, "Uh huh! Though I wouldn't call them fakes."

She nudged up her glasses from the side and smirked, "They had their own thoughts and feelings, body temperatures, and could even be interacted with. Thus, I have decided to dub them...Biolations!"

Riku's eyes could be seen coming out of his head as he sputtered, "B-Biological...simulations?"

"Yep! You got it!" Saturn exclaimed.

Mew instantly raised his head and said, "Yeah question? Why that dumb name?"

Saturn flung the stick at his head and he swung out of the way just in time. Before Saturn felt fit to keep going at it Shina slyly raised her hand and spoke up, "Ms. Saturn."

Saturn perked up with a giddy giggle while Shina rubbed the Cosmos Drive down by her waist, "I...I think I get what you want from me but...Those copies only last as long as I think about them. Are...you wanting me to follow Venus for the rest of our lives?"

"Oh no no no! That'd be silly!" Saturn shook her head while Shina breathed a sigh of relief.

Macros knocked on his chin with a fist and coughed. Then, with a snap of his fingers, the floor opened up behind him and Saturn. Two empty capsules were pulled up with hundreds of tubes crossed between them. He then glanced at Saturn, who begun reaching deep into her pockets.

"You're going to be using..." She whipped out a pair of perfectly sized gauntlets covered about 90% of the way with wires, "These!"

Shina's cheeks puffed and she covered her mouth while pointing at the gauntlets with one finger, "W-What are those?"

"They're conduits that'll help you focus the Cosmos Drive's power into these two capsules," Macros explained with a sincere maturity in his voice, "Though you cannot create permanent life, there are other powers the Cosmos Drive wields that will help me fill in the gaps I myself cannot deal with."

Saturn nodded and remarked, "Yep! For one, its power over the mind."

"Though a human cannot see their own insides without outside assistance, the brain still retains knowledge of how they look at all times," Macros taps his head and continued with a dry smile, "How else would you be able to function properly?"

Shina jerked upright and squeezed her fists by her chest in excitement, "I getcha now! You're saying I gotta use the Cosmos Drive to access Venus' memories of her old body!"

"Exactly," Macros swung his hand out towards her and exclaimed with a bellowing tone of delight, "Yours will be the hands that mold my canvas here today, Shina Aurora!"

"O-Oooof..." Shina wheezed a breath out and chuckled dryly, "When ya put it like that it sounds like a lotta pressure."

Macros folded his arms back and chuckled, "Not at all. Just build the framework, ensure her consciousness is all in one place for easy transfer, and most importantly..."

He stared at her with a mild glow coming from around his eyes, "Don't mess up. A child's existence is on the line."

Shina lifted the Cosmos Drive up to her chest and stared at it. Mew watched her and shook, as for a moment, he swore he felt Alex from her. She then quickly strolled up between Saturn and Macros, looked him in the eyes, and said firmly, "Then I guess I can't fail."

She then took the gauntlets from Saturn and put them on. Macros smiled and wandered off to his complex computer setup, while Saturn stood next to the capsules.

"I'll run stand by just in case he messed up somewhere." She said as Shina stuffed her gauntlets into a pair of slots on the backmost tube.

"I ain't worried. We got this!"

Macros sat down on a brain stem that popped out of the ground and stretched his fingers until the bones cracked. Then he slapped them all down at once on the piano, causing a loud, haunting tune to vibrate up the nerve tree.

The capsule lids swung wide-open and, after releasing some fog, were completely barren inside. Saturn rolled her right hand towards herself and remarked, "Come on Venus! Hope on in!"

Mew heard a mumbling coming from the little phantom and saw her inching back towards the door. He knelt down and patted her on the right shoulder of her cloth.

"Its alright," He spoke softly and gave her a smile, "It **will** work. Then you'll be able to do whatever you want Venus."

Venus nudged her head down then turned and floated into the left capsule. Saturn sealed the lid and Macros continued playing his piano.

Moist sounds came from the ceiling and floor, as the muscle membranes split open and sharp, four-fingered appendages rose up out of the holes carrying various tools and items. There were large sewing needles nestled into something colored like skin, a large cube of liquid bone marrow and many, many molds for it to fill, and rows upon rows of muscles.

Shina closed her eyes and took a deep, relaxing breath. Her body radiated with the azure glow of the Cosmos Drive and her hair levitated around behind her like a cape. Her body was in a state of absolute tranquility as her power flowed throughout the tubes. A framework of Venus' body was etched into the empty capsule as the appendages descended upon it.

They masterfully worked without interrupting each other. An eloquent dance of human creation, unfolding before their very eyes. Though quick in their movements, they never seemed to make a mistake. But the entangled blurs of ivory made it difficult to see the full extent of their work.

There was a lull of silence in the room for a few minutes until Macros stepped off his chair and waltzed on over to Mew and Riku. His piano computer continued playing his symphony of creation with skill that would make him the envy of every maestro.

"And that's the hard part out of the way. Now my limbs can finish the rest on their own." He remarked.

"How long will it take?" Mew asked.

"I'd wager...two hours?" Macros scratched the side of his head, "She's on the younger side so there shouldn't be any complications..."

Mew pointed out beside his crossed arms, "Mind if I take a look around?"

"Oh by all means please do. Just don't leave the lab or touch anything."

"Fine by me!" Mew then wandered off with an excited look in his eyes.

Riku watched him go with a stern, cautious look. Then, he felt a firm grip on his left shoulder and saw Macros standing beside him with a serious look in his eyes.

"Can we talk in private for a moment?" He whispered.

Despite the blatant distrust on his face, Riku felt compelled to answer with a nod. The two of them then stepped quite a few feet away so that not even Saturn's sharp ears could hear them.

Macros stepped out in front of Riku and folded his arms behind his back. Riku kept his fingers tensed up, ready to fight if the man tried anything funny.

"Calm yourself," Macros' sudden remark uneased Riku's nerves, as did the hazy way the man looked him in the eyes, "I am not anyone's enemy, least of all yours."

"...I find that hard to believe," Riku glanced around and stuck his gaze towards the capsules, "Everything about this place is unsettling...And its creator is giving off the worst vibes of them all."

Macros' smile didn't show confidence but rather a side of mischief he hadn't display so far. He scratched the side of his face and remarked, "I cannot blame you for feeling that way. Between you and your brother, you have more of a sixth sense."

He tucked his arm back and smiled with genuine sincerity, "But...that only lets you see past one layer of me. I'd say for the sake of your sanity, you don't try delving any deeper."

Riku's heart throbbed and his hand tensed up again, "...Who are you **really**?"

"Insignificant in comparison to whom I am now," Macros said with his eyes shut, "Riku, have you ever questioned the laws of God?"

"...Once or twice." Riku responded, eyes pointed at the ground.

"Then in His eyes, you're a sinner," Macros' voice deepened as he began to speak up, "But why should you care about the judgment of a hypocrite?"

Macros laid his right hand out by his hip and looked Riku in the eyes, "One of the fundamental laws of creation is the boundary of Equivalent Exchange. To make something, one must offer something of equal value."

"To which I ask: Then what did God exchange to create our universe?" Macros wasn't intent to let Riku answer the question...He himself doubted he even could, "The answer is...nothing."

Macros folded his arm back and shook his head, "He's a thief that stole from the abyss the flesh of the Formless to mold humanity in his image. Devil only knows what other dimensions he leached off of to create our universe."

The Formless...It sounded like a familiar name, as if Riku had encountered something like that recently. But he couldn't force himself to recall it, no matter how hard he tried.

Macros gazed upon him with a knowing smile and continued his little tirade, "So why does this law exist, if He almighty doesn't even follow it? Why, to restrain the potential of his creations, of course!"

Macros extended his hands out and Riku felt himself being drawn into a twisted starry space with only him and Macros floating inside of it, "Humanity is made in His image. And He is too prideful to make mistakes in His craftsmanship. Humans are all equally capable of becoming God. But His laws and His Commandments exist to restrain humanity's potential."

"For He lays His laurels atop an ivory throne, hidden in the heavens, in fear of His own mortality."

The moment Macros folded his arms back, the space ceased to be, and Riku swung his head to lock eyes with the strange, smiling man.

"...A-Are you...?"

"Any answer you come up with is wrong," Macros smiled and raised his head high, "For I am Macros, a mere scientist set on defying God's will not for the sake of Armageddon, or Chaos...But for the benefit of the universe."

"Should God find fault in my taboo, then He can come and smite me Himself," Macros looked up high and for a moment, appeared smug, "But I know that coward doesn't have the guts to try."

He then looked at Riku and waved one hand out to point at his stub, "And so, I wish to offer my talents to you...Phoenix of Balance."

Riku's face turned a shade paler but only for the second it took Macros to put a finger over his mouth and whisper him silent.

"...In truth, there were two jobs Saturn requested of me. The other of which was to help you with your lost arm."

Riku slowly looked over at the bubbly scientist and whispered, "She...did?"

"Of course. In...her own manner of speaking, she told me how you were suffering from some form of 'elemental energy feedback' that was preventing you from accessing the full extent of your powers," Macros glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, "Am I wrong?"

Riku looked at his lost arm with half-open eyes and then shook his head, "I am having trouble...but its something I will overcome on my own."

"..." Macros closed his eyes and huffed out through his nostrils, "And what if I told you that was impossible?"

"I went over the data she gave me," Macros flipped his right hand out before his chest and summoned a holographic document with a swipe, "Your body is very unique. I've dealt with elemental types before but you? You're made entirely out of elemental energy."

He poked his eyes up with a dry smile, "Every molecule, every atom, working together to create an equilibrium that keeps your body in balance. The moment you lost that arm, that balance was broken."

"Then I'll work hard to get that balance back. It wouldn't be the first time I had to." Riku stated confidently.

"You. **Can't**," Macros said, raising and deepening his voice, "Training, heart and determination are powerful tools I'll concede...But there are times when hard science trumps all of them, and this is one occasion."

Riku didn't want to believe what this one man had to say. He may be an expert but it seemed like his expertise lied in insanity, not science.

Macros arched his brows downward and sighed, "...I can understand any distrust you hold towards me, even after I opened my heart to you, which I rarely do. But..."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there? You're afraid of opening up to others for help. You believe it'll make you vulnerable again. Its a side of you that no one should ever have to see."

Macros put his hands back and closed his eyes all the way, "You take pride in solidarity, but its nothing but foolish pride..."

Riku's body tensed up. This was a lecture he'd heard before from Justek, and it was not one he wished to hear again from another stranger.

He started turning away when Macros softened the tone of his voice and put his hand on his shoulder, "No pride holds equal value to a life. Not yours, or that of those close to you."

Riku barely glanced over his shoulder when Macros flicked his wrist and a small rectangular card appeared out of nowhere in his fingers. He slipped it into Riku's pocket and patted it down as he walked by.

"Consider my offer. You can reach me on that card." He continued to walk on over to the capsules.

Riku stared down at the pocket. Then, he looked to his lost arm and winced. He could feel it was still there. The burning, wounding pain of Justek's blade cleaving through flesh and bone was fresh.

_"Power without control is like an inferno without borders...It continues to spread away from its origin, consuming all in its path, while its source burns away to an empty husk..."_

A black charred skeleton flashed in his head, wearing the hair of his brother.

Riku bit his lower lip, and felt a cold sweat on his cheeks...

The estimated time passed by uneventfully, and the grand show ended with the "Ding!" of an egg-timer.

"Ding...?" Mew sputtered in surprise.

He looked at the appendages clap themselves together in celebration while they retreated to their dens with empty racks and bins in tow.

Mew started walking to the right capsule when Macros ran in his way and pushed his cold palm against his chest, "I wouldn't get ahead of yourself there Mew. The young lass is still barren."

"...Barren? You mean she's...naked?"

"Yes. My rules of privacy do include avoiding prudish glances from the customers..." Macros smirked and muttered, "Even if you might be into that sort of thing."

"HMMMMMM." Saturn hummed with her brows slowly raising.

"HMMMMMMMMMMMM!" Shina hummed louder while pulling her head back.

Mew firmly crossed his arms and calmly stepped away while remarking, "I don't want to hear it from the siscon and the girl who drools at the sight of nuts."

The two girls clammed up instantly, giving Mew proper breathing space to ask Macros, "I can do up some clothes for her, if you want."

Macros shook his head and chuckled, "Heavens no that's fine. Little known fact about me, I like to knit in my spare time..."

He snapped his fingers up an clothes line shot out across the room, dragging a few articles of clothing along on pins, and hiding them behind curtains. An even bigger curtain draped around Venus' capsule after the lid opened up and started putting clothes in.

The process took but a few moments, after which the clothes line was dragged away into the unknown and the lid was left open.

Macros then turned aside and stepped back, extending his hands towards the capsule, "After you Mew."

Mew walked up to the capsule and leaned over it. His heart beat instantly turned into a flutter of warm butterfly wings.

He knew that Venus had been cursed at a young age, but looking at her in the flesh made her story even worse to have heard in hindsight. She was like a raggedy ann doll, so tiny and frail. Her hair was like yarn, red and tied into two small pigtails, with her bangs at the forehead swept to the left.

Her pale skin emphasized her freckled cheeks and tiny, pink lips. She was given a leather sleeveless vest and a beige shirt behind it, a belt buckle to keep a knee-length skirt up, and white stockings and brown sandals to wear.

And it hit Mew that this is the first time he had ever seen a normal human child. Any memories of himself being one were another of Alex's fabrications.

So really, he didn't know what to expect when this little girl opened her auburn eyes and took in light for the first time in two-thousand years.

She murmured like she'd just woken up from a nap, and began to raise her head. There was a little dust in her eyelids and it made them water.

She cooed and then groaned, laying her hands down flat by her sides. Slowly, her head panned towards Mew, where her eyes truly began to open all the way.

Mew trembled and he didn't know why. His hand moved up on its own and rested at the edge of the capsule, where it was there to greet Venus' a moment after. Her cupped his fingers around her tiny hand. It was cold for a moment, but he could feel the blood rushing through her veins to give her skin a little tint of color...Especially in her face.

Her eyes suddenly shot open full of wonder, and stayed unblinking in the face of Mew's smile.

"Good morning Maria." He whispered.

He gently held her hand and stood up, helping her stand. The capsule moved to a linear position, giving the young girl the proper distance to hop off onto the ground. Her knees gave in a little, but Mew's strength kept her upright.

He let go and stepped back, giving her the space to explore her surroundings with her own two eyes. He couldn't even imagine how many colors, smells, and sounds she was experiencing for the first time again.

Mew laid a hand over his heart. It was still fluttering away, albeit a little slower.

Venus looked at her hands and squeezed her fingers. Then she patted her cheeks once and gasped. Her cheeks turned bright red.

She leaned her head back and looked Mew straight in the eyes. Mew blinked and the next thing he knew the little girl was throwing herself at him and forcing her arms around his waist, holding on tight, and pressing her warm blood-filled cheek against his stomach.

Mew's own cheeks turned red and he drew his arms back, frozen in place.

"Thank you mister." She whispered with all the strength her voice could muster.

Mew felt his hands moving towards the back of her head and his mouth smiling.

"AAAAAWWWWW!" A shrill cry of delight raised Mew's sharpened senses back onto full alert.

"Oh no." He gasped and instantly looked up at Shina. She had her fists curled up below her chin and her eyes were swelled up with dazzling lights.

"She's. SO. CUTE!" Dog whistles wished they could make such a high-pitched sound.

"...Maria get behind me." Mew calmly swung his hand out and Venus tip-toed behind him after nodding her head, gripping his legs for support.

"Mister, what's wrong with her?"

Shina vaulted over the capsules and started dragging her feet towards them with an innocent, yet predatory look in her eyes.

Mew backed away slowly and cracked a dry chuckle, "W-Well Maria, this is what's known as 'A-Cute Defieciency'. It happens to people who don't expose themselves to cute things for a long period of time."

"She thinks...I'm cute?" Venus smiled and pointed at herself with rosy cheeks.

"T-That's not a good thing," Mew looked at Shina holding her arms out with a wistful look in her eyes and whispered, "Hers are the kinda hugs that could hurt a bear..."

"Oh come on Mew, lemme hug her pleeeease?" Shina's inability to slow down for even a second wasn't making a good argument in her favor, "I did most of the work, I think I've earned it!"

"She just got back to life Shina, give her a break!"

"Mew," She closed her eyes in that frightful way that Mew didn't like and stiffened her lower lip, "Don't make me force my way past ya. I **know** your weaknesses~"

Mew's eyes locked right onto...well, her entire body, and he grit his teeth tightly in resistance, _"Her whole body's a lethal weapon! B-But I can't back down. I gotta protect Maria!"_

"FWEEEEEEEET!" A sharp whistle forced Mew and Shina to hold their hands against their ears, and in the meanwhile Saturn dashed past them and snagged Venus up.

"What?" "Hey!" Mew and Shina proclaimed.

Saturn held Venus gently by the wrist and stuffed a silver whistle into her upper pocket, glaring at them both with the ferocity of an angry parent.

"Your antics are gonna corrupt her impressionable young mind!" Saturn then brushed the top of Venus' head with great enthusiasm, her glasses fogging up as she whispered, "Ooooh that's so nice..."

Mew pocketed his right hand and both him and Shina sneered at Saturn.

"Pot."

"Kettle."

Saturn thrust her head up and followed a cough by saying, "A-Anyways...There's a lot of tests I got to run to make sure Venus is doing ok."

Macros tucked his hands behind his back and sighed, "You _know_ I always do a proper job Catherine."

"Venus' is **my** teammate so that's my call to make," Saturn then stuck her head up and muttered, "By the way, did you get the data you wanted from this, fiend?"

"Oh absolutely. I'll be in touch with you later about the others." Macros said with a nod.

"Others?" Shina remarked.

"If I had to guess, the Mercury duo," Mew answered then waved his hand towards her and remarked, "Which means** you** might be looking at another trip out here."

"Well..." Shina laid a hand on the side of her face and looked at Venus, who had a timid smile from looking at her back, "I ain't gonna complain. It feels good to help people out."

Mew silently nodded his head.

A few minutes later and Macros has escorted his guests back to their ship. Saturn helped Venus stay on her feet climbing the slippery ramp. Riku was the last to climb, as he glanced back at Macros, who in turn tilted his head and smiled.

"I hope you'll come back and visit someday. I really enjoyed your company."

Riku still had a bit of sweat. Mew stepped past him, waved his hand out, and proclaimed, "If I ever lose my body, I know who to call!"

"Hahahah! I don't think that'll ever happen..." Macros whispered to himself.

He waved them goodbye as they took off into space. A relatively short trip later, and the ship had arrived back at Mew's house. Mew and Riku went down the ramp, Mew stopping partway to look at Venus behind him.

She gripped onto the side of the door and waved her fingers at him, "See you later mister."

"Yeah..." Mew had a heavy feeling in his heart as he gave her a thumbs-up and smile, "That's a promise!"

Venus nodded, sliding back into the ship as Saturn started to force the ramp up. The ship took back off, with Mew staring at it even after it had long since sped away into the stratosphere.

"..." Mew put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"You alright brother?" Riku said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good," Mew smiled and faced Riku, "How about you? You were quiet for a while there."

"I...was just thinking about some stuff." Riku turned his head to the left and his brows raised.

"Well if you want to talk-"

"Hold that thought." Riku raised his hand and then pointed at the house.

Mew looked at the windows and could see a bit of smoke coming from inside. And then, it dawned on him.

"...Ah CRAP," Mew slapped the side of his face and rushed into the house throwing wind around to force the smoke towards its source, "I KNEW I was forgetting something!"

He hopped on over to the kitchen and found Joe Dark fanning his hand to combat the flames spewing out of a completely charred oven.

Mew raised his hand out and nonchalantly tossed a ball of water to put out the fire, and soak Joe Dark in the process.

Joe Dark hung his arms with most of his hair draped over his eyes, and swerved towards Mew. He then ran at him, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and forced his face against his.

"Don't. EVER. Leave me alone. _Again_." He growled.

Mew had a big grin as he glanced aside and thought, _"On second thought, maybe this family's big enough as is..." _

_Next Time: A Surprise_


	23. Chapter 22

It was early in the afternoon in Sancturia. Shina had just finishing shopping at a pharmacy downtown and poked her head around past the sliding doors just in case a familiar face was nearby.

She tucked a very small bag into her pants' pocket, causing part of it to poke out until she covered it with her shirt. She then scurried right along through the streets like it was a normal stroll for her. She was sucking in her bottom lip the whole time, but nobody could tell that.

Soon enough she made it back home and glanced around, breathing a sigh of relief that "No one's home..." as she tip-toed towards the stairs. The moment she set foot on a step, the wood creaked extra loudly to spite her.

"Shina?" And her cover was thus blown.

She quickly flipped around and saw her darling little sister poke her head up behind the couch, a book in her right hand.

"H-Hi sis!" Shina forced a smile and waved her hand up beside her face.

Kairi closed the book and laid her other arm on the back of the couch to pull herself up. The curiosity in her eyes aimed at the noticeable lump at Shina's side.

"Did you buy something?" When she also pointed at it Shina found herself locked down with no escape unless she came up with a quick, reasonable lie.

"Its..." Shina sucked her lips in to pause and then whipped the bag out and waved it around quickly, "A new toothbrush! Gotta get those healthy gums ya know!"

"_Yes! Perfect!" _She was proud of the lie but not how she had to say it.

"Another one?" Was the last thing Kairi was expected to say, "Don't you like the one mom got you?"

Shina's widening eyes nearly gave her away. She stuffed the bag back in her pockets and swayed her hip out as she swung her hand down at her sister.

"Y-Yeah but I bet this one'll be even better!"

"_Crapcrapcrap!" _Shina bit her teeth down in a fairly noticeable false grin and then after a few awkward pauses spun around and said, "Well gotta brush them teeth, see ya!"

She hurried up the stairs without a second thought. Kairi stared where she was with wide eyes then slowly shut her book and got up. She made her way up the stairs and to the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall. The door was locked shut.

An underlying sense of unease filled Kairi's stomach as she let a few minutes pass.

"_Brush my teeth my ass, you always sped through it Shina...!" _She immediately started pounding on the door, her voice fraught with worry, "Shina open up!"

"I-I'm busy!" She responded in a strained voice.

"Busy doing what?!"

"Just...just...busy!"

Why was she being so secretive? This wasn't like her at all...

Kairi stepped away and leaned down to line up her shoulder with the doorknob, "Shina if you don't open up this second I WILL bust the door down!"

Silence, followed by a gasp behind the door. Kairi's heart fluttered and she swallowed her hesitation deep within, "Three...two...one!"

Right as she started to run the doorknob clicked and the door slowly pulled open. Shina stood there with rosy cheeks and a small smile, her eyes adrift in some other land.

"...Sis?" She whispered with the bliss of a hundred angels' choir.

"What's...up?" Kairi sputtered as she stood up with her arms limp.

Shina's cheeks spread as her grin grew to cover most of her face. Her eyes watered, and her body trembled, "You're...gonna be an aunt."

Kairi's body stiffened upright and her pupils shrank to dots. Shina pulled out a small plastic device from behind and pinched it between both her hands. There was a blue "+" on it.

Kairi **stared**. Shina giggled. Kairi's eyes slowly rolled back into her head and her body collapsed hard onto its back with a deflating gasp.

Shina lurched forward and slapped a hand over her mouth, "OH MY GOD! SIS?!"

**Chapter 22: The Destroyer's Legacy**

Down at the Whiter household, Mew, Joe Dark and Riku were sitting around the kitchen table for a rousing game of UNO.

Joe Dark was leaning on his side in his chair and lazily looking at the two cards in his hands. He glanced over at Riku, who sat upright and kept his four cards a few inches from his face. HE looked at Mew and saw him with two cards pressed directly against his face, doing a terrible job hiding his smirk.

He eyed Joe Dark and then glided down over to the stack of cards. A blue 9 was the top card. Perfect. Just as planned. The deck was thinned out and no more Draw 2s and 4s were in play. It was his turn, and his hand would allow him to grasp a decisive victory.

He coyly slapped down at blue Skip card and smirked at Joe Dark to say, "Sorry, no turn for you."

Joe Dark arched his brows at him for a moment, causing Mew to laugh internally as he looked at his final card: A plain ol' Wild Card.

He sneered towards Riku like a jackal and felt assured of his victory, _"No matter what you play next bro, I can play my last card and win!" _

He lurched his head back and had a sinister smile growing along his face, _"You fell right into my trap! Had you used that Draw 4 when it was Reversed towards me-" _

"Wait just a damn second," Joe Dark suddenly broke Mew's scheming mojo with his usual anger, "You didn't say 'Uno'. Draw two cards."

Mew's heart skipped a beat and he pinched his sole card tight. He lurched his head back and slyly shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, that's not how it works."

"Yes it is, that's the rules." Joe Dark said with a growing scowl.

"No you see when you use a Skip card, it prevents the person skipped from saying someone didn't say 'Uno'."

"Bullshit. Show me where it says that in the rule book."

Mew shrugged and leaned back into his chair, "Sorry man, this game didn't come with the rule book."

Joe Dark tugged the package to his side and started shaking it, but nothing came out. He then slapped it down onto the table and stood up, leaning out at Mew, "You hid the rules so you could cheat out a win!"

"Joe," Riku whispered as he laid his blue Reverse card on the pile and looked him confidently in the eyes, "Its not over yet, right?"

Mew glanced aside at his brother and mumbled, "What could you possibly be planning?"

Riku silently gave his brother notice and then focused on Joe Dark, who settled down in his chair and picked up his two cards.

"Right." He pinched one card between his fingers and Mew grew the biggest sneer known to hero or villain alike.

"_You're just delaying the inevitable. Go ahead! Play your last pathetic card so I can win this!" _

Joe Dark slapped down a Draw 4 without hesitation.

"_I-IMPOSSIBLE!" _Mew's eyes bulged and his mind went into a state of pants shitting terror, _"I counted all the cards! There shouldn't be a Draw 4 left!" _

Joe Dark's smug smile didn't go unnoticed, as did the subtle hint of darkness glowing from his hand.

Mew glared at him and exclaimed in his head, _"YOU CHEATING HYPOCRITE!" _

"Draw four, Mew," Joe Dark held up his sense of superiority without a hint of irony in his voice, "And another two for not saying 'Uno'."

"..." Mew squeezed his eyes shut and pulled up six cards while whimpering like a wounded dog, "You're a bunch of meanies..."

Ultimately though Riku won, cause Joe Dark also forgot to say 'Uno'. And as his two defeated brothers laid their faces flat on the table he looked at them and said in a reprimanding tone, "And this is why cheaters never win."

Mew weakly raised a pointer finger and mumbled, "Motion to never play UNO again?"

Joe Dark raised his own finger and grunted, "Agreed."

"_Mew."_

Mew perked up and quietly went "Huh?" at the familiar sound of Auris in his head. Joe Dark poked his head up and mumbled, "What?"

Mew swung his hand out and told him to shush, "Auris, is that you?"

"_Yes. I'm using the orb to contact you." _

"Uh-oh. What's the emergency?"

"_The world's not in any danger but..." _A sigh buried in anxiety could be heard for a moment, _"Please come to our house immediately. And bring the other two along." _

She cut the connection right there and Mew was left wondering, _"What was that about?" _

He got out of the chair and his brothers eyed him in a way that asked "What?" Mew waved his way and said, "C'mon, we're taking a trip to Sancturia."

No further questions asked, Mew used Dark Form to take them on a quick ride through the darkness to the outside of the Aurora household.

"I swear if this leads to another damn trip to space..." Joe Dark grumbled with his hands in his pockets.

"Ah I doubt it'll be anything like that," Mew started opening the door and confidently smiled, "I bet it'll just be a nice little-"

_One minute later..._

"SHINA'S PREGNANT?!" Mew blurted out with bulging eyes and arms laid out before his waist.

Shina sat on a couch twiddling her thumbs between her legs while her face turned beet red. Gabriel and Auris stood behind that couch closing their eyes and sighing deeply. Kairi, meanwhile, leaned up next to the basement door, mouth agape, looking white as a sheet.

"...Yes, that's what I said," Auris muttered while picking her right ear with her pinky, "_Quietly_, I might add."

Mew crossed his arms against his chest and mumbled, "S-Sorry..."

"How...how did this happen?" Riku asked while eyeing Auris for answers, not surprised to find her lips shut.

"Isn't it **obvious**?" Joe Dark grunted tightly.

"..." Mew thought about it for a few moments and then turned to Joe Dark with his mouth partially agape and his face having a 'deer in the headlights' look. Joe Dark faced him with a minor scowl.

"Joe...how **could** you? She was all alone in that room and you-"

"Are you fucking serious with that tasteless joke?!" Joe Dark barked back before jabbing his pointer finger into Mew's chest, "You KNOW who did it!"

Of course he did. By process of elimination there wasn't anyone else who could have done it. But he didn't **want** to say it. It was like an asteroid had smashed right into his face and the damage done had swelled his lips enough to keep him from saying it.

That'd be a lot more believable occurrence than what he'd learned just now.

"_...Goddamn it Alex," _Mew rubbed the side of his face and had a massive migraine forming, _"You slept with Shina and then you went and..." _

He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly shook his head, _"What the hell were you thinking?"_

And while he was thinking about that, he suddenly remembered all the punches, kicks and energy blasts him and the others had struck Shina with...Particularly in her waist.

"Aw crap..." He gasped and swung to face Shina with a panicked look in his eyes, "The baby's not hurt is it?"

Shina rested a hand on her belly and her heart appeared to be visibly beating, trying to escape her chest. Meanwhile Auris drew attention towards herself by extending her sleeve towards the others.

"I wouldn't worry about the child's health," Once her guests' eyes were on her she put that hand down on her daughter's shoulder and murmured, "An Aurian's birth cycle is a little longer than a human's. The newborn must becoming one with the Aura to determine what will eventually be their Drive."

She raised her head and smiled softly, "The process takes a month or two, at the very least."

Mew hung his head with a deep breath and whispered, "So you're saying...?"

"The baby only started forming recently. We caused it no harm."

"Whew!" Mew swiped his sweating forehead, "That's a relief!"

He then gained a far more relaxed grin and propped a hand on his hip, "So do you know what the baby's gender is going to be yet?"

Shina looked up with less red in her cheeks and remarked, "I...I don't know. And...I'm not sure if I'm gonna find out."

Mew chuckled and gave the tense room some much needed levity, "Ah, wanting to keep it a surprise?"

Shina perked upright and firmly nodded her head, "Yep! Don't matter to me if its a boy or a girl!"

She then sheepishly curled a fist against her chest and failed at whispering to herself, "Though if it was a cute little boy..."

Mew turned his sunshine upon Kairi and tried to cheered her on and up, "Isn't this great Kairi! You're going to be an Aunt!"

"Shut. UP. MEW!" She came off incredibly hostile and Mew didn't know where it came from. He quietly stepped back and decided _not_ to poke the crouching tiger.

"Not just that," Gabriel remarked, "The three of you are going to be Uncles."

He stared softly at their differing looks of surprise. Though Joe Dark appeared more pissed than anything else, "Don't lump me in with these two idiots. I'm only tangentially related."

"Hahah yeah, and the last thing we'd want is for the baby to pick up 'Uncle Dark's' bad habits." Mew laughed.

"Who was caught lying and cheating not even fifteen minutes ago?!" Joe Dark barked back.

"You tell me Mr. Oven Wrecker." Mew said with a sly glance aside.

"Oh don't you dare start holding that against me you-"

"Brother, Joe..." Riku stepped between the two and whispered in their ears, getting them to stop. He then waved at the door and said, "Can we step outside for a moment?"

There was this calm but clear look of distress in Riku's eyes as he headed out the door, with Joe Dark dragging along after him right away. Mew told the others they'd be right back, and then followed.

They stepped a few feet away from the house and Riku looked around, probably to make sure no one else would hear them.

"What's up?" Mew asked.

"We need to talk about what to do with the child." Riku responded with his voice down. Joe Dark tensed up, digging his fingertips into his folded elbows.

"Do...**what**, exactly?"

Riku looked him in the eyes and did not flinch telling him, "This is Alex's child. The same Alex that went insane and threatened to destroy everything."

There was a fire lit in Joe Dark's eyes, one of anger and disdain, and his voice reflected that heat with a baritone growl, "So what?"

"So..." Riku stayed on his course calmly and precisely, "Not only will this child inherit his mother's power, but his father's too...And..."

"His insanity." Riku spoke that with a hint of worry in his voice, and the other two went silent.

Though for Joe Dark, that only lasted a moment before he was chewing Riku out for such an asinine assumption, "You're out of your goddamn mind."

Riku responded with nothing but a surprised look in his eyes.

"Mental conditions aren't passed down from parent to child." Joe Dark muttered.

"No, but the chances of the conditions appearing are increased," Riku responded with a cold whisper, "Alex wasn't right in the head."

"So his child shouldn't be allowed to live?!" Joe Dark snapped with bitter fury.

"That's not-"

"And what?! Should **I** not be allowed to have a child too because I was 'mentally ill' at one point?!" Joe Dark slapped his chest and darkness in his hand suggested this was going to quickly escalate into a fight.

But Mew was stunned still by the passion Joe Dark expressed in his voice. It didn't feel right to get in the way.

"I'M NOT SAYING THAT!" Riku suddenly raised his voice in such a manner that it was like a dragon's roar, and Joe Dark froze up.

Once he settled down and caught his breath, Riku looked him in the eyes once again and said, "Alex and Shina's child has the potential to become the biggest threat we've ever faced..."

He slanted his eyes and they appeared a little moist. He then gasped in disbelief, "But do you really think I'd want him dead? They'll be a child...They won't know any better."

"They needs someone who can help them come to terms with the power they have and learn to control it, not fear it. Someone like..."

Riku turned towards Mew. Mew flinched and pointed at his chest. Joe Dark then looked at him and muttered nonsense to himself, but nevertheless didn't say a word.

"...M-Me?" Mew remarked.

"It has to be someone who can use all the elements." Riku's logic was sound, but...then why couldn't it be him?

Mew shook his head and muttered, "I don't know...I wouldn't know the first thing about raising a child. Heck, I didn't even raise myself from that point in time."

"..." Mew closed his eyes and vividly imagined what Alex and Shina's child would be like. All he saw was a boy all alone, surrounded by kids his age mocking him for being a freak with elemental powers. The darkness surrounded the boy, isolating him from the rest of the world.

He could feel the boy's mind snap, the darkness splitting in half to be consumed in fire. And the boy turned his head, grinning from cheek-to-cheek with those same hellish red eyes Alex had, as he watched the whole Earth burn from the solitude of the moon...

A cold snap shuddered through Mew's heart and he frowned. He kicked one foot up slightly and then turned his head for the door.

As he rested his hand on it he felt something standing behind. "Huh?" He gave a gentle push before entering, and found Shina attempting to hustle her way back to the couch.

"Shina?" His acknowledgment made her freeze up mid-run and slowly turned her head back with a smile.

"I-I'm sorry! I heard yelling and just had to peep!"

"_Oh, so she didn't hear much..." _Mew propped his hand on his hip and breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked at her directly and said, "Shina...?"

She turned the rest of the way and placed her hands over her waist. Mew gave a weak smile and flicked her a thumbs-up, "I'm happy for you."

Shina looked to the ground, like she was disappointed at what he said, only to lift her head back up and smile softly, "That means a lot, thank you."

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Kairi ripped herself away from the wall with her fists taut by her hips and her teeth bit harder than should be humanly allowed.

"H-HOW CAN YOU JUST ROLL OVER AND BE OK WITH THIS?!" She stampeded around the couch and thrust her face towards Mew's, pushing him up against the wall, "HUH?!"

Shina stepped over and gently laid her hand on Kairi's shoulder, "Sis calm down..."

Kairi swatted her sister's hand away and exclaimed, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Her eyes started watering and she muttered in a sniveling tone, "You...you're horrible..."

She turned and went flying out the front door right as Riku and Joe Dark tried to come back in. Joe Dark gave her a passing stink-eye and muttered, "What's with her?"

Shina laid her hands down to her waist and breathed in deep, "...Lemme handle this."

She let out a heavy sigh on her way out the door. Despite the huge head start her little sister had, Shina knew **exactly** where to find her.

One ten minute walk later, and Shina was a couple hundred feet away from the south edge of the city, where one could easily stargaze or watch the aurora borealis in the dead of night. Or, perhaps, where two young, foolish siblings could make a promise to each other...

Kairi sat over the edge with her head hung over, bobbing as she sobbed. Shina paused for a moment and then rested her hands behind her back and walked over.

"I knew I'd find you here." She said, leaning over her sister's shoulder.

"Go away!" Kairi whimpered back.

Shina pulled up and took a couple steps back, looking up at the sunny sky with a light breeze weaving through her hair.

"...I know my pregnancy came outta the blue for ya sis, but...I thought you'd be happy."

Kairi jerked her head up and looked over her shoulder with outrage, "I AM happy for you!"

Shina gave a couple eyelid flutters as her sis stood up and jerked her fists down by her hips, "You're gonna have a baby..."

When she turned around and look Shina in the face, her cheeks were soaked and the tears still kept falling, "But its not just **yours**. Its _**his**_."

Shina stood there aghast, harboring a sense of regret in her eyes for not catching on sooner, "...That's what this is about?"

"I...I wouldn't have blamed you for going to someone else for comfort after all that traumatizing shit you went through. Bobby...a stranger, even Joe Dark," Kairi hung her head and her fists shook, "I'm not stupid. I saw the signs that you were hiding this from me. But I...I had to tell myself that it was someone, ANYONE else, even if it meant painting you in a bad light."

"But I can't ignore it anymore..." Kairi thrust her head up and screamed her heart out, "HOW COULD YOU HAVE HAD SEX WITH THAT...BEAST?!"

Shina stayed still and silent, lowering her head while her sister exhausted herself panting her lungs out.

"You don't know Alex like I did..." She finally whispered.

Kairi raised her head with eyes flared open and exclaimed, "I know _enough_!"

Shina shook as Kairi swung her arm out viciously, "Have you not figured it out yet?! You didn't kill Alex! He survived, and became a force of destruction hellbent on killing everyone and everything that he felt had wronged him!"

"T-That's...not..."

"He tried to kill his brothers, our mother, ME...!" Kairi tearfully clutched her fists against her chest and wailed, "He attacked Sancturia, he killed thousands in a populated city! If Justek didn't kill him he would've gone on to let everyone in the universe DIE!"

She closed her eyes and leaned her head out, "He was a sadistic monster that didn't deserve you or anyone else! I'm glad the fucker's dead and I hope he burns in Hell!"

Shina's eyes thrust wide-open and she swung her hand up. Kairi opened her eyes and flinched with her mouth agape. Then, she felt a weight on her shoulders thanks to her sister laying her hands atop them.

"...But, that's not the kinda person **Alex **was."

"He had his personal demons, I know that...But that's not the part of him I got to know. What we had...Well," Shina teased her sis with a knowing smile, "It was something really special. You'll get what I mean someday soon, I hope."

She closed her eyes and whispered softly, "If his personal demons won out, I doubt it was without a rough and tough fight on his part. And...even after he lost his body to them, I bet he won back out in the end. That's...just the kind of stunt I know he'd pull."

Kairi looked down and weakly tried pushing her sister's hands off, "It doesn't matter what you think sis..."

"Everyone else in Sancturia saw Alex trying to kill them. The moment they see your kid accidentally shoot off a fireball in class they'll be asking questions...Remembering who hurt them, and connect the dots back to him. They'll harass your kid, harass _you_."

Kairi's eyes watered heavily as she looked her sister in the face and shook her head, "And eventually those words will turn into hate. They'll hurt you both, and that child's going to fight back and hurt someone. Or...kill someone."

She squeezed a fist against her chest and leaned out begging from the bottom of heart, "Please I bet you sis, don't do this to yourself. You can't bear the burden that beast forced upon you! It'll destroy you!"

"A-And it'll hurt me too...I can't bear to see you suffer anymore heartache."

She closed her eyes and hic'd away as the tears flowed, her knees becoming too weak to stand, so she latched her hands onto her sister's shoulders tight and refused to let go.

Shina's heart sank, and she grabbed her sister's wrists to hold her up, while also putting them down to her own stomach.

"You feel that sis?"

"N-No?"

"Of course not, there's nothing in there yet silly!" Shina giggled and her eyelids sagged softly, "But there will be soon...A tiny baby, with an even tinier heartbeat."

"They'll be mine, just like I wanted."

"H-Huh?" Kairi widened her eyes and looked up at the mischievous smile her sis gave.

"Hehehe! Alex was many things, but one who took initiative wasn't one of them," Shina pulled a hand away to lay a fingertip against the side of her face, "That'll be our little secret though. Use it well sis."

Kairi's cheeks turned red and suddenly all her energy returned to let her shove away from her sis and stutter, "G-Gross Shina! I did **NOT** want to hear that!"

"Hehehe!" Shina tucked her hands behind her back and gave her sis some space to breathe and think straight.

Kairi laid a hand over her chest and glanced aside over the edge of the city with a solemn look, "But still...a child..."

She tilted her head and murmured, "You're going to have to take care of them all by yourself."

"Not at all. I got you, and Gabriel, and mom..." Shina lifted three of her fingers up one a time and then raised the rest all at once, "And everyone else we know! I got all the help I could ever want!"

"...But what about our promise?"

"Sis, this baby's not being born for another eight months. And even so..." Shina laid a hand on her stomach and rubbed softly, "I'm gonna want to take him down with us, to see the place where his father was born and raised..."

"Mmmrrr..." Kairi pouted her lips and then kicked the air in front of her with no effort put behind it.

"...Do ya feel better now sis?" Shina leaned in to ask.

"No..." Kairi muttered and twisted her head back with a tired look in her eyes, "I still think you're making a big mistake Shina."

"Then its my mistake to make." Shina nodded as she stood back up.

"..." Before Kairi could mope about some more Shina firmly patted her on the back and said, "C'mon! Lets go home and talk it out with the others."

Kairi bobbed her head and Shina wrapped her arm around her back and held her in close as they started to walk back.

Midway to home, Shina looked up at the sky and squinted her eyes, "Hey...what's up with that red star in the sky?"

By the time Kairi looked up the star was much, much bigger and looking like it was going to come crashing down into...

"FWOOOOOOOOOSHH!" A fiery pillar smashed through the top of Sancturia's barrier and crash landed in the center of the city, which fortunately, was empty enough to not cause collateral damage.

"No! No! Come on! Why're they back NOW?!" Kairi threw herself out of Shina's grasp and darted across the city. Shina blinked a few times and then hurried after her, having NO IDEA what was going on besides the city being in danger, maybe?

But Kairi knew. There was only one asshole who'd daringly crash land in the middle of Sancturia covered in fire. And he wouldn't be alone either.

For sure enough, once the sisters got past the crowd of frightened Aurians they saw their invaders: The sun god Solaris, and his sister Lunis.

The flames burned out and Solaris lashed his titanic blade at the crowd, waving it around wildly while wearing the grin of a hungered lion. Lunis lingered behind him, calm as the night shore.

"Alright you weak-willed bastards where's those damn Elemental Overlords?!" Solaris barked orders to the crowd and his body remained wreathed in flames, ready to go off at any moment.

"I know those father killing sons of bitches are hiding here! So if they don't show themselves in a few seconds...I'll burn Sancturia to the goddamn ground!"

_Next Time: The Wail of the Sun_


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Burning For Revenge**

Panic spread throughout Sancturia like a wildfire. Only the bravest of the brave stuck around when Solaris made his decree. Meaning, ultimately, Kairi and Shina were the only ones to remain.

Through the uproar of the crowd Shina swung her head around with eyes dilated in confusion and tried to speak with her sister, "Ummm...who are these guys?"

Kairi tried summoning her staff but the crowd pushing her around in their attempt to flee made it difficult, "These two **jerks** are Justek's children. A self-proclaimed sun god, and a show-offy moon goddess...!"

The gritting of Kairi's teeth sounded harder on the second one. Shina drew her attention towards the two deities and wondered aloud, "Are you sure?"

She laid a hand against the side of her tilting face, "They don't look very tough...Or Justek-y."

"You...you can't sense their power Shina," Kairi groaned and glanced aside, _"Though, you aren't wrong..."_

"Oh? Why not?" Shina had to ask. And, for the sake of her sanity, Kairi refused to say what Mew had suggested cause that'd trigger a deadly fangirl-ish reaction in her sister.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Solaris turned his head away from the fleeing crowd and aimed his sights right at the two sisters. He flashed all teeth in a grin and lurched his head back.

"Well well well...!" He lunged his sword in Kairi's direction and summoned an inferno around the blade, "If it ain't the so-called 'Neo Drive Wielder' and..."

He fluttered his eyelids at Shina, "Some...random blonde girl?"

Shina puffed her chest out and laid a hand on top of it, "I ain't just some random girl! I'm Shina, Shina-"

"Yeah yeah whatever ya ditzy ant," Solaris waved the back of his left fingers at her, where Shina responded by widening her eyes and puffing her cheeks. Then he firmly grasped his sword towards Kairi, "So...Why don't you run along and collect your boyfriends for us?"

Kairi squinted her eyes and summoned her staff, thrusting it out alongside her arm, "How about I just kick both your asses into the stratosphere and save them the trouble of humiliating you again?"

"Awww sis, that was a really cool sounding boast!" Shina said, clapping her hands in delight.

"S-Shina not now!" Kairi said, grunting out the side of her mouth and quickly resuming her stance against Solaris.

"I'm not the mood for your sass!" Solaris' body erupted with flames the moment he tightened his grip on his sword, and swung it over his left shoulder.

"Get movin' or the first thing going up in flames will be you!"

"Yeah pardon me, but I have an objection." A nonchalant voice called to Solaris and drew his attention to the left...Right as Mew flew in and drove both his heels into the god's smug face.

Solaris skidded a few feet back and stabbed his sword into the ground to stop. He snapped his head back and wrenched his neck around with his hand, going from shocked back to smug in a second. Lunis zipped over to his side and joined her brother in staring down the new arrivals, consisting of everyone that were still at the Aurora household.

Mew landed front and center of them all and swiped his hand down before his nose, then rose one foot up like a kung-fu practitioner would.

"Hey fancy that, I was planning on finding you two eventually. Thanks for saving me the trouble!" Mew smiled.

"Don't be thankful you arrogant little shit!" Solaris dragged his sword out of the ground and thrust it at Mew's face with his eyes bursting with fire, "Cause we've been hunting you down to kill you...!"

Mew dropped his foot and leaned his head back with a sigh, "Yeah I kinda figured."

Joe Dark stared at the two with mild discomfort on his face as he murmured, "Are these idiots serious? Even Mew could take them alone."

"Brother already did," Riku remarked, "But that doesn't matter to them now."

"And what do you mean 'Even Mew'?!" The recipient of the insult barked back while looking over his shoulder.

Riku looked past his brother and into the eyes of the moon goddess. She glanced at him briefly and then stared straight ahead, appearing to be curling her bottom lip.

Mew however waved his hand out towards the two and tried approaching them calmly, "Look do we really gotta do this now?"

He stopped when Solaris made a towering line of fire at his toes with a simple swing of his blade. He then gripped it in both hands and dragged it down to his side.

"Shut up...! You're not escaping my sights! This time...I will destroy you!" Solaris roared with impressive determination.

"Well you're doing a crappy job already," Mew couldn't stop himself from smirking, "You missed."

Solaris swung his blade up again and cleave through his wall of flame with a scar of hot ash. Mew crossed his arms and summoned fire to douse most of the heat coming his way. The excess ash laid upon the ground and turned it pitch black.

Mew looked around at just how close the ash got to the houses and took a deep breath, lowering his arms as he breathed out.

"_It'd be too easy for him to harm the city...I gotta choose my words carefully..." _Mew got a mild stomachache at the pressure of it and slowly creaked his head back with a fake smile.

"Hey Riku, think you can try talking them down a bit?"

Riku hummed for a few seconds and then took a couple steps closer and waved a hand out towards the deities, "If you want to avenge your father, fine...But we're not going to fight you in a populated area."

Solaris grit his teeth and a screech of frustration roared through them, "Uuuurghh! Don't tell me what to do damn it!"

He smashed his blade against the ground a wave of fire nearly splashed out towards the houses, "We traveled from world to world for a whole month, trying to find any sign that our father was alive...!"

He flared his eyes wide as they could go and gave a frenzied account of what he had seen, "And what did we discover?! An empty crater on your moon where his body had been mercilessly obliterated!"

Lunis quietly withdrew a familiar pair of glasses from her outfit that had cracked lenses and bent, broken temples.

"The only thing left of him were his glasses!" Solaris wildly pointed towards them, and then the people before him, "You won't be so lucky! There won't be a trace of you left!"

"..." Mew blinked a few times and then backed away to whisper to Riku, "I don't recall blowing up Justek on the moon, do you?"

"...Now that you mention it, we never saw Justek die at all." A worrying thought, but the proof of death was definitely in Lunis' hands right now. And Justek was many things, but it was doubtful that he'd just abandon his own children like that...right?

"Then who...?"

Mew and Riku were pushed aside at their shoulders as Joe Dark came passing through, exuding a somewhat intimidating black aura. And Mew could swear he saw his eyes glowing too.

"I'm the one who killed that bastard."

The news wasn't even shocking enough to elicit a "What?"

But for Solaris? It provided a good laugh to settle him down just a tiny bit.

"Ha! Ha! HA!" He said, rearing his head back and slapped his gut in glee, "You?!"

He smiled and started to hunch over, barely able to contain his laughter, "Father leashed you like a beast! You couldn't have even laid a finger on him!"

"Yet I'm alive and he's **not.**" The sun god was silly to expect Joe Dark to give a shit of what he thought and would pay the price with the verbal beatdown that quickly ensued.

"You come crawling back to this world demanding our blood but just look at you..." Joe Dark's eyes narrowed and he scoffed his scorn, "You don't even have the **balls **to fight because any one of us could kick your ass. You bark like a mad dog but cower like a kitten."

Taking in a deep, exasperated breath of annoyance he murmured, "You call yourself a god but you're just a thug on fire."

Solaris completely froze up and grunted. Joe Dark lessened the darkness around him and turned away, brushing a hand towards Mew without looking his way.

"Do what you want to him, I said my piece."

"Sheesh, that was merciless..." Mew muttered before looking back at the sun god, where he saw his body flaring up all-around.

"Nnnghh! NNNGHHH!" He heaved his blade over his head and his face flared up like an angry bull's, "I don't care **which **one of you did it! You all will burn!"

He lunged forward ferociously and the intensity of his flames made Mew and Riku draw their swords without a second thought. A blur of green swept past them and slammed into Solaris, drawing his katana to keep the monstrous blade at bay.

"That's enough Solaris!" Gabriel declared through gritted, reprimanding him like a father would.

"Get OUT of my way you green devil!" Solaris roared back, pushing the advantage against the samurai, whose feet refused to budge.

"Your father may be dead but that's no excuse to rampage through a city and put innocent lives at risk!" Gabriel narrowed his eyes and shoved the sun god back, "Even Justek had to have taught you better than that!"

"Innocent?!" Solaris barked, firing flames off his back to shove his advantage again, "All of you have blood on your hands, including our father's! You betrayed him...and tossed us into a prison like we're criminals!"

"And this...**tantrum** is supposed to prove your innocence?" Gabriel calmly, yet bluntly, said in return.

"Grrrrr...!" Solaris snapped off from his clash and hopped back to where Lunis was, where he viciously swung his sword at the ground and yelled, "You always act so high and mighty, it pisses me off!"

So far anyone who has attempted to settle Solaris down have just made him angrier. Who knows what'd tip him to the breaking point of going supernova on all of Sancturia?

Mew wound up finding himself stepping forward and looking the sun god straight in the eyes to say, "Can I just ask you one question?"

"WHAT?!" Solaris barked ferociously.

Mew grimaced briefly and then waved his hand out towards him, "Do you really think this is what Justek would've wanted?"

Solaris grit his teeth and shook, "Y-You don't know anything about what he wanted!"

"No kidding! And we fought the guy!" Mew rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "But...if you don't mind me taking a crack at it..."

"The guy was really meticulously with how he planned things out. He **wanted** me to fight you two, and now? I think I get why," Mew looked the two deities straight on without flinching and smiled, "If Alex was there he would've killed you both. If Riku or Kairi had been there, you'd be dead Solaris. Justek knew I'd spare you both, but still beat you up hard enough that you'd be unconscious while he fought the rest of us."

He pointed at them with firm, slanted eyes, "He didn't want you to die for his cause, or destroy yourself trying to avenge him. Because at the very end of the day, he **did** love you both equally, and wanted you to find happiness when he was gone."

Solaris and Lunis widened their eyes, and Mew went back to rubbing the back of his head while resuming his laid-back mannerisms, "T-That's just what I think anyways. Your father was pretty hard to read."

Solaris resumed glaring at his enemies with his body on fire and drew his sword up before his chest, "Yeah, y-you're full of shit...!"

"Maybe," Riku spoke up, "But I suspect you believe otherwise..."

He turned his head slightly to the right, "Right? Lunis?"

"Oh come on, you really think my sister's gonna fall for your damn tric-" A curved blade was pointed at Solaris' neck quick as the wind, and his eyes lost all their luster in an instant. He slowly looked to his left and saw Lunis trembling everywhere but the arm that held the knife towards him.

"...Lunis?" Solaris murmured in a shrill voice.

She swung her head to look him square in the eyes and told him calmly, "Ever since father died you've been uncontrollable. You've torn up multiple worlds and hurt hundreds of people."

She shed a single tear and exclaimed passionately, "That's NOT you brother! Its the monster the Ten Sages molded you to be!"

Solaris reared his head back with gritted teeth and then lashed forth, swinging an arm out from his chest, "I LIKE fighting! It makes me feel alive!"

"Fighting?" Lunis turned her knife towards the city and exhaled in disbelief, "You call this...fighting?!"

Beyond the houses were a few Aurians that dared to come close and see what was happening. Their bodies were trembling and full of sweat.

"We're terrorizing these people that had nothing to do with father's death!"

"Where do you get the BALLS to tell me off?!" Solaris thrust his pointer finger at his sister, "Huh?! 'White Shroud'?!"

Lunis reeled back a little then slanted her eyes, "I know I murdered people, _innocent_ people..."

She threw her knives to the ground and screamed at her brother, "But we don't HAVE to resort to violence to survive anymore! The Ten Sages are gone, they have no hold over us! We're free...That's the gift our father left for us!"

"What good is freedom if dad isn't around to share it?!" Solaris swung his arm out towards the others, "They murdered him! Are you just going to ignore that?!"

Lunis gulped and then heartily shook her head, "I-I know that! But it was father's decision to fight them in the first place!"

"You can't be serious...!" Solaris grit his teeth and growled so loud internally that it was like a roar, "Are you taking _their_ side?!"

Lunis froze up as her brother panted and wheezed, sweat glistening off his brows. He shook his head slowly, whispering a plea to his dear sister, "Don't do it..."

Lunis silently closed her eyes and stepped sideways away from Solaris. For every step she took, more life was drained from his eyes. When she stood between him and the targets of his hate, she swung her arm out as a wall and stared him down.

"Ghhh...!" Solaris gasped, clutching a hand over his heart as the sweat grew thick over his face.

"Brother...please," Lunis laid her other hand over her chest and calmly leaned out, "These are good people that want to help us."

"Yeah come on," Mew said with his arms crossed up to his chest, "You'll fit right in at our house. We'll just...need to get you a bed of your own but-"

Solaris gnashed the tip of his blade against the ground and gripped the side of his face, digging into the skin with his metallic fingertips.

"You...too?!" He flung his arm out and screamed, "YOU TOO?!"

His body exploded with fire and he began to raise his sword above his head.

"_Crap! He's going to attack!" _Mew hastened to grab the white trigger of his blade when suddenly Solaris erupted with a pillar of fire surrounding his entire body.

The pillar shot up into the atmosphere, and the flames pulled away from the ground to follow him off the planet. Lunis ran forward, throwing her hand up and desperately exhaling, "Brother! Come back!"

But he was long gone from sight and sound, just a fading red twinkle in the blue sky...

"Mmm..." Lunis clutched her hand into a fist and placed it before her chest.

Mew stared out there for a moment and muttered "Is it over?" as he slowly dispelled his sword.

He looked around and the others were resting easy now. All except for Lunis, who hung her head and sighed.

Mew started moving ahead and raised his hand up, "Are you-"

"You ok Lunis?" Riku got farther ahead and spoke louder than his brother had.

Lunis turned around and had a couple tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them on one finger and sniffled, "I-I'm fine..."

She then smiled and tried to think positively, "I'm sure my brother'll be too...Once he's blown off some steam."

"But...thank you, Riku." Lunis gained a mild blush in her cheeks.

"We should've just kicked his ass." Joe Dark murmured. Mew clocked him in the gut with his elbow and he fell to his knees.

He then walked over to Lunis with his hands behind his head and a greeting smile, "Not going to go after him?"

"No," She shook her head, "I don't think he'll listen to me right now."

"I...don't think I feel comfortable letting him loose like that though." Mew remarked.

"Yeah..." Lunis' head sank, only to then perk back up as she leaned towards the right, where her throat then strained to speak, "U-Ummm, Gabriel?"

"Yes my dear?" Gabriel said respectfully.

"Your friends can keep an eye out for him, can't they?"

Gabriel bowed his head, "I will tell Catherine that. You'll be the first to know if we see him."

"Thank you." Lunis in turn bowed her head down to her waist.

Mew fluttered his eyes, _"She's a lot more...approachable now."_

As Lunis lifted her head she looked shocked for a moment and pointed at Riku's right side, "O-Oh my goodness! Your arm...!"

Riku stared at it and gave the stub a wag. Then he firmly held it against his side and muttered, "Don't worry about that."

He looked straight up into her eyes and asked, "What are you going to do now Lunis?"

"I guess..." She tucked her hands behind her back and stood tall with a smile, "I'll stay with you guys until I can figure that out."

Mew swayed towards the others and nonchalantly asked, "Anyone got a problem with that?"

The most obvious person who'd have an objection is Kairi, but she simply hung her head and shoulders and sighed, "If Gabriel doesn't care that she kidnapped him then whatever, she can stick around..."

She then propped her fists on her hips and leaned in for the critiquing glare of shame, "But I got my eye on you harpy. If you try anything funny I'll give you another smack in the head!"

"O...kay?" Lunis rapidly blinked her eyes.

"Awww don't be mean sis, she seems friendly enough!" Shina trotted on over and extended her hand out, "Hi there, I'm-"

She paused and creaked her head back slightly. And Lunis paused her attempt to shake Shina's hand, wondering why she stopped.

"Oh wow," Shina's cheeks turned pink, "You're taller than mom and me!"

"H-Huh?" Lunis stuttered.

"Oh I'm sorry! Interrupted myself there!" Shina gasped with a hand over her mouth, then grabbed and shook Lunis' hand hard, "I'm Shina, Shina Aurora!"

"L-Lunis..." When the shock wore off Lunis grabbed Shina's hand and gave it one firm shake, "Pleased to meet you Shina!"

Shina started to hum in a rather..._curious_ way, "And your skin is so smooth too..."

Lunis' pupils shrank and Mew had to lean up to her ear and whisper, "She's got her quirks, but you'll get used to them."

Lunis silently nodded her head and let go of Shina's hand. Mew then tapped his foot on the ground and wondered aloud, "Now...where are you going to live?"

"**Not **at our house!" Kairi immediately threw out.

"Why not? You could have all-girl sleepovers every night!" Mew responded.

"Yeah sis! All-girl sleepovers!" Shina said, clasping her hands joyously before her chest.

"Are you purposefully forgetting the whole 'Solaris and Lunis attacked Sancturia' shit that happened a month ago just to annoy me Mew?" Kairi said with her arms folded under her chest and her face screaming "Grumpy gus".

"She is right." Auris finally spoke up, spooking the others, Mew in particular, after believing she was a statue the whole time she'd been around.

She laid a hand over her chest and then extended it to Lunis, "You will always be welcome in my home, my dear lunar child...But until the others can be comfortable with you, it'd be best if you didn't live with us."

"...I understand, Lady Auris." Lunis nodded in a dignified manner.

"Then you can stay with us." Riku remarked.

Mew rolled his shoulders and laid his hands behind his head, "Sure why not? There's plenty of room on Joe Dark's bed, you could bunk with h-"

"A-ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Joe Dark screamed, and a quick look at him showed that his face was beet red and struggling to scowl.

"Ummm, if I can make a suggestion?" Lunis sheepishly raised her right hand and then tucked them behind her, wiggling them around, "Would it be ok if I shared a room with Riku?"

Mew widened his eyes for a moment, and smirked. He nudged his brows in tune with him going, "Oh ho HO!"

Lunis perked upright and tilted her head aside, the subtlest shade of pink in her cheeks, "Huh?"

Riku gave his brother an aside glance and remarked, "She does know me a little more than you two, brother."

"Oh...yeah, you're right." Mew settled down his dirty thoughts, while his brother resumed looking the goddess in the eyes.

"I'm fine with us sharing a bed together Lunis."

Mew perked right back up and started rubbing his chin with deep curiosity in his eyes, "OH HO HO HO!"

Riku swung back with a tired look on his face, and let out an exasperated sigh, "Why are you doing that brother?"

"Yeah Mew, why **are** you doing that?" Kairi remarked, raising a lone brow in judgment.

"...Uhhh..." Mew turned away and innocently whistled to himself, hoping that a little time passing would get the subject dropped. But he could feel Kairi's stare stabbing at him like hundreds of tiny cold daggers.

"H-Hehehe!" So he quickly spun around and changed the subject himself, "I...I guess we can make it work if I increase the size of the bed in my room."

"WHAT?!" She hollered quickly.

"What?!" Mew gasped in turn.

Kairi dropped her jaw and now those daggers were coming out as knives, "So she's gonna sleep with Riku AND you?!"

"I-I'm sorry say that again I didn't hear you..." Mew muttered very quietly.

"Don't gimme that 'I didn't hear you' crap!" Kairi started wagging her finger around with bright red cheeks, "Just cause a woman you find pretty offered to stay at your house doesn't mean you have to be so eager to let her in!"

"What on Earth are you talking about?!" Mew exclaimed, glancing aside at his brother, "Riku's the one inviting her into HIS bed!"

Drawn into this vortex of craziness all of a sudden left Riku at a loss for words, but gave him time to think. And it didn't take long for him to widen his eyes and murmur, "Oh...you're thinking of **that**..."

First he glanced aside and groaned at his brother, "Really...?"

While Mew gave out a flabbergasted gasp he then tried looking towards Lunis and politely said, "I-I'm sorry, I think everyone's getting the wrong idea here."

Lunis was darting her eyes around with her lips sucked in and her face a darker shade of pink, "I...I don't know what you're all talking about anyways...! N-Not at all!"

Meanwhile, Mew and Kairi's argument had boiled down to her saying, "So you're **seriously** expecting me to believe you're not all going to be sharing a bed?"

"Yes, I'm telling you, I haven't slept in my own bed for the last month!" Mew slapped the side of his face and let out an exasperated gasp, "Why's this getting under your skin so much anyways?!"

"Pah!" Kairi spat with a stutter, then stood tall and folded her arms under her chest, "A-As if I'm jealous of that harpie living under your roof with you!"

Shina leaned in to her sister's ear and playfully whispered, "Sis...nobody said you were jealous."

Kairi's face continued to turn redder and redder until she was a living beet, at which point she puffed her cheeks out and raged internally for a few seconds. Only to then turn away from Mew and lay one hand against the side of her face.

"...Do what you want," Kairi gasped loudly and started walking away, brushing one hand out slowly, "I need a goddamn nap...Pregnancies, sleepovers...I'm gonna have wrinkles before I'm twenty at this rate."

Shina followed along with her hands tucked behind her back and a big bucking smile, "Not if I have anything to say about it sis!"

Mew stood there blinking quite a few times, then tilted his head as Auris shook her head at him. Once the Aurora family + Gabriel were gone, he tucked his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"We should probably get back home too." He remarked, and when he started walking off the others followed his lead with Lunis taking a moment to realize she needed to join them.

"Well I'm pooped! Any objections to just lounging around watching TV and stuffing our faces with popcorns?!" He asked, pumping his fist into the air

"Nope."

"Sure."

Lunis fluttered her eyelashes and remarked, "What's a TV?"

_Meanwhile, far off into the cosmos..._

A lone, empty moon bursts into flames. Magma spews from its breaking plates, only to disappear in the cold vacuum of space.

Solaris beat his blade into the moon's surface fiercely like a drum. The world broke so loudly that he couldn't his own roars of venting frustration. His feet took a dip in the molten lava that swirled beneath him, just one of the many results of his destructive tantrum.

"WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS! WORTHLESS!" He saw the faces of those he despised on the moon's surface, and every time he beat his blade into the ground those faces broke to pieces.

"FATHER KILLER. FATHER KILLER. TRAITOR! TRAITOR! WORTHLESS...SISTER!" The last face he saw was his father's, which made him hesitate for only a second, "LIAR!"

One more vicious attack split the moon in half with a thunderous sound, and Solaris dropped to his knees on both sides of the crack.

"You said you'd be with us forever...!" He clutched a fist against his beating chest and gasped and panted for air, "Why...? WHY?!"

His anger was interrupted by the descent of a towering shadow over him, silent in their presence. Solaris froze, gripping his sword extra tight and twisting his head over his shoulder with a dark crimson glow in his eyes.

"You...have chose a terrible time to approach me, BASTARD!" He came up swinging but a hand shot past his blade and clutched his neck.

"Gck...! GCCKK!" Solaris choked as his assailant effortlessly hoisted him ten feet off the ground.

A monstrous presence had approached him. Foul was his breath, and dead was his skin and eyes. Cloaked in blackest of nights, the monster feigned humanity in his form but those red eyes burrowed into the god's soul with all the fear Hell could give.

"Ahhh...such wonderful..." The monster's baritone voice dripped with pleasure as he licked his dry, ivory fangs with a moist, dripping tongue, "_Anger_."

Solaris' heart felt cold, and he struggled to ask, "Who...who are you?"

"I am he who the day cowers before...The Lord of all Monsters, and the bane of all Gods...But you can call me..." The monster breathed in deep, and the sun god felt his energy being drained of all vigor, "_Dracula_..."

An absolutely gargantuan stone castle wrought with decay appeared from the shadows of space behind the monster.

"Hmmm...this anger you have..." Dracula licked his lips more enthusiastically, "It shares a familiar face to me..."

His eyes began to glow extra bright, "Fledgling star...you will tell me where I can find **my **Dark King..."

"D-Dark...King?" Solaris had his hands tight around the man's wrist, but upon hearing that name, they began to loosen, and he smiled.

"Y-You're after him too huh...?" Solaris couldn't stop himself from chuckling, "Yeah...I-I'll tell you where to find that son of a bitch!"

Dracula raised his brows with a curious hum.

"But if I do, you'd better help me kill him and everyone else close to him, got that?!"

Dracula breathed the cold of night slowly from his mouth, and Solaris felt a chill crawl up his spine, "You are bold to demand anything from me, little god..."

"...But your anger, it quenches my hunger like none have before..." Dracula glared at Solaris with glistening, salivating eyes, "Yes...I'll agree to your terms. Let us go pay a visit to that frightened little stray, shall we?"

_Next Time: The Cost of Pride_


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Farewell to Pride**

Its been a couple days since Mew brought Lunis into his home. As of now Riku and Joe Dark sat in the living room while Mew was working on breakfast. But Lunis, it seemed, was having trouble getting accustomed to the idea of a morning routine.

"Yaaaaaaaawn..." Came the gentle bellow of the lunar sleeping beauty wrested from her slumber. She slowly wobbled down the hall with her arms stretched so high that she could almost touch the ceiling, and her silver locks a draping curtain of frizziness.

"Morning..." She smacked her lips, her eyes open like slits.

Mew put his pan on the stove and greeted her with an impish smile, "Heh, morning moonshine."

"Good morning." Said Riku, while Joe Dark limply swung his hand up to show he was alive.

Lunis rubbed her eyes and wandered into the kitchen. Mew was about to crack his first egg when he suddenly felt his right shoulder being sandwiched between two squishy melons. He froze up and his heart vigorously pumped blood up AND down his body.

With a smile growing on its own he looked to his right and saw Lunis dully staring at him, looking ready to tip him over and take him out like he was the last bowling pin for a split.

Mew wiggled his shoulder a bit to give her brain a jump start...Not that there was any rush.

Her eyes perked up and after a quick look down she pulled back with pink in her cheeks and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry Mew!"

"D-Don't be." Mew replied, turning his head a way until his smile decided to go away.

"_Heh, who would've guessed inviting a girl into my home would have such fast acting benefits? I should've tried this a lot sooner!" _

After a few seconds of them standing around in awkward silence Riku poked his head up and asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yep!" Lunis proclaimed the same time Mew said, "Y-Yeah!"

He then laughed off the rest of his smile and remarked, "Turns out our lunar goddess isn't a morning person!"

Lunis blinked a few times at the joke only Mew seemed to find funny. Then, he resumed work on breakfast. Though it was tough, seeing as the tall leather wrapped gift from heaven was currently leaning over him with the wide, curious eyes of an owl.

"Can I try making breakfast?" She offered, pointing at her smiling face. It was an eager, but innocent enough request. How could Mew refuse?

Mew stepped back and gestured both hands forward, "Go right ahead!"

He then leaned right and hollered, "Her guys, Lunis'll be making breakfast!"

"R-Really?" Riku stammered.

"Oh god..." Joe Dark spoke with dread.

Mew rolled up a newspaper and smacked him upside the head. He then turned back and saw Lunis gazing over the stove and counter.

"So you cook food on this and season it with these..." The way she whispered and stared said that she was off in her own little world. A firm nod heralded her return.

"Ok! Mew," She turned and placed her hands together beside her face, "I need some bonephant liver and kraken eggs!"

Mew stared deep at her sincere smiling face and slowly reached for the plastic wrapped tube to his left. He then wagged it at her and stoically murmured, "We got sausage?"

Lunis stared at the package and pulled it out of his hand with some hesitation. She gave it a light squeeze and bobbed her head.

"Sau...sage," She then gave a firm nod and remarked, "I can work with this!"

So while she did her job Mew vacated the kitchen and went to sit down next to Joe Dark. He had his arms pressed against his chest and leaned deep into the couch.

"This is a terrible idea." He grumbled.

"And here comes the pessimism..." Mew groaned and sighed.

Joe Dark waved a hand up and looked at Mew briefly, "She knows nothing of Earth cuisine. Her palette's spoiled by alien trash."

"So she has a taste for," Even Mew had to admit what he was about to say sounded flavorless, "Bone...phant."

"Doesn't mean she won't make us a five-star meal!" Mew said, cheerfully snapping his fingers.

"...I think I'd rather keep having your eggs everyday." Joe Dark grumbled.

"Like you don't love them." Mew nudged his elbow into him, and his frown somehow got grumpier.

A few minutes later Lunis wandered out of the kitchen and towards the front door, tying her hair into its usual ponytail.

"Where you going?" Mew wondered.

"To your garden," She opened the door partway, "Maybe I can find something that'll add to the dish!"

She hurried out the door and Riku started to rise from his chair, "I should go with her."

Mew swung his hand down then planted it behind his head, "Eh let her explore a bit. If she's got any questions she'll come to us."

"Lord knows she will..." Joe Dark bemoaned, then grabbed and pulled down the left side of his face, "My head's still hurting from the relentless bombardment she fired at us two days ago."

"Its like you said," Riku remarked, "She's never lived a day on Earth. But...I'm sure she'll adapt quickly."

"Hmph," Joe Dark closed his eyes, "Only if her brain is even half as big as her ti-"

He quickly trailed off into nonsense. Mew looked at him with an innocuous smile, and he creaked one eye partway open. Mew then gave him a combination of a hum and a laugh.

Joe Dark cocked his head to glare at him with both eyes. Mew grinned and spoke like a child teasing someone on the playground, "Someone's got a crush!"

"D-Don't lump me in with you!" Joe Dark sunk back into the arm of the couch.

Mew reached out to his shoulder and looked him in the eye like a doting father, "Son. Your at that age now...when your body feels urges-"

"I KNOW HOW MY DAMN BODY WORKS!" Joe Dark hissed in a panic, "T-This has nothing to do with me...salivating a waterfall like you do!"

Mew drew his hand back and murmured, "Heeeey, rude!"

Joe Dark shivered and withdrew into himself, "Damn woman and her skin-tight leather hugging her obscenely large-"

He came aware of Mew's increasingly growing smirk as he remarked, "You are definitely my brother."

"Ghhh...!" Joe Dark grimaced then brought his foot up to briefly kick Mew.

"I-Its not my fault that she leaves nothing to the imagination!" Was the lamest excuse he could muster in his defense...Even if he was right.

"Well I'm not complaining." Mew said with a hearty chuckle.

"Of course not, this is your dream come true!" Joe Dark growled back, "But its not practical for going out in public."

"Public?" Mew said, tilting his head.

"Don't be dumb, she'll want to get out of this house eventually," Joe Dark nudged his head to the right and whispered, "Especially considering..."

Mew looked at Riku and nodded his head, "Oh yeah."

Riku jolted slightly and went "Huh?" while Mew swayed his hand and told him, "Don't worry about it."

He then smiled and coyly remarked, "Yeah, she'd definitely turn some heads."

"She's a series of car accidents waiting to happen." Joe Dark put it bluntly.

"The destined awakener of puberty in the young masses..." Mew murmured and rubbed the back of his head with a dry chuckle, "Though that'll happen regardless of what she wears."

"_At least_ we can TRY and cover her up."

"True...Fine, I guess I can try making her some clot-"

"Like hell you will!" Joe Dark glared his way.

"What? Why? You've seen my work!"

"And given full creative control you'll stuff her in daisy dukes and a crop top and call it a day."

Mew's lips were slowly widening until Joe Dark gave him a dirty glare. Mew then swung his hand out and hollered, "Fine, then I'll take her clothes shopping!"

"Oh I'm sure you'd love to." Joe Dark remarked.

"Alright wise guy then you do it!" Mew said impatiently.

"Are you mad?!"

"We'll somebody has to chaperon her!"

"Then have your girlfriend do it!"

"She's-!" Mew sputtered and swung his hand out in a dismissive wag, "No way! They'll tear each other apart!"

Mew swung to the right and exclaimed, "Riku, you do it!"

Riku's head was hung towards his stump with a glazed over look in his eyes. He suddenly blinked twice and remarked, "Huh?"

"Were you...even listening?" Mew said with some worry in his voice.

Riku sat up and gave a weak nod. Mew stared at him until the front door swung open and Lunis wandered in with a cornucopia of vegetables in her arms.

"You have so much stuff out there!" Some of the stuff fell to the floor as she carried it to the kitchen, "I don't even know what half these things taste like!"

She went and laid them all out on the counter and then picked them out individually. Mew resumed thinking about the prior subject and got a brilliant idea from it.

"I'm just going to tell her."

As he looked over the couch Joe Dark snickered, "This ought to be good."

"Hey Lunis."

"Yeah?" She walked around the corner holding an apple.

"One thing we probably should've mentioned sooner..." Mew pointed at her directly, "You don't have to keep wearing that if you don't want to."

Lunis tugged at the material near her chest and sounded surprised, "These clothes aren't normal around here?"

"Not in this day and age." Joe Dark scoffed.

"Well..." Lunis placed her apple down slowly and appeared saddened, "Alright then."

She reached for her back and, one loud snap later, both Joe Dark and Mew felt a jolt in their hearts. That leather was about to come off.

Joe Dark grit his teeth and Mew had both thumbs up, gasping in laughter. Joe Dark punched the back of his head to send his face on a downward plummet to his crotch.

"T-That doesn't mean you strip bare!" He then struggled to exclaim.

Lunis pressed an arm up to her chest before the leather got too far and stammered, "Y-You...don't?"

"NO!" Joe Dark's face was plenty red by now.

Mew swung up and rubbed where he'd been struck while explaining a little more respectfully, "You just need to go buy clothes at a store. So keep that on for now..."

Lunis put her outfit back on and remarked, "Buy clothes? That sounds like fun!"

"I guess?" Mew tilted his head, "We were kinda wondering who you'd like to go shopping with though."

She laid a finger against the side of her face and murmured, "Why...couldn't we all go together?"

Mew and Joe Dark widened their eyes at each other like a couple of goldfish. Mew slumped back into the couch and gave a canned laugh.

"Yeah...why...couldn't we?" Which then deflated into a sigh.

Lunis fluttered her eyelashes and chuckled, "Anywho, I'm going to make breakfast now!"

And make it she did! ...Eventually. Between deciding what produce to use and learning the complex mechanics of a spatula, it took Lunis an hour to make breakfast.

Joe Dark was practically a skeleton again by the time he sat at the table. Fortunately he ate plenty of crow, for Lunis wound up making a good meal. Not that he'd ever say so to her face.

She did something unexpected and interesting. She took two pans, filled one with eggs and the other with the whole package of sausage. Then she took some of the stickier vegetables and blended it together into a paste with a little melted butter for flavor. Then when the sausage and eggs were done, she used the paste to hold them together, and then cut the whole product up into fours, topping each slice with roasted peppers.

This bizarre but delicious dish would be come to known as an "Omelet Cake" from then onward.

Mew sank back into his chair and slapped his belly, letting out a hot huff of air, "Whew, I'm full!"

The food sat in his stomach like a boulder, dragging his will and motivation down with him. There was so much to digest. That wasn't a breakfast, it was a break-ing-fast.

"_The perfectly whipped eggs...complimenting the rich sauce and cooked right sausage. The zing of the peppers attacking your taste buds with every bite...! To be able to make such a fine meal out of what seemed like a bad idea..."_

"Aaaaah, its like the work of a goddess..."

"No shit sherlock." Joe Dark said, calmly downing his last bite of food.

Mew sunk further into his chair and moaned while rubbing his belly. "Marry me Lunis..." He muttered quietly.

Lunis, having collected the plates from the table, stared at Mew with a blank look in her eyes. Joe Dark sighed and glared at him in disappointment, "He's a base creature driven by three things...Lust, gluttony...and fighting."

He was then kicked under the table.

While Lunis cleaned up Mew pulled himself up out of the chair and did his after meal stretches, "Aaaah I'm beat...But the morning's young and there's things to do!"

He headed towards the front door when suddenly, Riku approached him from behind and asked, "Are you heading out to the garden?"

"Yeah, how come?" Mew stopped and turned around.

"Let me handle it today."

"...A'right." Mew rolled his shoulders and stepped aside.

Riku stepped out into the crisp morning atmosphere and gazed up at the beaming sunlight. He shaded his eyes with his only hand and then wandered out into the garden.

Dozens of plants and trees had been stripped clean of their hard work. Riku smiled and murmured, "She definitely had fun out here..."

Now the plants needed a little stimulation to grow plenty of strong, fertile replacements. After ID'ing which plants needed help, which wound up being all of them, Riku returned to the front of the garden to get to work.

He raised his shoulders and took a deep breath. He then looked down at his arm and stared longingly into his palm. He closed his eyes and let his breath out gently. Macros was in his head, repeatedly telling him _"You CAN'T."_

"I can..." Riku held his hand out towards the garden and firmed his gaze forward, "And I will."

"_Concentrate...Relax..." _He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the many scents of nature flow into his nose, so that he, and his mind, could become one with it.

"_Mmmm." _His energy flowed through the ground and into the deep roots spread about. Every taste these plants produced now mixed in his mouth and mind. He too, was a root.

The plants were properly fertilized. Nutrients spread throughout their stems and leaves. Everything was going fine so far. He felt his heart beat harder for a moment, but kept his concentration focused.

As some of the plants started budding, his arm twitched. He grimaced, momentarily at that, and then shook his head and calmly steadied his hand. But the twitching continued, turning into a series of uncontrollable shakes.

He bit his lower lip and held his hand out harder. Another deep breath was necessary. Necessary...but fruitless. The shaking worsened, burrowing deep into his muscles with an intense, throbbing pain.

He fell towards one knee but forced his hand up. His veins glowed with a dark green tint. Still, his spirit refused to cave.

"_Concentrate...! Relax...!" _He grit his teeth in strain and then, with one painful gasp, he watched as all the produce burst or cracked apart, turning his brother's garden into a massacre of colorful proportions.

"GAH!" He dropped to his knee and smashed the ground with a taut fist, the pain within fading in seconds.

"_You __**CAN'T**__." _That voice modified itself to taunt with a tone of pity.

Riku hung over, breathing heavily in a sweat. The drops falling upon the still blades of grass. He cracked his fist and tried to stand up. His eyes could barely maintain focus, but he could see the mess he had made, and loathed every inch of it.

"Ha...Ha...ha..." Riku closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, raising his hand out towards the garden.

He stopped, sensing someone's soft gaze on his back, and looked over his shoulder. Lunis was just standing there, watching, blinking, making it difficult to tell what she was thinking, or what she felt.

"..." Riku hung his arm and head and grunted a frustrated breath.

The unsubtle rustle of grass from Lunis' steps steadily grew louder, until she was standing just a couple feet behind him.

He felt like he was being pitied by her gaze, and put his stump forward out of sight. Only for her to grab hold of and pull it back, gently rubbing it before her chest.

And when she did manage to see him eye-to-eye, those were indeed eyes of pity she showed him. But her soft touch, and quiet voice, made her out to be wholly sympathetic to what Riku was going through.

"What happened to you Riku?" She whispered, intending to keep their conversation private.

Riku gently slid his arm out of her grasp and looked down upon it. The tenderness of her voice pried open his shell and with it, made him speak.

"Your fa-" Riku swallowed his words. He couldn't bear to tell her the truth, "...A powerful enemy defeated me in battle, and took my arm as his prize."

Lunis hung her head and backed away slowly, "I-I see..."

She then tried sugarcoating the matter by mentioning, "But...you beat him in the end right?"

"We beat him..." Riku murmured, "My brother, Kairi, even Joe Dark...It was because we worked together that we won."

He raised his hand and squeezed it into a fist, "I couldn't do it alone. I was...too weak."

He shook his head and dropped his hand down, "No that's not right...I was prideful. I played god and paid the price for my arrogance."

He hung his stump out and murmured, "And my arm was the cost..."

"Now I can't control the elements, no matter how hard I try," Riku swung his arm down hard and said, "I might as well be worthless."

"...I don't think you're worthless Riku." Lunis whispered sincerely.

Riku slowly turned around and saw her having some difficulty looking straight at him.

"All my life people were always telling me what to do. Nobody had the courage to ask what I **wanted** to do..." She lifted her head and smiled at Riku with wobbly resolve, "Except you."

"You didn't have to say anything to me, your enemy. But you didn't...because to you, I was more than that. You saw me as a person, not a tool for murder."

Riku's eyes widened for a moment and Lunis nodded, "I think...its not your body that's strong. Its your heart. That kind, selfless, never-give-up attitude has never let you down. And it won't now."

"You'll get through this. I know you will."

"...What makes you so certain?" Riku said in a dour tone.

"Because I'm here," Lunis confidently responded, "And I'm here...because of **you**."

Riku paused as Lunis laid a hand atop her chest and struggled to both look him in the eyes and press through her lips, "S-S-So let me help you in return, o-ok?"

"...N-No," Riku stuttered and turned away, swinging his arm out at her and remarking, "I can't...I...I have to do this myself!"

"Do you...?" Lunis murmured, giving Riku time to look her in the eyes, now slanted firmly, "Cause that worked so well before...right?!"

Riku was stunned that she was raising her voice so feverishly. And she stood there and let him have it, "You said it yourself, you couldn't have beaten my father without your friends' help!"

Riku stared at her face and murmured, "I...I didn't say-"

"I'm **not **stupid Riku," Lunis swung her hand down and grit her trembling teeth, "J-Just...confused..."

"I offered to help because your heart was practically screaming for it! But then you brush me aside and say you'll keep doing things on your own?!"

"Because I have to-!"

NO YOU DON'T! Lunis screamed until her face was bright red, then took a moment to pant and catch her breath, 添ou think you're beneath getting help from others? You're wrong!

"You have so many wonderful friends who'd be willing to give their all to help you!" Lunis laid a hand on her chest and curled it into a fist, "If father had even once considered the same then...!"

Lunis swung her head down, covering her face behind most of her hair. Through her locks though, Riku could see her shed a tear.

"...You're not alone Riku," Lunis raised her watery eyes towards him and softly spoke, "You deserve to be happy. But you can't just keep turning that happiness away. You're not a bad person. Please, stop thinking you are."

"..." Riku lowered his head and closed his eyes, letting the lunar goddess' words stew in his mind for a while, "Thank you Lunis, I'll think about it."

Lunis smiled across her reddened cheeks and lifted her head, walking off looking satisfied, and letting out a quiet puff of air as she entered the house. Riku then looked at his lone hand and out at the mess made in the garden.

"..." He swung his head towards the house and narrowed his gaze. He began walking slowly towards it, clutching his fist by his hip.

He wandered past the living room and time seemed immaterial, as did his surroundings. Mew and Joe Dark were squabbling nearby, but he didn't hear a word of what they said.

"_You are nothing more than another casualty."_

_You are not worthy of controlling light and darkness with such a blind mind ou are not worthy of carrying the Elemental Overlord's legacy ou are worthy of not even the fake body of flesh created by the original fake Overlord _

_"Impudent child! You are in my domain, and so long as I am omnipresent I will never allow you to lay even the tip of your sword on my armor!" _

"_But in the end, you should've known better than to fight outside of your weight class…" _

"_Gaining power made you confident, and arrogant. You became sure that nothing would hurt you, or the people you cared for again." _

_"No pride holds equal value to a life. Not yours, or that of those close to you." _

Insults and warnings swirled in his head, detaching him from the world, and leaving his body to wander to his brother's room like a zombie. When he wandered in there the voices ceased and he found himself staring down at the end table, where the card he picked up from Macros lied upon.

Dizzy, sad, and tired...Riku had had enough of these feelings. He'd been warned, he'd been tested...But every time he did so he failed miserably.

Link, his arm, and almost the entire universe paid for his pride. How much more could he continue to ignore all this and continue an impotent cycle of self-destruction? And what would be the next cost to pay if he did?

Mew flashed in his head, and stung deep in his heart.

And that, was it. Enough...was enough.

He gripped the card firmly in his hand, "Happiness...huh?"

Then he turned around to hurry down the hall. Mew stood up from his chair and intercepted his brother with a worried look in his eyes.

"Whoa, you alright there Riku?"

Riku was ignorant to the bitter tears rolling down his cheeks as he stared his brother in the face and murmured, "Something has to change brother..."

He planted a hand on his chest and passionately proclaimed, "**I** have to change."

Mew stared in stunned silence and backed away. Riku raised the card before his face and saw nothing but the color palette Macros was adorned in on both sides.

"...How am I supposed to contact him?" He muttered.

"Ring ring! Ring ring!" The phone went off in the kitchen, tilting many a head.

Riku wandered over and picked it up, given no time to say a word before the caller said, _"I can tell you're ready."_

It was Macros.

"_Thank you Riku. Not for anything you did for me in particular, but for doing this for yourself. Ahem...! Anyways, I'll call up Catherine and send her your way for the pick up."_

After the dial tone Riku hung up and turned around. Mew stared with his mouth agape as the card in Riku's hand had just...vanished.

"Who IS that guy?" Mew gasped quietly.

Not even five minutes later and Saturn flew into the area with the ship she had taken them to Macros' place last time. Turns out she'd been doing patrols in the galaxy.

Riku headed out the door with his head held high and Mew and Lunis stayed behind to see him off, with Joe Dark lingering in their shadows.

"So you're really going through with this huh?" Mew remarked.

Riku turned aside and nodded his head, "I have to."

"Of course! I wish you the best of luck Riku. Take as much time as you need, the rest of us can hold down the fort until you get back."

"I know." Riku smiled and waved them off as he walked towards the teleportation beam up to Saturn's ship.

"See you later Riku!" Lunis cheered and stood on her tip-toes to strengthen her waving him off.

He disappeared in a flash, and Saturn's ship sped off into space. Mew crossed his arms and smiled, breathing a sigh of relief now that his brother had seemed to have regained some of his resolve.

But what he said..._"__**I**__ have to change"_. It really struck a cord with him.

What could the future hold for those around him? And...will he continue to be the same person he is now, or someone completely different?

"_...Eh, who cares about that!" _Mew turned around and pumped his fist in the air as he headed back into the house, "I call dibs on the rocking chair!"

"...You!" Joe Dark grit his teeth and pursued him inside. Lunis, meanwhile, stayed there and stared up in the sky with a longing smile.

**STORY 4: Fractured Hearts END**

…

…

Night fell quickly on the day after Riku had left the house. The moon was big and bright up in the sky, and the owls were making noise outside.

But for Mew and Joe Dark, that didn't matter. They were lounging in their comfy seats and staring at the television, wrapping up a late night horror movie.

It ended on a sad note. The protagonist couldn't save the woman he loved from the evil vampire, and her corpse turned to dust upon sunrise.

Mew wagged his head and threw his arms over onto his waist, "Ugh, why do these films always gotta end like this?"

He snagged the remote and shut the TV off. Looking over at Joe Dark, he saw him leaning back with his mind deep in contemplation, for once.

"Hey Joe," Mew snapped his fingers and broke his brother out of his trance, "Lunis is out hiking. We got the house all to ourselves."

He laid the remote down and asked with a pleasant smile, "What do **you** want to do right now?"

"You serious?" Joe Dark scoffed. Mew nodded, to his surprise.

"Hrrrmmm..." He crossed his arms and gave it some minor thought.

"...I guess I could give one of your video games a shot."

Mew shot up like lightning and proclaimed, "Sweet!"

He bent down in front of the TV but quickly came to a stop. One canned laugh later and he was rubbing the back of his head and saying, "Hahah...this is the first time I've needed a second controller. Lemme just get one out of my room."

He only took one step when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Mew looked at Joe Dark and asked, "I'll get it. Can you get the controller?"

"Haaaaa, I guess. In your closet right?" Joe Dark made his way for the hall with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, middle shelf." Mew made his way for the door when more knocks came a-knockin'.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" He started opening the door when the thought occurred to him, "Geez, that was fast Lu-"

Standing outside the door was a pale-faced girl a foot shorter than him wearing a fancy ebony dress and long, draping violet hair.

"_...Is it Halloween time already?" _Mew looked the girl in her red eyes and nonchalantly remarked, "Uhhh...hello?"

The girl creaked her head back sort-of like a doll and murmured, "Is Joe Dark here right now?"

"Joe Dark...?" Mew squinted his eyes then gave them a few blinks. Then, it hit him, "I'm sorry, who are you and how did you find this place...?"

"I am Alura. I followed Joe Dark to this place." She got right to the point but that just made her come across as weird.

"...Huh. Well, he never mentioned you before," Mew started to turn away and mumbled to himself, "Or much of anything for that matter..."

"Hey! Joe!" Mew hollered as his brother could be seen coming down the hall.

Joe Dark raised his head and immediately he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. His pupils retreated and his skin was as white as snow. He dropped the controller on the ground and before Mew could say "You have a visitor" he zoomed across the room and slammed the door shut.

Mew gawked at him as he spun around with big, wide eyes devoid of color.

"What the HELL is that about?!"

Joe Dark's heart was beating out of his chest as he placed his hands behind on the door and murmured, "I...I don't know! I've...never seen that mannequin before in my life!"

"She knew your name." Mew quietly responded.

"S-So what? Many people do! I'm infamous!" Joe Dark got the stare of shame from Mew, attacking him at his most vulnerable.

"Gah!" Joe Dark spat out in annoyance, "So I may have neglected to mention a few things...!"

"A _few_ things?" Mew raised a brow and then gently pushed him off the door so he could open it again, "You're gonna have a whole lot of..."

Mew stepped out the door and his eyes slowly widened all the way, "Ex...plaining to...do..."

The entire house was surrounded by hundreds of big feral wolves, many of them going so far as to stand on the mountainsides. The pack was led by a bigger wolf with claws full of blood-drenched knives that also wore some kind of military uniform.

And Alura, the mysterious maiden that had descended upon this night, joined the side of a towering beast of a man with wrinkled skin, fangs, and hungering red eyes. The beast licked his lips and leaned back against the air, a fist propped against the side of his face.

"Found you at last, my fleeing child..." They bellowed in a sincerely dreadful tone, inciting the growls of his many furry warriors.

Joe Dark crawled out of the house trembling from head-to-toe, staring up at the man without his usual gusto.

The man smiled and wiggled his fingers against his face, "I am never one to let a meal go uneaten...And you, my dear Dark King..."

His eyes glowed under the pale moonlight as he breathed deep through his ragged nostrils, "Shall be a feast for the ages."

**NEXT: STORY 5: Banquet of the Twilight**


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: The Shroud of Nightmares**

"_Ok Mew, lets double-check what's going on here," _Mew looked at his surroundings with half a smile, _"Wolf army? Check. Wolf commando? Check. Ghostly looking girl? Check. Big bad vampire? Check. Full Moon...?" _

He creaked his head up towards the sky and kept only one eye open. The big old rocky light bulb was as full and bright as it could be. Then he sank with a sigh and muttered, "Check..."

Mew limply raised a hand up to Joe Dark's shoulder and patted it, "Just this once you can slap me awake from this silly dream, alright?"

His skin was cold and bumpy, and he didn't move in the slightest. His gaze darted forward towards the monstrous man floating in the sky, and it was though the color was steadily being drained from his eyes.

Mew took this to consideration and looked up at the monster. There was something different about him compared to most other villains he had fought. Even though he's **A** Dracula, no doubt, it was like he had come from some other world entirely. A dreadful place, unfit for mortal eyes, colder than the coldest night...

The monster man looked at everything but Joe Dark with disinterest, and licked the bottom of his fangs with a thick, moist saliva oozing off his tongue.

Joe Dark suddenly tightened his fists and grew so tense that it shook Mew at his knees. He arched his brows and muttered in a submissive, frightful tone, "How...did you find me?!"

The militaristic wolf man lurched his head forth, shining all his fangs in a taunting grin, "Our Lord always finds his meals. Once he tastes your fear, there is no corner of the universe you can escape to, whelp!"

"I shall grant you this though, Dark King..." Dracula murmured, the baritone in his voice cold enough to put out the sun, "We spent a whole month tracking you down. Our path took us to many more worlds ripe for consuming."

Now, even his eyes looked like they were salivating, "So thank you. Even in cowardice, your actions kept me well fed."

Joe Dark gnashed his teeth together and hunched down in shivers. This was far from the norm for him. Seeing this made Mew quickly hunch over and summon his sword behind his back, where he then sent out a heavy pulse of power by widening his eyes.

The hungered crowd of mindless wolves withdrew an inch while the hairs on their leader stood upon on end. Joe Dark cocked his head towards him and hung his jaw.

"So...this guy's pretty bad huh?" Mew said, more than a little peeved.

"I-I always say this but this time I mean it: You're crazy!" Joe Dark barked out, unable to contain the fear riddling his nerves, "This is not someone you can defeat! He's beyond monster _or_ demon!"

"I can't," Mew looked at him with a big smirk, "But **we** can."

He stamped his foot down and roared, "Yo Prune Face!"

His voice bellowed so loudly that it shook the air, and for a brief moment, the lord of monsters turned his gaze from his prey.

"Think you're so tough, coming to fight us at our front door?!" Mew grinned and chuckled like a madman, "Naw man see? We got **you **right where we want you!"

Dracula curled a minor smile and softly chuckled, which could still be heard by all here. Mew tightened his grip and arched his brows, inviting the terrifying Lord of Monsters to _"Come at us"_.

It was tantamount to suicide and stupidity of the highest caliber, not the bravery he was touting it as. They were surrounded on all sides and that ghastly man's presence alone left Joe Dark feeling claustrophobic. So why? Why was Mew so confident that they could win?

Joe Dark swung his arm out at Mew and exclaimed, "Damn it all its me they want! Let me-"

Mew glared at him and swung his arm up. Joe Dark grit his teeth, feeling like he had already been struck in the face with a dizzying blow. What he got instead was much, _much_ softer.

Mew gently held his shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "I'm not abandoning my brother."

Joe Dark involuntarily left his mouth agape. "Brother"...He hated that word ever since he arrived here. Mew had been purposefully using it to get under his nerves.

But now? He was giving him a small, certain smile, and his eyes brimmed with confidence. There was no doubt that he was being absolutely sincere about what that word meant to him.

He wanted to protect him – **his **family.

The shivers had left Joe Dark's body under his notice to be replaced with a heat growing outward from his heart. He fought his teeth's desire to smile, but his eyes betrayed him by shedding a single tear. He quickly swung to the left to hide it and then threw his arm down, summoning his dagger in hand.

"F-Fine!" He stuttered with some of his usual ferocity, "Do what you want! But don't blame me if you die!"

"Ha! Are you kidding me?" Mew let out a grand guffaw and fire rose around his body slightly, "These fanged fools are going to regret messing with the two of us!"

Dracula curled a fist into his cheek and leaned comfortably against the air, "Bold of you to stand and fight. But I taste no satisfaction from your empty words, boy."

His eyes and ears perked while his pupils collapsed into hungry, withered slits, "I want to hear your **screams**."

"ATTACK!" Grimmley howled, "RIP AND TEAR OUR MASTER'S MEAL FROM THEIR LUNGS!"

The wolves were whipped into a frenzy and the foremost ones leaped savagely towards their prey. Mew licked the rim of the lips and was the first to charge forth. He swung his sword overhead and smashed the first descending wolf into a bloody, furry paste on the ground.

Two wolves landed and lunged at his arms. Mew backhanded one into the mountainside and twisted his sword so the other one rammed his skull into the blunt edge.

He quickly noticed the wolves ravaging through his garden and pouted his lower lip, "Damn it! I worked hard on that!"

He threw the suspended wolf towards his fellow pack mates and kicked up a small gale to knock them all skyward. He then shredded the right mountainside apart for shrapnel to mow them down.

But there were dozens after dozens to take their place, a bloodthirsty, relentless mob whose numbers filled the rocky hills with their fur.

He hopped back as a wolf went for his leg, then punted him into orbit via the jaw. He was surrounded on all sides with his balance a little messy. He stamped his foot down into a wolf's skull while two other wolves jumped his arms. One chomp on each shoulder, their claws digging into front and back. No matter how hard Mew tried to shake 'em they were not letting go.

"You're tougher than I expected...!" He grit his teeth and flexed his arms taut, throwing the wolves off at last, "But that ain't enough to slow me down."

The scent of his blood ripened the air and threw the wolves into a greater frenzy. Their mangled howls, livening the night atmosphere.

Mew laid a hand over his left shoulder and cauterized the wound while sallying forth into the pack, grinding the tip of his blade along the ground to set it on fire.

He swung it up and incinerated a few more with a pillared blaze. Tragically, this would mean the end of his poor garden...again.

"Tsk...!" Mew whipped his sword behind his back and hunched down, eyeing the wolves that boldly leaped through the cinders, "You're all going down!"

He zipped forward as a bolt of lightning and shoulder tackled the first wolf in the gut. Then he spun around and sliced them horizontally before zipping to the next wolf before the blood spewed and repeating the process over a few more times.

He then tucked his legs into his gut and slammed a wolf into the ground as they flew underneath. He then looked over his shoulder and saw Joe Dark faring pretty well. His dagger made for a quick and effective way of cutting the wolves' in the neck.

But the numbers were more focused on him and he was starting to get overwhelmed. Clearly he was also distracted by something, since a wolf was about to leap out and bite down on his head.

"YO!" Mew pulled back and spin kicked a wolf in the head to send it his way.

Joe Dark's razor sharp hearing caught Mew's voice through the howls and he turned to stab the hurtled wolf in the chest, pacifying it. Then the charging wolf bit down on his compatriot's back, the last pleasure of flesh it'd receive before Joe Dark elongated the dagger with darkness to impale it as well.

All the adrenaline rushing through his brain didn't stop him from getting an idea. He charged forward with the wolves acting as a shield and continued to length the dagger to impale any that jumped at him.

When it got to be a little cumbersome to manage he raised it over his head and sent a pulse of energy through to make them burst. The blood splattered everywhere, from the mountains, to the house, but to more importantly, the other wolves.

The wolves began turning their savage fury on their stained kin and tore them limb from limb. A flurry of fangs, claws and fur tore through the area with Joe Dark standing in the eye of the storm to catch his breath.

"Stupid, mindless beasts..." He tried to catch a glimpse at the one ruling over them all but found he was smiling at the carnage without any concern.

Yet for the briefest of moments, Dracula turned his eye on Joe Dark and a single smile was all it took to shake him at the knees. Joe Dark grit his teeth and the sound of his intense heart beat rang louder than all other noises .

_"Hey!"_ He swore he heard close by.

"HEY!" What made the sound real was a quick jab to the back of his head from Mew's elbow. Joe Dark's body stayed cold for a fleeting moment as he reaffirmed where he was.

Mew now stood at his back and the wolves, having finished feasting on their own, turned their famished appetites upon them once again. They were desperately clawing over one another, becoming a circular enclosure with no clear victor among them.

Don't space out on me Joe! Mew remarked with little care to what surrounded him.

"Mind your own damn business!" Joe Dark barked back, reaffirming his grip and scowling at the wolves, "We need to clear these furry bastards out, fast!"

"There sure is a lot of 'em!" Mew's eyes darted around and he gave a slightly worried chuckle, "I REALLY hope they aren't clawing up the house right now..."

"Forget the house!" Joe Dark remarked, "If any of these monsters are allowed to get loose they'll turn our green planet red!"

Mew stiffened up with interest and even his tone got serious, "Sounds like you're talking from experience."

Joe Dark grit his teeth and shivered. Mew then gave a quick nod and clutched his sword tight, "We won't let them escape. Lets work on creating an opening, so I can go after the big man in charge."

"Sound good?" Mew smiled over his shoulder.

_"He's always so damn sure he'll win..." _Joe Dark swallowed quietly, but it went down hard. His eyelids sank, and he recalled what Shina had told him about Whiter with a frown, _"I__s this...the kind of power you can only get when you want to protect something dear to you?" _

If so, then it was a power that he'd have to hedge his bets on.

"Yeah." He replied with a soft nod, firming his brows towards the wolves, whose in-fighting was beginning to stabilize into a concrete tidal wave of crimson claws and teeth.

"Here they come!" Mew began to raise his sword overhead.

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark gave his dagger a slight twirl.

The wolves collapsed upon them in droves and Mew immediately broke a way forward by smashing his sword very, very hard against the ground. He dashed ahead and Joe Dark hopped back, throwing the dagger down where he once stood.

He then thrust two fingers at it and a darkness fueled bolt struck down, burning the closest wolves alive and paralyzing the rest.

He then whipped the dagger back into his hand and dashed ahead, gritting his teeth as more and more wolves climbed over their weaker brethren.

He slashed them apart without closing his eyes. Just the opposite in fact, his eyes continue to widen as the adrenaline whipped him into a frenzy. The taste of blood on his skin burned hot but he carved his way through regardless.

He had no idea where he was relative to where he had began. He was trapped in the middle of a horde of wolves that piled on him so desperately that they were suspended off the ground.

He resorted to stabbing them in the chest and throwing them against each other, but the wolves were starting to get a taste for his blood. The tips of their claws dug into his flesh but the pain was no worse than a gnat bite.

He had been eviscerated, burned to the bone, and his blood spilled a thousand humans' worth. If these feral beasts thought they could show him pain and fear, _they did not understand the meaning of the word._

Joe Dark grit his teeth and smashed his fist through one of the wolves' skulls, ripping out their skeleton and whipping it against the gnashing crowd. When the way was open he charged forth and turned back towards the beasts.

Heavy darkness exploded from his body and reduced the bones in his hand to ash. He gathered the darkness into his palm and blasted more than a hundred wolves to oblivion.

Mew looked away from his brawl when the air quaked and breathed a sigh of relief that Joe Dark had restrained himself enough to not damage the house in the process.

He then quickly turned back and threw his sword up, catching dozens of wolves chomping at the blunt edge to drag it down. And they were surprisingly weighty.

_What do they feed these guys?! _Mew chose to let go of his sword and clobber it with a mean right hook. The wolves were smashed against the mountainside and a few cracks spread towards the top.

A lone wolf then jumped on his back, followed by three more helping to drag him towards the ground. But before impact Mew put his fist down and caused a pillar of fire to envelop him and burn the wolves down to the bone.

He then flattened his palm and twirled around with his legs extended. Any wolves foolish enough to come in were swept up in a blender of kicks and sent flying.

Mew then vaulted behind his blade and picked it up. It was a little sticky, ick, but whatever. He swung it out with all his might and cleaved the wolves through the mouths with raw power.

As the swarms continued to flood in Grimmley watched on at the feet of his master, snarling in anger.

"They aren't breaking...! Ghhh...!" He turned around at the wolves standing by and they stopped from the swing of his arm, "Squad B! Disperse throughout the planet and kill every living being you can find! This world is infantile, you will not be stopped!"

Joe Dark grit his teeth and gasped, while Mew arched his brows over widened eyes and exclaimed, "Damn it...!"

The wolves responded to their master's wishes with a rallying howl and turned tail to go make them a reality. And with their speed and numbers, it would be a breeze.

For as strong as the two of them were, they were just that: Two. And with the Lord of Monsters breathing down their necks, they had no freedom to speak of to pursue the hunters.

"You're not going anywhere!" Suddenly, a savior called out in their time of need.

The wolves ran into a rising silver-white barrier whose touched turned their whole bodies cold with ice. It formed a ring around the battlefield, and hundreds of wolves fell before Grimmley roared in disbelief, "Stop! STOP!"

A shadow was cast over his body and grew darker as it fell towards Mew and Joe Dark. A wolf that charged at Mew was smashed flat upon the ground, as their back-up made a graceful entrance.

"Sorry I'm late!" It was Lunis, worked into a slight sweat that glistened under the moonlight, "I came running as soon as I heard the howls!"

Mew cracked an uneasy grin and laughed, "Haha...No no you're just in time. Thanks."

Lunis looked down at the wolf beneath her heel, where it was snarling its teeth. She then looked Mew eagerly in the eyes and asked, "What do I gotta do?!"

"Take 'em all out!" Mew was more than happy to set the lunar goddess loose on their enemy with a snap of his fingers. Not even a moment after she flicked her wrist down and a knife impaled the wolf in the skull.

"Got it!" She got a serious gleam in her eyes and twisted to face the other wolves with a knife in each hand, "I'm going to protect this world in Riku's absence! Here I come!"

Before Mew could finish a blink a silver streak sped through the battlefield and cleanly carved through five wolves. Lunis paused to nail two wolves to the mountainside with flung knives then kicked another wolf's head off with a sweeping leg.

And off she went again, carving up wolves like they were thanksgiving turkeys.

"This was just the break we needed...!" Mew smirked and looked back to find Joe Dark handling his horde just fine.

He glared over his shoulder and exclaimed, "Go! Take that bastard down!"

Right! Mew hunched down and gripped his sword behind his back, motioning for the white trigger, "I'll leave this to you two!"

He spread his wings immediately going into Light Form and set his sights on Dracula. He flew at him with sword halfway drawn before Grimmley intercepted him with his claws.

"NOT SO FAST!" He growled, their clashing forces bringing them to a standstill in mid-air.

Grimmley lurched his head back to flash all his snarling, bloodstained teeth with pride, "You face me, Grimmley Jaegerjaw, the Terror of War!"

Mew mimicked his expression with a smug smile and told him, "And you face me, Mew, the Elemental Overlord!"

"Oh I **know** who you are!" Grimmley guffawed hastily, his appetite for a fight clearly rabid, "I shall enjoy tearing you to ribbons!"

"Of course you know..." Mew hunched over and huffed out a sigh, "Just this once I'd like a bad guy to say 'Who?' so I can hit them with the element of surprise..."

Gravity finally dragged them to the ground but their clash continues. A dozen knives versus a single katana proved to be a match of equals, even as the wolf held the height advantage.

Mew pressed on and arched his brows, though his tone of voice was more joking than serious, "I don't know who you are but boy, how stupid are you to attack us when you're so clearly outnumbered!"

"Hehehe...!" Grimmley sneered, "There'll be no more interlopers. Not from gods...and certainly not from your little friends in that floating city!"

"...Huh?!" Mew widened his eyes.

_Sancturia..._

Kairi was heading downstairs in her pajamas to get a glass of milk to help lull her to sleep. She rubbed beneath her right eye and yawned a tiny bit. Fortunately Shina had gone to sleep already. After how exhausting today was she didn't want to spend another second with her right now.

"Mrrrr..." As she neared the front door she saw an unnatural movement outside the windows. It was like a shadow streaking in the night.

"...Huh?" She slowly creaked her eyes open and laid a hand on the back of her head. Maybe her drowsiness was getting to her...

She moved one step forward and another shadow moved in the opposite direction. She quickly pulled back and forced her eyes open to look outside.

The night was astir with pale, winged creatures made entirely of skin. They flapped their wings and shrieked like bats, but their heads were devoid of eyes and their ears were sealed shut.

_"THUMP THUMP! THUMP THUMP!" _Beat the marching drums of anger inside.

She curled her fists and pounded the side of the window, uttering a "Damn it ALL!" before she rushed out the door and drew her staff. She came out tripping but quickly hopped into the air and intercepted one of the monsters by bashing it on the head.

Right as she hit the ground she panted madly and looked up at the sky. There were hundreds of those things pouring into Sancturia, some of them dropping large wolves and gargoyles down like cargo.

"What _NOW_?!" Kairi immediately ran forward and took an astounding leap into the monster swarm. She swung her staff in a very broad stroke and smashed six of them together, taking them out of the sky.

Three more then piled on and dragged her to the ground.

"HRRRAAAA!" She hollered, expending some aura to blow them off. They retreated to join their brethren in a frantic grouping right above her.

So far the commotion hadn't drawn anyone out of their houses but that was sure to change, if these monsters didn't drag them out themselves first.

"So, the information was correct..." A delighted, gurgling voice came from a tall, lanky figure straight ahead that wore a brown trenchcoat, and was surrounded by obedient droves of monsters.

The collar of his coat wiggled like his lips were in shivers, "Oh how wonderful...That I will finally get to run tests on some Aurians...!"

Kairi stood up and swung her arm out, having little patience or care for the stranger's creepy tone, 'Who the hell are you? And what do you want?!"

"I do not share my name with my patients..." The man unfurled a pair of black latex gloves with slime-ridden, putrid smelling needles on each fingertip.

Kairi wriggled her nose in disgust, "Fine by me! I'll just beat you all down!"

"Foolish girl..." The man rubbed a set of needles under his chin, "Diagnosis? Incurable _stupidity_. The cure?"

He waved his hand out and whispered, **Death**.

A small pack of wolves charged forth and leaped at Kairi, who readied herself to strike. Right as her arm itched with the desire to strike, her surroundings darkened, illuminated by a sharp, silver streak.

When the darkness faded Gabriel was in front of her with his katana a centimeter out of the sheath. When he clicked it down the wolves split vertically and he used aura to keep the blood from spewing on them.

He then stood up and remarked calmly, "Looks like I arrived just in time."

Kairi perked up with a smile, "Boy, am I glad to see you Gabriel!"

"Never a restless moment these days huh?" He said, giving a much needed bit of levity.

The two then turned their attention back on their invaders. The coated man reared his head back and laughed, "Ohohoho! Now this is interesting...A green-skinned Aurian?"

Salivating at the nape he lurched forward and turned his head ninety degrees clockwise, "I'd heard the rumors but never thought I'd see you in the living flesh. You will make for a fascinating test subject...!"

Gabriel remained staunch in his stance and firmly eyed the monster, "By coming here you have chosen death. What are your final words?"

"...Are you serious?" The creature righted itself and struggled to contain his laughter, "A foolish girl and a foolish samurai alone think they can combat the terrors that have haunted a thousand worlds?"

A giant shadow was cast over Sancturia with the moon's aid, as a massive stone castle floated before it. This gave the towering man a somewhat ominous vibe, aided by him remaining completely motionless.

"We are many and you are few. Your defiance shall crumble against the flood of nightmares we shall unleash to ravage your world! And your screams, your many screams, shall be the sustenance and tribute our lord demands in his absence! And there is not a damn thing you can do-!"

**"KABOOOOOOM!"**

"..." They could feel the man's eyes widen as a gigantic red hot explosion overpowered the light of the moon. For in that moment, the castle, that grand and terrifying dominion of sin, was done for.

He turned around and watched the embers and ash flicker out of existence, and his entire coat dampened with sweat, "Oh flu-ey..."

A ship bolted out of the explosion and dropped four beams of light as it flew over Kairi and Gabriel.

"AH HAHAHAHAHA!" Making her grand entrance was the self-proclaimed greatest heroine herself Saturn! But joining her at her sides was Jupiter and Mars, and a little red-headed girl whom, if Kairi was remembering correctly, was Venus in her new body.

After a stressful start of this dreadful night encounter Kairi could breathe a little easier now. Five out of nine Planetary Aurians had gathered, and that was more than enough to turn the tide on these monsters.

Saturn crossed her arms and her coat swayed in a non-existent breeze. She confidently gleamed at the boundless terrors and gloated at the sheer **ease** of her overdramatic arrival.

"Leaving your defenses open like that?! I expected no less arrogance from villainous scum like you!"

Jupiter clicked her tongue and wagged her pointer finger outward, "Enjoy the fireworks slimeball?"

The coated man turned around and curled up against his chest, shivering thoroughly in anger, "Gggggggggggggggg! I knew that green-skinned Aurian was familiar! Curses! I didn't think the Planetary Aurians would be in this region!"

"And that was your first and last mistake!" Mars drew out his nunchucks out and showed off his skill by whipping them around his body, "Nobody threatens our friends and gets away with it!"

Venus looked around like she was trying to figure out what was going on, culminating in her air boxing towards the monsters and murmuring, "Yeah!"

Gabriel stood between Venus and Jupiter and flashed a smirk at the coated man, "Care to try again?"

"Gggggggggggg...!" The coated man threw himself upright and lashed his arms out, "Makes no difference to me! In fact this is perfect! Breaking your heroic spirits will put me back in my master's favor after you blew up his castle!"

_Mew's house..._

"My master and our informant share a common enemy in you. We know what it takes to break you," Grimmley chuckled and grinned confidently, "So yes...quiver in fear, as your hope dwindles, and your courage fa-"

"Pfffft hahaha!" Mew leaned down and burst into laughter.

"...What is the meaning of this?" As the wolf man snarled in confusion Mew broke their clash and hopped back, skidding along the bloodied ground.

"I take back what I said before..." Mew smiled, a little laughter sticking around, "You're not just stupid...You're a Grade-A dumbass!"

"What did you just call me?!" Grimmley howled.

"Sorry bud, but that's the facts!" Mew stood up and clutched his fist before his face, flexing his wings, "Attacking Sancturia? Y'all must have a death wish!"

"You won't be confident for much longer..." Grimmley drew his knives all over his face and his right eye bulged out of his socket with feral intensity, "When I put your body parts in the grave!"

We're not as easily broken as you think we are! Mew set his katana ablaze with light and pointed it at the wolf, "Before this night is over you'll know the true power of the human spirit!"

_Next Time: Battle on Two Fronts_


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: The War on Terror**

_Sancturia..._

The confrontation between Dracula's forces and the Aurians had been kept to a tense staredown currently. The monsters surrounding Plagueis were growing tiresome and salivated in hunger.

"Yes yes...do not fret you mindless cretins..." Plagueis hovered his hands across the bottom of his coat and pretended to rub his chin, "In fact be free! Swarm this city to your heart's content! Harvest all that you can for our lord! And leave these interlopers to me!"

At his command the beasts howled and screeched before flooding the skies and ground in all direction besides where the Planetary Aurians stood.

Flooded by their shadows, the group looked skyward with antsy looks on their faces. Jupiter squeezed her knuckles and hunched down towards Saturn.

"Looks like its time to split Cat!"

Saturn threw her left right arm up and proclaimed, "Team, move out!"

"You got it!" Mars responded before splitting to the west at lightning speeds, while Jupiter tagged out to the east. Neither needed any orders beyond that.

Venus stuck by and wandered up to Saturn silently pointing at herself. Saturn glanced aside and bent down with a smile, patting her atop the head.

"Just remember what you learned..." She bolted right up and thrust her fist in the air, "And use it to kick tons of butt!"

Venus threw her fist up with a hop and weak proclamation of "Yeah!" then turned around and ran after Jupiter at a normal youthful pace.

That just left three remaining to confront Plagueis, and while Kairi was eager to squash him into the ground, Gabriel looked at her and remarked calmly, "Leave this one to us."

"What? But I-"

"Are better suited to catch the roaming monsters before they cause any harm." His point rang true in her head with no resistance.

She gave him a brief nod and backed away slowly, telling him to "Be careful" before sprinting South after the beasts.

Gabriel and Saturn then turned their gaze unto their enemy, whom squirmed in excitement.

"So, you are my patients then?" He wiggled his arms down by his sides and lurched his head forward somewhat, "How unfortunate for you. For you face-"

"Dr. Plagueis, the Terror of Pestilence!" Saturn proclaimed with discontent, as she pulled her head back and leered at him.

Plagueis paused and raised his head, "Oh? So my reputation **does** proceed me."

"You and your crew have been quite the slippery bunch!" Saturn flicked her glasses up into proper lens flaring position and smiled, "Plagueis, the Terror of Pestilence. Grimmley Jaegerjaw, the Terror of War. Ankham'Tur, the Terror of Decay. And Kahnihilator, the Terror of Conquest!"

Saturn whisked a pointer finger right out at the coated man, somehow causing wind to kick up the bottom of her coat, "Your crimes include terrorizing and slaughtering untold numbers of people and planets and spreading famine and disease across their ecosystems."

She crossed her arms super hard against her chest and hollered, "There's no negotiating for the injustices you've caused! The penalty of your crimes is death! And I'm the Grim Reaper of Justice!"

Plagueis merely took his hand under his collar and rubbed it, "So you say **I** am the ill one? And your cure for me is..._justice_?"

He swiped his arm down and gurgled a laugh that sounded like a rooster cooing. He then puffed his coat out and twisted his arms down before his waist, "Impudent girl! I am not the common cold! I am all manner of illnesses and disease given form! You couldn't even begin to comprehend what lurks in my shadows!"

"Yeah yeah that's what y'all say!" Saturn replied, "But you're gonna suffer the same fate as the rest of your motley crew!"

"Fufufu, unfortunately for you, two of our Terrors aren't here right now..."

"Oh yeah?" Saturn sounded suspect.

"Well for one..." Plagueis suddenly lurched his whole body forward as the confines of his top side expanded in a huff of rage, "YOU BLEW UP OUR CASTLE WITH KAHNIHILATOR STILL ON IT!"

He then flailed his arms out and sounded more baffled than angry, "What type of lunatic does that?!"

"Sweet! One down, three to go!" Saturn said, boasting a nonchalant smile.

Plagueis slowly rose back up and rested his needles upon his hat, "I see you're already ill in the head as is girl..."

"Then as far as the other Terror goes..." Gabriel rested his hand upon his katana and firmly asked his foe, "They must be responsible for the energy I'm sensing South of here."

Saturn nudged her glasses and remarked, "Ah, where that dastard Mew and his prisoners live!"

"Ah, so you know those poor souls..." Plagueis said with an air of confidence to him.

"Poor souls?" Gabriel murmured.

"Never mind that slobbering mutt," Plagueis lurched his head back and wiggled his needles before his face, "Our master will see to it that they offer him a fine feast of fear...Whether they like it or not."

"...Master?" Saturn inquired with a perk of her brows.

"Consider yourselves fortunate to never know the truth," Plagueis wiggled his arms in a floaty manner beside his body, "For I shall leave your pale bodies writhing in types of pain you never knew were possible."

Gabriel's katana clicked and Saturn gave her glasses one last nudge of preparation, settling into a relaxed look of confidence.

Meanwhile, the scattered warriors took to tackling the monster horde. Mars was the first to engage the wolves before they could infiltrate the nearest houses.

"Get out of there!" He dashed up to one, grabbed and wrenched it out by the tail, then threw it onto its back.

Two closer wolves leaped at him. He backed away in the blink of an eye and after the two smashed snouts together he whipped his nunchucks around them and brought them down to the ground.

"Sorry about this..." He grit his teeth and clutched his nunchucks together in his hand, using them to add the extra force in his punch necessary to break the beasts' skulls.

The wind stirred at his back, pressed upon the claws of a diving bat monster. He turned quick as a whip and the claw passed before his chest. He then flipped his nunchucks around and obliterated the monster's chest with a shotgun blast.

Taking a few quick breaths as blood dripping down his face, Mars grit his teeth and muttered, "That's this area clear..."

As he sprinted off elsewhere the residents of the house he saved wandered out and got a shock to their hearts upon seeing the corpses on the ground.

And they weren't the first to stir awake. It was hard to keep the noise down with all the bone-cracking, punch-pounding action going on throughout the city.

Right now Kairi was in heavy pursuit of a large swarm of bat monsters, whose shrieks purposefully awoke the fears of the sleeping Aurians. Even the ones who didn't get out of bed would be tossing and turning, plagued by nightmares.

And the stench of fear attracted the other beasts to the hunt.

"Got to take care of these flying freaks first!" She slapped down her Beast Tamer Drive and summoned a falcon made of aura, thrusting her hand up at the sky, "GO!"

The bird flew up at blistering speeds and spiraled around, puncturing through one monster's wing and then rounding back to hit another. As its brethren were dropped out of the sky one of the monsters turned around and dove down at their assailant.

Kairi looked up right as the monster grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed its shrieking, slime-ridden face up close to hers.

"AAAAH!" Kairi pressed her hands up against her ears as the vibrations threatened to make them bleed.

Kairi tried to force one eye up, and it looked pissed off. She smashed her head against the monster's and screamed, "SHUT UP!"

After its nose was broken the creature didn't really have much choice in the matter. Kairi then uppercut the monster in the jaw with her staff, where it died upon landing on its head.

She then caught her breath, noticing the rest of the flying swarm had gotten away, while the ones she grounded were looking to her for revenge.

But with a snap of her fingers she turned her flying falcon into a giant elephant and crushed those bat monsters under foot. She then rushed ahead over the corpses and returned to having a falcon at her side.

A small horde of wolves darted over the bodies and were catching up quicker than Kairi'd be able to turn around in time.

Kairi was blown a couple steps ahead as a big bubble of raw power smashed the wolves into bloody paste on the ground. By the time she got steady and started pulling back she rubbed up against a firm, packed set of back muscles.

"Big sis' got your back!" Proclaimed Jupiter with her rambunctious attitude.

Kairi looked ahead and saw a few wolves dashing through the streets being pursued by Mars, leading her to wonder, "Just how many of them are there?"

"There shouldn't be a lot after we blew up their castle...Maybe a thousand? Two thousand?" The amazon responded optimistically.

Kairi stood there, thought about it not for very long, and remarked, "Then...I should probably keep moving."

A wolf leaped right into Jupiter's fist and got his chest crushed for his troubles, "Yep! Especially if we're gonna keep the casualties at zero!"

Kairi gave a nod and ran off. Jupiter looked over her shoulder while casually uppercutting a wolf in the jaw, "Oh! But we've spotted a few uniquer looking..."

The target of her warning had already rounded the corner, "Aaaaand she's gone..."

She smiled and resumed combating the onslaught of monsters. She gripped her fist and gave it a hard crack in sync with gritting her teeth like a tiger. The wolves' hind legs sank into the ground and one let out a whimper.

"Alright you dogs! Come at me!" She gave them one second before charging forward and turning a wolf inside out with her fist. Then she spun around with her feet dragged along the ground to throw her remaining enemies up into a whirlwind of pain.

She hopped up using each wolf as a stepping stone, then used the bat monster that happened to fly overhead as a projectile to drag the wolves down to their deaths.

She then did a flip to spice up her landing and thrust her fist up into the sky in celebration, "Whew! Still got it!"

She poked her head around and noticed a few Aurians were peeking out of their houses. Some were scared, others, the younger ones in particular, had their eyes lit up in awe.

"Y-You're...!" One of the kids walked out in their Pjs and strained their neck looking up at Jupiter like she was a stone idol made real, "One of...the Planetary Aurians!"

The kid looked around themselves for something but for whatever reason, decided to instead raise their arm and sheepishly ask, "C-Can I have your autograph?"

Jupiter lit up with smiles and mild embarrassment in her cheeks, "Aw aren't you sweet? I'd love to but..."

A bat monster dove down shrieking wildly in rage. Jupiter forced their face into their skull with a casual backhanded slap, all while continuing to brighten the child's day with a smile.

"You really ought to get inside with your parents where its safe."

The kid's eyes widened but the bravery Jupiter's smile inspired made them heed her advice, and they scurried right along, mouthing "Good luck" before their parents pulled them in.

"Heh..." She swiped a finger under her nose. The ground became disturbed by several impacts around her from descending gargoyles, which drew a stone trident for battle.

"Pffft! You here to fight or grill some hot dogs?" Jupiter locked eyes with the gargoyle in front of her and flared her aura, "Cause if you got the dogs then I'm bringing the HEAT!"

She charged forward and laid the gargoyle out flat with one punch, while two of the others cut her shoulders with their tridents. Big mistake.

Drawing blood from Jupiter kicked her adrenaline into overdrive and the next thing the gargoyles were left wondering why their heads were rolling around hundreds of feet away from their bodies. She then whipped back and dragged another gargoyle's head to the ground with the side of her foot.

The rest were cleaned up in seconds flat, and she barely broke a sweat.

But while she caught her breath a wolf jumped at her from behind. She began to turn and punch it when Mars came speeding in and clocked the side of its face with his clutched nunchucks.

He then swiped some sweat off his brow and huffed out a "Whew!"

Him and Jupiter saw eye-to-eye and he slowly waved his hand at her. She scrunched her nose and turned away with a firm "Hmph!".

"Haaaa..." Mars sighed and turned around as more monsters surrounded them, "Didn't think we'd be working together again like this."

Jupiter put up her fists and responded, "You're working with Cat. I'm working with Cat."

She glanced back and point at him then her, "We...are NOT working together."

She then socked a bat monster into its comrades, sending them all high into the sky. Mars whipped his nunchucks around to disperse the crowd charging at him, then blasted the sole assailant in the face with a shotgun blast.

"You can't keep this up Noel. We got to talk about _that_ someday."

Jupiter grabbed two wolves by their faces and piledrived them into the ground, "There's nothing to talk about."

Mars nonchalantly looked over his shoulder and groaned, "_Noel_..."

She was busy clobbering another gargoyle's head off, after which the monsters seemed content to just stand back and wait for a moment. She then let out a sharp "Tsk!" and looked back at him with a fiery look in her eyes.

"Fine, if that's what you want..." She hunched down with her fists by her chest and turned the beast's fighting spirits back on by beaming them with aggressive eyes, "Then you'll just have to beat more monsters than me!"

She leaped straight on into the fray and Mars swung his hand back, proclaiming in abject disbelief, "Noel...! Ah, come on..."

He had to turn back quickly before the wolves pinned him down. He whipped his nunchucks across their lower jaws, keeping them suspended until he slipped underneath them. Once behind he backflipped and kicked them all in the spine.

Him and Jupiter then went their separate ways to combat the seemingly ceaseless horde...

_Mew's house_

"Human spirit?" Grimmley slashed his knife-filled claws at the air, "I discarded that worthless anchor long ago!"

Mew arched his brows as the wolf vanished and reappeared behind him, driving his knives towards his back. Mew gripped his katana and then flushed light into the blade to eject the sheathe into the wolf's gut.

While he was stunned Mew turned around and tried to cut him, only to be deflected by his knives. The two of them then hopped back and reset their confrontation.

Mew looked at his blade and then at his enclosed surroundings, _"Can't go too crazy this time..." _

He blinked once slowly and twirled his sword around, _"This'll have to do." _

Grimmley threw two knives his way and started running. Mew chose to swerve right to dodge the knives and then sliced his katana up to force the wolf back.

He then moved ahead and sliced down, the wolf backing off a bit more. Mew widened his eyes and was shocked when a knife was suddenly inches from his pupil.

He pulled his whole body back for a flip and kicked Grimmley twice under the jaw. The wolf rubbed there with the bottom of his claw and guffawed.

Mew floated to the ground and the moment he landed he sheathed his blade and dashed ahead. Grimmley's eyes flared up and he performed two quick, heavy slashes with all his knives.

Mew barreled between the blood red slashes and elbowed Grimmley's head into the ground. The wolf took his knives into the ground to rip out a chunk slightly bigger than he, then turned and flung it at Mew.

Mew threw his arm up and used hard light as a shield, but the impact still kicked him back a few feet and threw dusty dirt in his eyes and mouth.

"Cghh cghhh!" He hastily looked around and found he couldn't sense the wolf's movements, _"He's masking his power."_

He released a brief flash from his body and caught the shine off his foe's knives as they were slashing down towards his head. Mew grabbed him by his wrists, pulled his arms apart, and headbutted his snout as he let go.

Grimmley bounced back twice and had a smear of blood on his nose. Mew then felt something wet trickling down his nose. His own blood, drawn from his forehead.

"..." He quietly rubbed the wound, the werewolf chuckling.

"_That's not bone under there. Its...metal?" _He gleamed Grimmley in his bloodthirsty pupils and noticed a faded glint of red light underneath, "You're...a cyborg werewolf?"

"Hehehe...!" Grimmley raised his head in pride, "On my world we had discarded guns, missiles and tanks. Wars were being fought with cybernetic enhancements."

He flipped his claws upside-down and spread his many knives out like a murderous bouquet, "I was the first in a new line of soldiers...The perfect fusion of machine, man and beast!"

He grinned his fangs wide in a sneer, "But when I was reborn, I killed every last one of them in a glorious bloodbath! You should have seen their bodies...! The intoxicating fountains of crimson that spewed from their chests was a sight to behold!"

Mew narrowed his eyes in scorn and softly remarked, "And that lured your master to you."

"Exactly," Grimmley chuckled quietly, "I don't care about his harvests or hunger...As long as he points me at worlds to ravage I will gladly do his bidding!"

"Ah, so you like it when he throws the frisbee?" Mew bent down and clapped his knees, "Whose a good boy? Whose a good widdle boy?"

Grimmley snarled, "I've slaughtered many jokers like you before. You think you're any different?"

Mew stood up and shrugged as a way of saying "Duh!" then pointed his sword out and told him outright, "Cause I don't die!"

"A first time for everything...!" Grimmley bolted forward and Mew blocked his knives with the width of his katana. Only the left ones though. The right set slipped under the blade and tried to go for his chest.

Mew hopped away and got cut through his armor, blood drawn onto the tip of the knives. He then sheathed his blade and ran ahead at the wolf, who tried to slice both sets of knives down in a violent crimson streak.

Mew threw his wing out covered in hard light but the attack broke right through it and shredded part of his feathers off.

"Ghhh...!" He backed away and reached for his katana. Grimmley leaped off the ground and transformed into a whirling torpedo of knives coming right at him.

Mew closed his eyes and concentrated light into his breath, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slow. And like his pace, time seemed to slow down a bit.

He then widened his eyes and started slashing rapidly at the tip of Grimmley's assault, each cut slowing the beast's momentum. He dug his feet into the ground, which was torn up as he was being dragged back.

100 cuts and twelve seconds later, Mew had gotten the wolf slowed down enough that he felt confident pulling his katana back for a harder attack. Not too hard though, had to keep the place relatively undamaged.

One swift diagonal slash threw Grimmley into the mountainside, where a few large rocks fell on top of him. Of COURSE that wasn't going to keep him down long though.

The wolf leaped out and cast the rocks aside as he crashed onto the ground with a big smile across his snout. He also now had a cut on his nose that revealed the metallic plating underneath.

"Hehehe...! I take back what I said!" The wolf threw his arms down and reared his head back to howl, "NO ONE HAS LASTED MORE THAN A MINUTE AGAINST ME BEFORE!"

Mew arched his brows and took the beast's boast seriously for once, _"He's tougher than I expected. And if he's this strong..." _

Mew glanced aside at Dracula perched in the air as a spectator in this wonderful bloodbath, _"How powerful can __**he**__ be?" _

Meanwhile Lunis and Joe Dark continued to combat the wolves. Joe Dark's arms were starting to limp and the beasts clawed him more than they should have been.

His tenacity for survival proved unrelenting throughout. For every wolf that clawed him, four fell to his power. He was standing on a mountain of corpses that would make Atilla the Hun take pause. Yet still the beasts continued to climb and fall.

"There's no end to these things...!" He finally grunted in frustration and swung back towards Lunis, slicing a wolf through the gut in the process.

"Are you doing your part or what?!" Was probably a stupid question to ask, as she had plenty of bodies laid out on the ground, equaling if not surpassing what Joe Dark had accomplished.

But in contrast to Joe Dark's blood splattered frame, Lunis' body still shined beautifully despite all the crimson covering her. But none of that was her blood. And she didn't have a scratch on her.

She spun in place to cut the necks of five wolves and grit her teeth, showing a bit of sweat over her face, "I'm trying I'm trying! There shouldn't be this many left after I put up the barrier!"

She raised a point that Joe Dark hadn't considered. The numbers were ridiculous. _Impossibly_ so. And once he realized that, the answer was obvious as to why.

He let a wolf jump and claw at him. It hurt, but didn't leave a scar.

"...Mannequin!" He swung his head to the left and scowled at Alura, whose eyes were lit with a pale gleam, "You won't wear me down with these pathetic illusions...!"

Dracula turned his head aside and murmured, "It seems your pet's requesting a greater demonstration of what you can do."

"Mmhmm..." Alura bobbed her head and with one blink, many of the wolves that Lunis and Joe Dark had spent the last few minutes wasting disappeared. She then floated forward like a doll suspended by strings, waving her hand out beside her dress.

Joe Dark gripped his dagger and grit his teeth with a snarl of disappointment, "So you chose to be a monster after all..."

"No, Joe Dark..." Alura shook her head and remained stoic, though with a hint of scorn buried deep within, "I won't be deceived again."

"What?" Joe Dark spat in confusion.

"You said all those strange things to distract me while you ran away," Alura's body began to glow with a rose-tinted aura and her eyes glistened under the pale moonlight, "You're no different than any other human..."

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark winced. For such a dull spirit, Alura's words proved sharper than most swords, _"Its not like I had a choice in the matter...!" _

He glared at Mew briefly, then turned to Alura and told her angrily, "I meant what I was saying!"

"Then why did you leave without me?" Again, came the piercing blow to his heart.

"B-Because...!" He fought with himself to answer, but anger won out in the end, "Augh! You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

Alura slanted her brows and suddenly became surrounded with glass-looking rose colored lances twisted towards the tip.

"You defied father...So this is to be your fate, Joe Dark."

"Grrrr...!" He swung his arm out and exclaimed, "You're a real pain in the ass Alura!"

He was fighting the pale-faced girl. Mew was dragging his fight with Grimmley towards the mountainside. That left Dracula wide-open, and Lunis saw her chance to strike.

"_Now!" _She clutched her knives and darted straight at him.

Dracula budged his eyes ever slightly and curled the side of his lips, "It is your time...fledgling sun."

A red comet came streaking down out of the sky, its intense glow giving Lunis pause. She hesitated hopping away, and that left her getting knocked back when the comet stopped mid-air and exploded into flames.

Immediately locking blades with Grimmley, Mew looked back with shock in his eyes as the flames settled, "Oh...that explains a **lot**."

Lunis shook at the knees and murmured "No" softly as Solaris threw the flames around with a swing of his sword and glared at her with an insane, sleepless look in his eyes.

"Hello..._dear sister_."

"Brother...why?" Lunis lowered her knives and tensely bit her lower lip, staring at him with watery eyes.

_Sancturia..._

A few Aurians crawled out of their beds and had headed outside. The heavy commotion drew their attention towards the sky, where Kairi was chasing and clobbering bat monsters with ease.

"Whoa..." One of the guys remarked.

"Isn't she that girl who got the Neo Drive or something...?"

"Yeah, its actually kinda hot when she fights like that?" Two of the other guys stared at him and he flung his hands around while claiming, "T-That was just a bit of sleep-talk I swear!"

"Dude you're totally awake." Another of them bluntly remarked.

"Shut up." He smacked them on the shoulder and they all had a laugh.

"_Mmmmmmrrrr..." _An inhumane groan like creaking metal passed through the air. The three Aurians turned to the left and froze up.

"W-What was that?" They tried to see through the dark streets but only saw a seven-foot tall figure with broad shoulders, waist and hips wrapped in dirty, black and copper bandages standing in place.

"Oh, its just a mummy..." One sighed, while the other two gasped. Then, after a slight pause, the third of them gasped louder than they had.

"A MUMMY?!" They all screamed.

Red, faded eyes came to life under the mummy's wraps as they raised their giant hands forward, and sent a slow-moving cloud of purple miasma through the streets.

One of the Aurians drew a sword and grit his teeth, "Ha! I don't know what's going on but I bet if we take this loser down we'll be hailed as heroes!"

"Wait!" One of his friends tried to get him to stop from running but it was too late.

"TERIYAH!" The brave but foolish warrior screamed as he ran at the miasma and the mummy that lied beyond it.

But the moment his feet touched the cloud he felt incredibly weak and stopped completely. He looked down in horror as his shoes turned to dust, followed by his socks. Then, his feet grew age spots and wrinkles.

"AAAAH! AAAAAH!" He screamed as his skin started to become pale and brittle.

"Hold on!" His friends gripped him under the arms and started to pull him away, but his feet were already turning to dust.

"Oh my god!"

"What the hell is this?!"

"My feet! I can't feel my feet!"

They had gotten their friend to safety before the decay had truly set in. But this displeased the mummy. His eyes glint and he raised his other hand. The miasma gathered together to be fired upon the three Aurians as a fast moving projectile.

The Aurians could only stand there and scream as their fates seemed decided. Suddenly a wall dropped between the miasma and them, forcing it back.

It wasn't a traditional wall. This one was made of solid gas.

"Huh? W-We're...saved?" As one of the Aurians counted their blessings, the sound of tiny footsteps drew their attention to the presence of a young red-haired girl walking up to the wall and splitting it in two with a wave of her hand.

The miasma gathered back towards the mummy, who stirred with a creaking groan.

The little girl grabbed the sides of her skirt and pulled them out as she bowed her head towards the mummy.

"Hello mister," The gas that made up the walls turned into a pair of hands. One cupped over the fist shape of the other and pretended to crack knuckles. The girl lifted her head up with a sunny smile and asked, "I'm going to be your opponent, is that alright?"

_Next Time: Curse of Ages_


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust**

After their attempts to play at being the hero the three Aurians were now spectators to the real star of the show. And it was a little girl of all things. Barely able to stand up to their guts, didn't look like she was good at reading. This was their savior? Really?

But yet there she was. Standing and staring down the enemy without looking back. And to taunt him, with _politeness_? She was attracting looks of awe, spiced up a bit with envy, as her audience wondered: _"What is she thinking?"_

"Brrrr...!" Venus shivered gently and little bumps dotted her arms, _"Its chilly up here. I shoulda asked Ms. Catherine to gimme a coat." _

Her enemy paused. No fear. No worry. Nothing at all? Not even a word? That's mean.

And their fuzzy mist looked dangerous. It should be avoided at all cost. Not cause of what instincts said. This just felt like common sense.

Venus tilted her head back and looked at the man who had lost his foot, giving him a pitying head shake.

"H-Huh?" That person muttered back.

She looked at her enemy again and asked, "Umm mister...this is supposed to be the part where you say your name."

The mummy gurgled for a few good seconds. So they aren't just mean, they're rude. But as Catherine would say: "Bad guys' don't have manners". At least, when summarized in a way that normal people speak.

"Ok then." Venus shrugged and lowered her gas fist by her side. Suddenly she felt someone grip her shoulder hard and start tugging.

"C-Come on kid! This isn't the time to be a hero! Run!"

Venus gave the guy a flat expression and then gently brushed them aside with one of her gas hands. The mummy began to stir and raised its crusty hands into the air, causing that icky mist to move.

That same Aurian tried to pull Venus away, so she stood her ground in a hunched out and held her arms down pretending she was readying the toy pistols she wish she still had.

The gas formed into a giant pistol gripped in the other fist. Venus then flicked her pointer fingers out while whispering "Pow!", dislodging a giant bullet of gas from the gun.

The bullet spiraled through the mist and struck the mummy square in the chest. And with a satisfying "Pop!", the bullet shoved the bad guy back.

The man's grip slid off down her back and she heard him gawk like one of them cornered space rats. She turned with a tiny smile and whispered, "You should go now."

"Y-Yeah I think so too..." He hastily replied, returning to help pick up his footless friend. But before Venus could engage the enemy once more, that guy had one last thing to say.

"Just one question...Who are you?"

And she wasn't prepared to have to answer that. She looked to an abridged version of Catherine's words for guidance, _"If you're nervous, just sound brave!" _

"I'm...Venus," She started off meek as a mouse and then the moment her smile lit up on its own she was happy to hear her own voice get louder too, "A hero-in-training!"

"...Venus?" The man murmured, like the recognition of her was on the tip of his tongue. He gave a polite, respectful nod and remarked, "You can do it! Fight on!"

And then finally, he ran outta there and left no other obstacles in the way. It was just down to herself, and the scoundrel wrapped in dirty paper. Two lone wolves, staring down in a quiet, dusty road. Just like in the stories her papa used to tell.

The mummy had shaken off the first bullet with little fanfare and gathered his ugly mist to his side. The way his eyes glowed was a little creepy, and she could feel her body trembling.

She slapped the sides of her face a couple times and told herself, "I gotta prove myself."

She then laid her hands out and summoned her gas fists to her side, "Mama...papa...I'll do ya proud, watch me."

There was some distance between her and it and she wanted to keep it that way. Her own body wasn't used to fighting directly yet, as diagnosed by Catherine.

Thank goodness for the old reliable fists then. One quick punch to the face would show the enemy that she meant business.

As that fist went flying down the way the last thing Venus expected was for the enemy's mist to gather in front of him, and catch the fist against some kinda distorted mitt.

"Hmmm?" It might have just been a fluke or bad timing. So for the follow-up, she would hammer the mummy's head with the other fist.

The mist spread above and caught that attack too. Venus felt her eyes widen on their own and called her fists back immediately.

"_He can control his stuff, like me..." _She breathed slowly in and giggled out. This was a little exhilarating. Which for her young heart, was like the equivalent of drinking three sodas.

"_Then...I just gotta be faster!" _She thus commanded her fist to become a sword and swing down with very little resistance. The mummy converted some of his mist into a sword and clashed blades in mid-air.

The two's thoughts were equal and the blades grinding up against each other only made them smaller. Venus snuck her other fist below the blades and thrust it into the mummy's body.

But at the very last second, her foe had blocked the attack, forcing her to restart and mutter "Darn!" She then tried the old reliable "Shoot them" strategy and unloaded a few bullets from a gas gun.

The mummy threw mist orbs into the bullets to cancel each other out. And with what little mass that took, he sent the rest of his mist across the floor rather fast.

Venus hopped onto her other fist and hovered away to safety. The mummy slowly raised its other hand and it was so obvious what they'd try next. Venus shaped her fist like a solid egg so the rising mist couldn't reach her.

It was now unnaturally chilly. Not like winter, more like...well, she didn't really know. It just felt _bad_. And then the mist started shoving through as thin spikes trying to find her.

Her poor little heart slapped against the back of her chest and she crawled back against the wall trying to avoid the spikes. She couldn't feel her face, or her arms. This feeling of helplessness, was this what they call fear?

Something had to be done. Fast. Fear wasn't fun at all. She still had gas working on the outside, and if all this mist was focused on her...

"G-Go!" She hollered out as she thrust her hand up and commanded the lone fist to give that darn mummy what-for.

A right clobbering set that meanie straight and gave her some breathing room. She poked a hole in the surrounding mist with gas and slipped outside protected by a smaller bubble. Then she pulled a reversal on the mist and wrapped it up in her gas.

Then she dropped to the ground and wound up her fist, which her gas bubble mimicked with vigorous force.

"Here you go!" She cheerfully lobbed the mist back at the mummy's face. He caught it inches from his body without moving.

"Awww..." Venus stood up and pulled her fists back. The mummy groaned like a rusty hinge and started parting its mists to its sides.

"_What's he up to now?" _She squinted and wiggled her fingers by her hips.

The moment the mist moved she flung them up and made two guns from the gas fire at the mummy. Each bullet knocked that scoundrel back a couple feet.

But the mist kept coming and it wouldn't stop coming. Venus fortunately had the element of time on her side and used it to slap the mist against the nearby houses to prevent further advance.

Buuuut then all it had do was move around the gas. Oh goodie. She then realized it probably would've been wiser to make a wall from the start.

The mist was advancing fast now and dove towards her feet. She hopped back as far as her tiny legs could take her and rallied her gas to erect that much needed wall in the nick of time.

"_Ms. Catherine makes quick thinking seem easy." _Make the wall a little taller than Gabriel, and the mist couldn't climb over it. Thank goodness.

"This is getting nowhere fast." She lamented with a puzzled sigh. She hit the bad guy a few times but it didn't feel like they'd been damaged. And the threat they posed didn't leave much room for playing around, sadly.

"_Think think think...!" _While she still had breathing room she tried to recall what Catherine had been telling her over the last couple of days.

"_Womp womp womp, womp womp womp." There was a whole lotta fluff and big words about nothing important. She could sorta recall sitting down on a bench while Catherine flailed about in front of a big board full of big numbers and other incomprehensible gibberish._

_Every time it looked like she was dozing off Catherine snapped her awake. It got to the point where she started using her gas to force her eyelids open and pretend to be awake. Curse her head for wanting to bob down and rat her out though._

"_Also!" But there was one thing she thought was kinda cool. It was around the time Catherine stopped boring her with "science" and talked about rounding up bad guys._

"_One thing you should __**always**__ remember Venus!" Catherine tapped a stick against the board and popped up a bunch of different gases, "You got a wide variety of gases at your disposal, so learning which ones are the best to combat your enemy is an important aspect of achieving victory!"_

"_Like for example, if pounding an enemy into the dirt ain't doing nothing, try giving them a little acid gas to weaken their defenses!" Catherine crossed her arms and proclaimed, "But don't do it if they got skin! We're the good guys, not torture freaks!"_

"That's it!" And the best part about that advice is that her enemy is a big mean monster. So it'd be ok to go crazy with the acid!

"Hehehe!" Venus was delighted at the thought, except...Just one problem. That mummy jerk was matching her move for move. If she wanted to get the acid by him, she'd have to be tricky.

"Oh." Actually, maybe it'd be a lot simpler than she thought.

She took her wall of gas and shoved the mist right along towards the mummy, who caught it on his hands. She then quickly pulled her gas away and formed them into fists, pretending to give them a crack.

"_Gotta do it like mister Mew does, and meet 'em blow for blow until I get an opening!" _She went swinging with her tiny fists and her gas ones followed suit.

The mummy tanked a few blows before fighting back with his own mist fists. The pressure of blows was being matched exactly, and that meant the mummy didn't have a chance to break any mist off to target her.

And that was the way she wanted it. Cause she wasn't using all of her gas to fight. An amount as big as she was floated over the clashing fists like a harmless cloud and hovered above the mummy.

Treat it like a lemon and give it a squeeze, and all the juices come raining down. But this, was one acidic lemon. The moment the drops touched the mummy he pulled his mist back and his groans grew louder. The bandages that kept him together were sizzling away.

"I did it!" Venus whispered proudly and, enamored by this feeling, almost forgot she was still in a battle.

"Oops!" She gasped and then whipped her gas back into one giant fist. The mummy looked about as weak as an old piece of paper now.

"This'll finish ya off!" She wound up her fist then thrust it out with all her might, tripping over in the process. Still, the fist went flying to turn the bad guy into dust.

The lights in the mummy's eyes faded out. At least he was going down accepting his-

"**SHRIPPP!" **

The center of the mummy was torn open by the pitch black blade of a scythe, which cleaved down to the bottom of the bandages and split the whole thing wide open.

A horrifying shriek ripped her fist asunder, and forced the covers off the mummy's insides, where they draped around their neck like a tattered, hooded cloak.

A tall, lanky form, made entirely out of that mist, only black. He had a head, arms, and legs, but what were they supposed to _look_ like? Its eyes lit back up over its body. Looking at them gave this _thing_ a voice.

"_DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" _A rupture of gasps inside her head overlapped with one another.

"Hhhh...hhhhnn!" Her pupils shrank and her knees clacked against one another. She summoned another pair of gas fists and threw them forward without thinking.

That thing lashed its scythe into the air and its body pulled apart forward, a torrent of black mist rising to reduce the gas to nothingness.

They swung their scythe into the ground in a hunched pose and the mist descended upon her. And the closer it got, the more it felt like her heart would burst out of her chest to greet it.

Her body had no will to scream. Her voice had been ripped from her lungs. She threw her shaky hands into the air and tried pounding the black mist with a multitude of gas fists. Only for her defenses to come crumbling down...

A wave of black rushed towards her like the final scream of a dying girl. And she could not look away...

"This child...is not yours to take!" A voice called out, belonging to a figure who dropped down in front of the black mist and shielded it away with a bubble of aura.

They were tall, with the stature of a warrior, and a pleasant warmth surrounding them. That's all she could see before the black mist collapsed around the barrier. Venus finally collapsed on her knees and gasped for air, as her eyes watered.

No matter how hard the black mist tried, it couldn't break these defenses. So soon, it went into retreat, and the black monstrosity let out an aggressive hiss.

That attack had left its mark on the houses surrounding them, reducing half of them to nothing. It was fortunate that there had been no one inside, or at least, close to where the mist touched.

The warrior lady swung her short sword down and dispelled the barrier, lowering her rounded shield beside her hip. By this description, Venus knew who her savior was.

"Y-You're...Kairi's mama." She barely managed to say.

With a soft smile, Auris looked over her shoulder and spoke, "You fought bravely tonight Venus."

She turned her narrowing eyes upon the black monstrosity with a fire lit inside them and lifted her blade towards them, "But this one's too much for you."

The monster cracked its head towards the left and its body jerked every few seconds. This woeful thing did not even look like it could hold onto the weapon it wielded.

"_Immooooortal...!" _Its voice whispered scornfully inside her head.

"That's right..." Auris smiled a little wider, "It seems we share similar curses."

The beast hissed and lobbed a wave of black miasma her way. She cut through it with a quick slash of aura, but something felt off afterwards. She looked at her sword hand, and saw that there were a few wrinkles on the back of it.

Her smile became a little more enthused at that point. Her smooth, youthful skin returned in moments, and she shook her head at her enemy.

"Oh, that's unfortunate for you..." She took one step forward and the beast didn't flinch. Auris licked her upper lip and twirled her blade in place, firmly grasping it.

"I have longed to remember what it was like to feel threatened," As "Thump! Thump! Thump!" went her heart like a drum, "Blade thrust upon blade, a heartbeat of steel ringing across the battlefield. As blood is cut from flesh, and adrenaline pumped through the heart..."

Her body quivered, and she bit her lower lip with a soft moan. The beast, then took a step back, staring into Auris' wild, unblinking eyes.

"You, _my friend_, have awakened a long dormant warrior..."

She ran before the beast with her sword swung behind her back, then cleaved into the beast's chest with an upward arc. This threw them quite a ways away into a more open space, and left a brief gash of light in their body.

As the creature hissed, Auris ran up closer and swung her sword outward, summoning a large dome of aura to enclose them both.

"You've terrorized my home enough, feral corpse," Auris clanged her sword loudly against her shield and then held it up towards her foe, "Just this once, shall my curse be a blessing...That'll return you to the grave!"

The beast lurched back with a shriek and black limbs tore from his body to spread their cancerous mass against the barrier. Auris shook her head and clicked her tongue, "Don't bother trying to escape."

He instead thrust his hands out and the gangly limbs turned upon Auris. She smiled and murmured, "That's right...Keep all eyes on me."

Her blade shined as she cleaved the oncoming miasma in half and took one step forward after a spin. Her shield, loosened from her hand, was pressed upon her left elbow as she barreled out of the gap towards the beast.

The brief contact with miasma decayed with its touch, but her curse kept her muscles spry. She rammed the beast in gut and it lurched around her shield.

A step back put her in proper kicking distance of her shield, throwing the beast against the barrier. It then pulled its miasma back like a violent dust storm. Auris merely rolled her eyes and stabbed her blade into the ground to summon another dome around her, allowing the miasma to speed on by.

The moment it was gone Auris stood up and recalled her shield back to her arm, carrying some of the miasma back with it. Her arm wrinkled like a prune, bringing the withering hand of age upon her bones.

Auris gave it the moment's glance it deserved and then gripped her sword backhanded, slashing at the ground to send a wave of aura at the beast.

They responded by slashing it with the tip of their scythe and then leaping through the air at her. It came down flailing its weapon in hard arcs against her shield, whose arm had regained its vigor.

She bent at the knees, offering better defense, and a prime opportunity to attack. She coated her sword and delivered a hard slash to the beast's legs. Though the mass responded, the beast stayed undeterred.

"Hmmm..." She repelled back off a pulse from her shield and the beast stabbed its scythe into the ground. Its head lurched out, dragging its miasma forth in droves.

She rolled to the right and stood up, whipping her sword around amidst summoning three blades on each side. She hopped back and fired the blades through the miasma as it grazed the front of her body.

She felt her beauty wither away, her hair follicles turn a muted gray, and her mouth losing its strength. But she could not stop smiling. This was beautiful in its own way.

Her blades hit their mark and forced the creature upright. It fought with a groan, twisting its head a hard ninety degrees downward.

The miasma swept around Auris' body like a ring of death, edging closer and closer. And the touch of time dried out her eyelids and forced them shut.

"This would be a fine death..." She murmured like an old hag. She forced her shield up and hammered the air, creating a cylinder between her and the miasma.

This gave her body room to breathe and heal her youth back nice and slow. She thrust her eyes open and remarked, "But there is still a life I wish to lead. And it shall not be the dead that'll lay me to rest!"

The beast proved a little less mindless than anticipated, for when faced with this obstacle it guided its miasma over it. But its mind was still a dullard thing, for that was _just_ what she wanted.

When the gathered fog of death took a dove into her cage, Auris split the way in front of her wide open and rushed forth with one incredible leap.

She threw her shield at the beast like a discus and hit one of the implanted blades. It, and the others, burst with blue light, throwing the beast's body into a variety of poses.

The shield bounced back into her arm so she could clock the beast in the head, then ram it against his chest while slipping her blade underneath to stab its gut.

The beast exploded with a shriek that threw her back. It tugged its body back, laying its arms limp down at its sides and dragging the miasma towards Auris' back.

Auris looked back with a smile and flipped away. The beast lunged upright with such force that it flew into the air after her.

Auris clocked the beast's gut against her shield but it clung on tight by grabbing her face with its mangled fingers. It gripped her right wrist and the decay acted faster than it did on her face.

She fired one pulse, then a second, stronger one to force the beast off. It ripped off her hand as its prize, and crushed it to dust upon landing, leaving the sword clanging upon the ground behind it.

The hand had to regrow from scratch, starting with the bone. It worked fast, but not fast enough. The beast sent out a small glob of miasma to stick to the wrist and keep the rest of the hand from reforming.

Auris winced with a smirk, "Clever move..."

She then dropped her shield and called her sword back into that hand, thrusting the tip towards her enemy, "Unfortunately for you, I am not just right-handed."

The beast shrieked, being just as frustrated that she couldn't die as she was. He whipped his miasma up into a three-pronged claw and drove the tips straight down.

Auris slipped her foot into the brace of her shield and hopped back, letting it slide off before landing. She then smiled and whispered, "Let me show you a fun parlor trick."

She took the dull edge of her blade along the stub of her arm and pushed on the pores, forcing sweat onto the steel. She then wrapped her blade in aura and stamped the back of her shield to kick it up.

Right as the shield lined up with her chest she dug her sword across it. All she needed was the proper spark, and the oil in her sweat would become a beautiful flame. Then she gripped the sword tighter and whipped the blade out with one hard tug, lashing out a massive wave of fire and aura.

The beast was swept up inside and dragged towards the barrier, his cloak burning away to ash. While her foe laid at the mercy of flames, she nonchalantly stuck her blade down at the bottom of her stump and cut the miasma off.

"Best I deal with this now..." She shook her head with a playful smile, "Riku wouldn't let me hear the end of it if he ever saw me like this."

When the flames were gone the beast's body was sizzling like an overcooked slab of meat. He twitched and jerked upright with a shriek, flailing its arms up and down, bashing its scythe against the ground.

"Still not done yet?" She said with a mild look of surprise as she picked up her shield.

The beast stabbed the ground as far as he could reach and the miasma flew forth like a tidal wave. Auris braced her shield before her face and leaped through like a blue comet.

She then gathered the aura in her blade and slashed down during her descent. The beast evaded the attack with spastic movements forward and then leaped up to greet her.

It flailed its scythe around, the limp arm making it like a whip. Auris swung her shield to parry the first strike and push her to the ground to evade the rest.

The miasma turned around and drilled straight for her side. She summoned a barrier to intercept it, during which the beast could safely slip its scythe into her hip.

The moment she was stabbed, she stabbed her blade right into the beast's chin and that wrenched the scythe out before it dug too deep to matter.

Auris jumped away against the momentum of the miasma and took a deep breath as the beast came lunging towards her shield, flailing wildly to try and break through.

The miasma swept around the sides of the barrier, forcing her to expand its reach. The beast in turn stabbed its fingers into the barrier, pulling a wide gap open in a few, excruciating seconds.

"Hmmm, just what are you hiding?" Auris closed her eyes. At this close of range she could see past the black death to reveal the beast's biggest secret – A sarcophagus stuck to its back, through which the curse manifested as her enemy.

"Ah," Her eyes lit up and a smile creased her lips, "I should have known."

She called her sword back into her hand and gave it a light twirl, "Then this battle is already over."

She slammed her shield against the beast's face as it tried inviting itself into her cage and then shoved forth with all her might. Though the miasma slowed her with age, she pressed on until she had the beast pinned against the barrier.

It shrieked violently and drove its scythe towards her neck. She ducked under it, sacrificing a few needless hairs to dust and slashing away at the beast's legs with quick movements.

Then she backed away as the beast lunged forward and sliced towards her shoulder. She danced along with the beast, hopping away from its underhanded attempt at hitting her with miasma.

When she landed the beast lunged forward. Auris closed her eyes and heard the quiet dripping of water in her head. With her blade looking bright, she thrust forward and delivered a cleaving slash to the beast's right hand, depriving it of its weapon.

The beast didn't hesitate to turn around and try flailing away with its claw. So easily was it blocked with her shield, that she almost felt _insulted_ that it was even trying.

"I don't need clairvoyance to return you to your slumber, fallen prince of sand." Auris arched her brows and jammed her shield against the beast's claw, forcing it into its chest.

She then instantly pulled away and got behind the creature's back to impale her glowing blade into the sarcophagus without looking.

When the beast turned around it hand delivered the shield into the perfect position for her to grab it and uppercut her foe high into the air. The blade's gathered energy grew, trembling the atmosphere. The beast gave one last desperate flail, and then...

"May you rest in peace..." Auris squeezed her hand and the energy exploded out of the sword like a flashy grenade, filling the black mass with cracks, and exploding it into a hundred pieces.

The rusted gold of the sarcophagus and the rotten corpse inside were tossed everywhere within the barrier, with the hollowed out skull rolling up to Auris' feet.

She crushed it under heel, causing it to let out a dry, fading breath. The black miasma fell to the ground, fading away to nothingness.

"Whew...That should make things a little easier for the others." She freed up her hands to swipe some sweat off her brow, then dispelled the barrier around her.

She headed back to Venus, who was still in the same spot as before. The poor girl was on her knees and trembling with a terrible fright.

Auris curled her lips in a frown and knelt down in front of her. And immediately something felt..._off_.

"...Thank you for your help Venus." And she couldn't quite put her finger on it until Venus opened her mouth.

"W-Was I really brave, Mrs. Auris?" Her voice, now sounded a little bit deeper.

There was a sinking feel in Auris' gut as she responded, "Yes...yes you were."

The little girl lowered her head and wrapped her arms around her body, "Mrs. Auris...? Why...why do my clothes feel tight?"

It was as she had feared. The worst had been avoided but a cost...still had been paid. It wasn't a major difference in appearance but Venus did look a couple years older than she had before. A couple years...that could never be reclaimed.

"Oh, my poor child..." Auris leaned in and held Venus against her chest in a soft embrace, then began to sob internally, "I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry..."

_Next Time: Fear of a Loss of Control_


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste**

The skirmish between Plagueis and Gabriel and Saturn hadn't gone far from where it had started. The two Aurians had him surrounded on both sides so he wouldn't be able to sneak away into the busier part of town.

Plagueis swerved around, eyeing the two with his hands wiggling menacingly beneath his sleeves. Gabriel moved in slowly while Saturn had a hand in her pocket.

The samurai waited until his foe's eyes were on his ally and then moved in to strike. One swift slice towards the head was evaded by the enemy treating his blade like a limbo bar and wiggling away towards the right.

But that is where Saturn had stuck a motion sensor bomb. The moment it started clicking it counted down quickly to zero, giving the worm little time to scurry forward out of the way before he wound up a slice of germ toast.

From there he ducked under another of Gabriel's swings and slowed down a fair distance away from his foes. Hunched over, he seemed to be smiling under his own shadow.

"Yes yes I'm beginning to get a sense of how you two function. Your bloodtypes, your health, even how much you sweat..." With the way he wiggled around in joy it made Saturn not want to eat gelatin for a while after this.

"Hehehe!" She propped up her glasses to give them the old shine and her lips quivered into a fine smirk, if she did say so herself, "You think you've figured us out but that's not gonna help you, because I'VE figured YOU out!"

Plagueis went completely still and chuckled, "A battle of the minds is it then? Silly little phlegm...I am always ten steps ahead of-"

He suddenly jerked upright and both Gabriel and Saturn flinched. There was a huge spike in power in the distance, and then it, along with the ill feeling in the air, simply vanished entirely.

"N-Nooooo...!" Plagueis gurgled, trying, struggling, to be anything more than quiet about this.

Saturn turned to the right and saw a dome of aura in the distance disappear, "Oh! Looks like the fight over there went swimmingly!"

"Lady Auris..." Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief, a reprieve short lived, as it was disturbed by the sound of Plagueis' bashing his head back and forth against the ground.

"GAAAAAH! First the castle, then Kahnihilator, and now Ankhan'tur?!" He wrenched his body upright and looked like his body would pop right out of his coat any second, "Impossible impossible! How could you short-lived beasts possibly have bested the Terror of Decay?!"

"Seems you don't understand us after all," Gabriel took a slight bit of pleasure in remarking, and brandished his sword at the enemy, "You can still retreat. You could feed your master your own fear as compensation for your failure."

"Don't you dare look down on me..." Plagueis seemed to take great offense to that, "Feed him...my fear? Feed him? Again...? Again...?! His appetite is insatiable! H-He'd drain me dry if I went back to him now!"

"Then it seems you only have one choice." Gabriel retorted with a wily smirk.

Saturn crossed her arms and proclaimed, "Time to admit defeat and let us strike you down! Don't worry, we'll try to make it quick and flashy."

"Oh spare me the droll heroics..." Plagueis stood fully upright and wiggled the fear from his body, "I will not stop until this whole city screams. And yours...will be the biggest of them all."

Gabriel put his blade in the sheath and bent down slightly with one eye closed, "There'll be no trickery from you. Farewell."

He unsheathed his blade in the blink of an eye and a slash of pure air flew at his foe. The coated man was suddenly grazing the side of the attack, and chuckling as Gabriel looked mildly surprised.

"There is no tricks at play here, my power is a natural part of me..." He then zipped forward and tried forcing his needles into Gabriel's face. The samurai couldn't believe that he almost failed to block him with his katana.

"For you see, much like a germ..." A slimy drool ushered out onto his collar, "_I adapt_."

Meanwhile, Kairi continued to sprint throughout the streets in pursuit of any monsters she could find. The numbers were thinning but that didn't mean anything. She had to keep her senses sharp, but all this running she wasn't used to doing was beginning to tire her out.

"Just don't think about the sweat" and "Ignore the leg cramps" were repeating in her head to keep her going. And getting distracted about that familiar energy source wasn't doing her any favors either.

"_That...that was mom's aura. First I sensed Venus, then something...__**terrible**__...now I don't sense anyone at all," _Kairi frowned, _"I-I'm sure everything's fine but...maybe I should go over there. Venus...she's just a child, she shouldn't be fighting-"_

Three gargoyles crash landed in front of her and she dug her heels down to stop momentarily. She didn't need this right now.

"Grrr...! Out of my way!" She swung her staff back with a tight grip and then thrust forward, crushing through the midsection of two gargoyles. The last one grabbed it at the tip and held it back.

It then took its spear and aimed it at her face. Kairi fiercely opened her eyes and put all her strength towards forcing her staff out of its grip.

"Yo, heads up!" Jupiter's voice suddenly rang out a warning perhaps a second too late, leaving Kairi nearly losing her head to a thrown bat monster.

The gargoyle's waist and chest were lost and the rest might as well be stone dust in the wind. Though for good measure, Jupiter dropped down and smashed its head under both feet.

Kairi hopped away coughing a few times, while Jupiter clapped her hands together and proudly proclaimed, "And that makes 400!"

"Ha...ha..." Kairi took a moment to catch her breath while Jupiter pumped her fist in celebration. Mars could be seen hopping along the rooftops close by, masterfully evading the onslaught of a dozen monsters and picking off each one as he could.

"Well Mr. Desert Wind? How many have you gotten?!" Jupiter hollered.

Mars flipped forward and whipped his nunchucks through half a dozen monsters like a sawblade. When he landed he bounded back on one foot and replied, "400, after I take these guys out."

He zipped away from one of the bat monsters' claw strikes and then struck it hard in the head. Jupiter clicked her tongue and grunted once in irritation. She then looked over her shoulder and cocked a smile.

"Hey Kairi, think you could slow down a bit for me?"

"...W...wuh...?"

"Ah never mind," Jupiter waved her hand back then crunched her fists together, "Guess I just gotta work faster!"

"The city's swarming with monsters and you're...competing for points?" Kairi hung her head with a heavy sigh, "Where do you get that much confidence from?"

"Eh, it comes with experience," Was the short and simple answer, "By the way I was trying to warn you earlier...There's some unique looking monsters out there, probably a little tougher than the rest."

"Yeah...I think Venus and my mom were fighting one?"

"Was that what that was? Shoot, that could've been an extra ten points!"

Kairi **stared** at her with a totally blank look.

"Anyways, just giving the heads-up! If you run into any of them, save 'em for me!" Then she leaped off to shoulder tackle a bat monster right out of Sancturia.

"_...I got a break, so why do I feel even more exhausted now?" _Kairi took one last breath and then ran ahead through the streets.

She saw a few other Aurians, primarily the adults, combating the monsters too. A lack of corpses or even blood helped keep her thinking straight. Jupiter and Mars worked tirelessly in the distance.

"_We can make it through this...this time, without Mew's help..." _A burst of determination picked up her speed and carried her forward, where she took down a few wolves hounding some children.

"Get back inside!" She told them before continuing on her way.

Around the corner she saw a few more Aurians standing together and fighting...another Aurian? Or so it appeared. The one attacking looked like his weapon was being pulled together the others without him putting up any resistance.

And when one of the ones on defense raised their weapon, their arm was suddenly pulled down and they got cut in the face by their fellow man's blade.

"What's going on?" Kairi hurried to investigate.

Right as the assailant's blade thrust towards their friends' chest, Kairi tackled them with her shoulder and sent them careening towards the ground, dislodging the blade from their hand.

"Sorry about that!" She said as she stopped and faced ahead.

"Y-You came just in time...! This thing...!"

The Aurian's warning fell on deaf ears as Kairi widened her eyes immensely at the sight of...a giant rubik's cube floating in the air. It bobbed around with a pulsating, psychedelic aura colored like ivory.

"What the HELL is that?!" She exclaimed.

"01000011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01110010 01101111 01101100" Appeared over the cube's "face" multiple times.

"W-We don't know! We tried attacking it but the next thing we knew our arms and legs weren't working right!" The Aurian behind her remarked.

She looked over to the Aurian she knocked down and murmured, "I can see that."

She gripped her staff tightly and hollered back, "Well?! Don't stand around! Get out of here and let me handle this!"

"Go right ahead! I ain't dying to a fucking rubik's cube!" That same Aurian ran away without hesitation, and the others soon followed.

A part of Kairi wanted to call them chickens, but honestly, it was hard to blame them. With a calm sigh she looked to this strange cube and hunched down in a fighting pose.

"Sounds like you're not much of a talker," She went for her Angel Drive and confidently proclaimed, "Which is fine by me!"

The cube's left side turned down and Kairi's arm pulled away from the bracelet and before her waist, dragging the rest of her body down with it.

"Whoa what?!" Kairi tried to pull herself back up but the cube then turned its left side up and her hand flew up into the bottom of her chin, forcing her teeth together.

"_Kch...! So that's what was going on!" _Kairi hopped away, imagining that the cube had a range of influence. But right before she landed the cube's bottom section rotated left, and her right leg swung that way and made her lose balance when she landed.

"Ooof!" She puffed upon hitting her back. And then she rushed upright, only for the cube to swing in the other direction and make her trip up again.

"Ok you know what?!" She slapped her Angel Drive mid-fall and the explosion of light aura during her transformation kept her from hitting the ground.

She then floated upright and rushed the cube as a streak of light. Thus, the cube started moving even _faster_, turning its middle segment to the right as Kairi swung her staff.

Kairi's waist turned that way and her staff blew right past the cube entirely. The middle segment then swung left and forced her waist the other way, which was a real twisting blow to her insides.

"Guh...!"

The face of the cube twisted upside-down and Kairi flipped around. Everything was happening so fast that her attempt to descend resulted in her smashing her head against the ground and collapsing on her back yet again.

She flared her eyes open and internally declared in frustration, _"Am I being ragdolled by a damn cube?!" _

"_No," _She closed her eyes and tried to relax, _"No. Don't lose focus. Just breathe, and..." _

She slowly lifted herself up and the cube moved its vertical midsection downward. Kairi's head was thus swiftly pulled down between her legs.

"...GRRR!" She stood up with a burst of speed and whipped around with a dangerous amount of aura prepped to explode in her staff.

Hitting the cube as hard as she could set off a bright burst bigger than it, pushing it a dozen feet away.

"01101111 01110111" Appeared over its body.

She then summoned blades of light and rammed them into the cube's body, refilling them as they broke. The cube then turned its upper segment to the right and Kairi found her head twisted that way, breaking her concentration.

The cube moved left, and the sheer whiplash of Kairi's neck was killer on her spine and gave her a headache. She grit her teeth and tried turning to leap, the cube made her trip over herself again.

Seeing as this was about the fourth time now that had happened, maybe it was time to try something else. As Kairi attempted to stand, the cube twisted its right side up and made her hit her jaw with her staff.

"_I can barely get a hit on this thing!" _After besting Gravitus and holding her own against Justek, would she really have to bust out the Neo Drive to beat something barely stronger than a mook?!

"_Come on Kairi, you can do better than this," _She could hear Mew's voice in her head and he was being nonchalant about the situation as always, _"Remember what I taught you? Victory's not always about being stronger than your opponent." _

The message wasn't the same as she remembered it but it was close enough. But what she didn't know is why she used his voice to remind herself of that.

"_Ugh, he's right..." _She bemoaned, _"Let me think...Different body parts are affected by the way the cube moves. As long as it can hit my head I can't concentrate on attacking it."_

"..." Thus, there was an alternative, _"But if I used an attack that __**didn't **__require my concentration..." _

While the cube seemed to not be paying attention, Kairi quickly tapped her Beast Tamer Drive and used its power to create a large falcon.

The cube turned itself to slam her elbow against the ground, where she heard a crack in her bones. She grit her teeth and exclaimed, "GO!"

The falcon screeched and rammed itself against the cube. The cube twisted itself in various directions but the falcon continued to strike away unimpeded.

"_Knew it! It can't affect anything without a mind!" _And in the cube's confusion, Kairi safely got up and cracked a cocky smirk.

"Hehehe! Gotcha now!" She took her staff into its whip form and started wildly flailing at it with all her strength. Between the many lashes and the falcon's talons strikes, the cube was quickly getting overwhelmed.

Its aura fired out in spurts and its body jerked around, moving further away slowly. Kairi recalled her bird to her side and pumped her fist near her chest.

"Real-life rubik's cube are enough of a pain as is! Go down!"

The cube's sides started twisting around rapidly at randomly. In a matter of seconds its "puzzle" was finished, upon which it went completely still and one set of numbers appeared all over its body in blood red.

"**01001101 01110101 01110010 01100100 01100101 01110010"**

All its smaller cubes shrunk and pushed away from the main body. Kairi felt an unease in her gut as the atmosphere around her starting revolting against itself, twisting itself in both shape and colors around where the cube once was.

What was left behind was a void that appeared to exist both two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally and the same time. With its presence alone the world reshaped into a nightmarish realm of garish greens, yellow, and purples.

Did it move? Or was it moving the world?

Looking at it induces seizures.

What does it exist to do?

Kairi tried to close her eyes but was refused the chance to do so. The warping edged closer, screaming incoherent babble so quickly that all she heard was a long, high-pitched sound.

"A...AHHH!" She found herself screaming. Right? That was her scream? Yes, of course. **You're not insane**.

She could smell her own head cracking open. Mmmm, beautiful gray matter. Want a taste? There'll be plenty to share with your 12 sisters.

_You're so fucked up. _

An embrace of arms should treat you well, should you accept it.

Yes

Yes

Let it wrap around your neck, and wring all those bad thoughts free. Nice...and slowly.

**Seek a door with a /****9****/.**

"Get your grubby self outta my sister's head right now!"

The warped figure received a blast to itself and Kairi suddenly gasped out loudly, begging for air. She gripped her neck and breathed in and out, as someone walked up beside her.

It was Shina, wearing her Gunslinger Drive and pointing a one-handed shotgun straight ahead.

"S-Shina? Are you...r-real?"

She flicked a smile towards her and said, "Of course! Why'd you even ask such a silly question?!"

"_Wha...D-Does she not see what's going on here?" _

Shina pointed her gun back at the warp and it started twisting the world violently around itself. Kairi bit her teeth down and exclaimed, "G-Get outta here!"

Shina arched her brows and didn't budge as the warp put its best foot forward and assailed her with its twistedness. Shina flashed a smirk, then blasted the warp again with a harder blast. The warp stretched out in recoil.

"Sorry to disappoint ya, but if that's yer best," She held up her other arm and created two SMGs, "It doesn't compare to the worst I've dealt with!"

She repeatedly bombarded the warp with hundreds upon hundreds of bullets as Kairi stood by dropping her jaw in awe.

Shina then dropped her guns and slapped her Valkyrie Drive, using her freed hands to grip the holy sword tight before her waist.

"C'mon sis, lets hit 'em with a tag-team strike!"

Kairi picked up her jaw and shook her head, then gave a firm nod and touched her Angel Drive, hopping on up beside her sister.

"You got it!"

By then all the bullets had finished blowing up on the warp. Now they faced they wrath of two sisters attacking in unison. They widened their eyes with weapons drawn back, then passed each other while delivering a diagonal attack through the warp.

"Sisterly Divine Heaven's Strike!" Shina exclaimed as somewhere, Saturn shed a tear of joy.

The slanted holy cross ripped through the warp and caused it to spasm out of control. With one last low-pitched screech, it disintegrated into nothingness, returning the perception of reality back to normal.

Shina turned and gave her fallen foe a thumbs-up while lugging her sword over her back, "Hehehe! Shoulda known better than to tangle with the terrible twosome!"

Kairi bonked her on the head and she recoiled with a mutter of "Owie!" As she rubbed her head she asked, "What the heck's that for sis?"

"What the hell are you thinking?! There's monsters everywhere!" Kairi proclaimed with red, frustrated cheeks.

"Uhhhh, isn't that exactly **why** I oughta be out an about?" Shina said, innocently whistling to herself.

"And your BABY?!" Kairi flailed her arms down at Shina's stomach and she looked down with only a mild hint of shame.

"Ha...hahaha...I-I mean I saved your life so couldn't you cut me some slack?"

"I didn't..." Kairi tried moving closer but her eyes started looking hazed over and her body collapsed right into Shina's arms.

"Oof! Gotcha sis!" She said with a giggle.

Kairi grabbed Shina's arms and tried to prop herself back up, "I...I got to keep going..."

"Nuh-uh!" Shina firmly shook her head, "That strange monster really took a lot outta ya. I think its time you relaxed sis."

"But-"

"No buts!" Shina barked with a pleasant tone and patted her sis on the back, "Your friends are handling things just fine."

Suddenly, Kairi was hoisted up in a bridal carry position on her sister's arms, her cheeks becoming rosy red in the process.

"C'mon, let your big sis take care of ya. When you wake up in the morning, the world'll still be around!"

There wasn't really any point in objecting when she didn't even have the strength to move. She gave one quiet groan, then settled back into her sister's arms as she walked through the streets, with monsters being punched through the air above them by Jupiter and Mars.

"I just hope Mew's not in any danger..."She mumbled aloud.

"Him? Nah, he's probably doing just fine!"

_Mew's House..._

Mew was stuck in the mountainside bleeding from cuts in his chest. His expression was flat out of amusement to share.

"..." He looked to the right and saw Lunis enduring the brunt of her brother's rampage. But as it turns out small knives weren't very good at holding back a giant sword no matter how sharp they are.

Then Joe Dark was out there missing that weird pale-faced girl completely, and was doing some weird flinching like he had a rat in his clothes.

Grimmley soon hopped on top of him, breathing down with his sick, bloodthirsty vapor breath, and chuckled.

"Where is your confidence now, little Overlord?"

Mew raised his shoulders and sighed, _"When this is over, I'm really gonna chew Joe out for this..." _

Grimmley took a stab at Mew's chest but he sped out of the impact crater and kicked the werewolf into it from behind. On the hop back he grabbed his katana and tried to slash him too.

Grimmley flipped around hunched on all fours and lunged straight into Mew's blade to bite down on it. Then he tried jabbing his knives into Mew's open wounds.

Mew swung him off towards the other mountainside and glided away, taking the opportunity to gather energy and deliver a few swift slashes at the werewolf.

The werewolf timed his leaps to slip under them and edge closer, where he lunged up at Mew's legs. Mew waited until the last second to punt his foe in the jaw.

Grimmley flipped safely onto his hind legs and Mew dropped to the ground straight ahead of him.

Grimmley rubbed his smiling jaw and guffawed, "Hahaha...Why do you restrain yourself in chains?"

Mew arched his brows and rolled his eyes, _"Oh boy what's he gonna say now?" _

"I can sense your fighting spirit. It burns inside, but you keep it dull like an ember..." Grimmley wagged his knives up towards his face, "Does your lust for battle...**scare you**?"

Mew grimaced, which did not go unnoticed.

"Hehe...Peace is dull. We can only derive pleasure from constant battle," Grimmley hung his bloody knives up, boasting the many lives they have taken in his name, "Don't consider this a mercy call. I will kill you no matter what. But you should stop lying to yourself, and accept the beast within...!"

Mew closed his eyes and breathed a long, heavy sigh, "I could give in to my bloodlust..."

He opened his eyes with a fierce, yet somehow calm glare, "But I won't. And that difference is what makes me stronger than you."

Grimmley dropped his claws to the ground and shook his head, "Humanity always finds a way to disappoint me. Your kind is only useful for sport!"

He lunged straight at Mew and drove his claws down upon his left shoulder. As the flesh was breached Mew raised his katana to keep it from going further.

"Tsk...!" Mew struggled through the pain to close his eyes and try to relax himself. Taking a slow breath, he could feel his strength growing just enough to start pushing the werewolf's knives up.

With one powerful shove he knocked Grimmley on his back and then forced a hand over the scars on his shoulder.

"Come on then..." Mew flashed a wild grin, "I'll make this the greatest game of your life!"

Meanwhile, Joe Dark darted at Alura only to run into a phantom. The "real" Alura floated off the right with her hand limply raised.

His movements were stalled by an entanglement of bright rosy thorns enveloping his body. Of course they weren't real, but his mind didn't want to agree with his body on that. He struggled, grunting with heavy exertion, but the binds would not break.

Alura coldly tossed a couple of her spears into his body and they "impaled" through his gut. He bit his teeth down and a sudden burst of adrenaline gave him the extra strength to break through the thorns with dark energy.

He held an arm over the invisible wound in his gut and flared his eyes open while charging at Alura with a punch. She vanished again, but this time he turned around and fired a dark blast where she appeared again.

But it didn't matter. She wasn't real, again. Joe curled his fist and flipped back around, finding her floating loftily in the air with no trace of feeling in her eyes.

"Quit running already." He muttered with disdain.

"You know a lot about running away, Joe Dark." She responded, her words a literal stab to Joe Dark's heart.

"Ghhh...!" He clutched his chest, squeezing his fist, and filling it with darkness.

"If I hit you, you will die." He warned, softening his words as best he could.

"You'll never hit me," Alura stated with confidence unbecoming of her demure stature, "You shall wander my labyrinth until you fall, Joe Dark."

"Tsk...! You'd take the risk of dying over answering my damn question?!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth.

"I do what father requires of me." She replied stoically.

He swung his head towards Dracula postured smugly by his lonesome and glared at him in utter disdain, "No father should demand that of their child...!"

He then looked back at the pale-faced girl. In response, she threw another "spear" towards him. He caught it out of the air beside his face and crushed it without hesitation. Alura's face visibly flinched.

"_My body is in agony...My mind feels like its on fire..." _Joe Dark grit his teeth until his whole body was left trembling, and the darkness expunged from his fist, _"I-I shouldn't give a damn what happens to this girl but...But..."_

He closed his mouth and swallowed slowly. Those lost, wandering eyes the girl stared at him with...He couldn't get them out of his head.

"_Must I save her...if I'm to ever save myself?" _He looked her straight in those "same" eyes and held his palm out, "I **will **escape your labyrinth...And drag you out of yours too!"

It was incredible that anyone could hear each other speak when Solaris was smashing apart the ground with eruptions in his attempt to strike Lunis.

Lunis hesitated to back off. Never before had she seen her brother's deranged, bloodthirsty look from her own perspective. And it was terrifying. He shot a smirk through the towering flames and the hot crimson heat gave his face extra malice, and made his teeth look jagged and unclean.

With every push closer Solaris laughed louder and louder, his voice sounding not from his lungs, but from the crackling of hellfire around him.

"Are you just going to keep running?!" He smashed the ground and flung hot ash towards his sister's face. She ran away, bumping her back into the barrier she had erected, eliciting a look of worry from her.

"Your _**friends**_ can't save you now!" He gripped his blade in both hands and swung at her with all his strength. A wide swathe of fire ripped the whole barrier asunder, and sent her flying half a mile away into a higher part of the mountain range.

And he leaped right on over to meet her, stabbing his sword into the ground while hunch over like a gremlin, "_No one can_, **sister**..."

Lunis' knees were shaking from the raw power of her brother's wrath. She slowly crossed her arms below her face and gripped her knives tight.

"I...I don't need their help..." Tears were rolling down her firmed cheeks, and she arched her brows in a glare, "T-This is my fight brother...I'll stop you, and end our family's pain once and for all!"

_Next Time: Children of the Stars_


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Setting Sun**

They are two siblings who were born under the stars. Far from either friend or foe, they shall set their battle under the glow of the full moon.

The ferocious sun. The gentle moon. Both tremble with their emotions at a high.

Solaris lined his fingers along his sword's grip one at a time and pulled it from the charred, cracked ground. Never had his eyes looked as red as a dying star, and like one, his rage would wipe everything out until not even her remained.

"You've always been weaker than me, sister..." He said over the sound of flames spurting from his sword.

This was no time for doubts, for tears. Shed the last drop of sorrow and fight with all your heart. That's all she could do to save her brother.

Lunis closed her eyes in view of her brother beginning to swing his blade. One last breath, so she could not even hear her heartbeat as a distraction. No anxiety. No thoughts. Let pure instinct take control.

Her eyes thrust open and she flung her knives straight towards his face. He shot a shocked look and blocked them with the blade's blunt edge.

She created a clone to run and jump his head with a kick while rushing forth herself. She snatched her knives on the rebound and stabbed them between his toes. A bit of silver frost on them would then keep him down.

She flipped away from the backside of his blade right into the grip of a clone. It spun her around quickly then fired her off as a torpedo. Solaris started to take a swing so she shifted course and punched him directly in the hip.

And with just enough time to turn and land on her palms. She then hopped onto her feet and shook her sore hand. Solaris tried to turn around but his lower half didn't budge. He grunted a few times before his eyes darted for the ground.

A feral smirk was her only warning to back off before he exploded with flames, and cratered the ground at his feet to free himself.

Lunis rested at the edge of the crater and blocked the incoming debris. She had to be more careful of that, or this destruction would run the risk of exposing the others.

"GRAH!" Her brother's roar turned her upward as he dove down, spinning both body and blade diagonally.

She short hopped away as he tore through the ground on his way towards her. He ripped through feet of solid stone like paper and threw explosive ash throughout the sky.

She soon found herself against a flat mountain face and forced to draw her knives in a feeble defense. He soon hammered her heels against the stone and cracks rapidly ascended towards the top.

"Two seconds..." She calculated as the time between swings. As the next one threatened to shatter her last line of defense, she sacrificed a clone to the wrath of flames, and a headbutt to his gut stopped him.

She then leaped up the mountain, kicking off the loose rocks on her way to the top. Once at the peak she kicked off with a twirl, looking dazzling under the moon.

And because Solaris was distracted by this, he failed to notice the mountain coming down on top of him.

If only that could be enough to knock him out.

Lunis cautiously stared at the pile of rocks, waiting for his next move. It wasn't surprising when he countered with another explosive outburst, carrying all these rocks skyward on a pillar of fire.

And then he shot out of the flames with such startling speed she didn't have time to escape. He grabbed the top of her head and shunted her down to where he was.

She had a clone catch her, for as little that'd help. For right away he closed his fist tight and rained all those burning rocks across the battlefield.

She bolted out towards the other side, flinging a couple knives up his way as a distraction. A rock fell in her path and the explosion tossed her back, where a few more of them battered her around.

Her final destination got her where she had wanted, unorthodox though it may have been. But now her brother had gained the advantage, robbing her of her speed.

But **not** her reflexes.

She rolled left as he came crashing down, and continued rolling as he brought his sword towards her head. The rising plume of ash knocked her up, but she quickly landed on her feet.

Her eyes bulged as she darted forward and rammed him in the chest, where the unsteady ground made it possible to knock him down.

The two stopped to catch their breath, and the battle resumed with her kicking his sword out of his hand as he tried to swing.

She then grabbed his neck and pulled away to lift him up. Her firm grip had staggered his breathing, giving her time and opportunity to lay her palms on his chest. Her silver frost slowly spread over the armor.

Fire spurted out from his body and repelled both her and the frost. He then lunged out and struck her neck with his right biceps.

Heavy loss of air, vision blurring, muscles limping. Despite these ills, she dug her heels deep into the ground and stayed upright, tearing through enough ground to rip the material off her suit and deeply redden the heels.

Solaris leaped through the air like a pouncing beast, his arms pulled back as far as they'd go. Lunis tossed out a couple clones to stall for time while she caught her breath. They grabbed his arms and dragged him to the ground.

He wasted no time bashing them together in front of him, releasing a fiery burst that bowled her over. He then charged ahead with a reeled back fist.

She pushed her feet out and scissored one of his legs between hers, then pulled him down. She then pulled herself back on top of him and slammed her palms on his chest.

But she had made a slight error in judgment, allowing him to force his hands around her neck. And he wasn't looking for a brief scuffle...

"Gck...! Gck!" She felt her life being choked out with every breath.

But she couldn't move, not until his armor was full of frost. Yet even if she was successful, there was only one way to free herself...

"I'm...sorry...!" She summoned her knives and stabbed them into Solaris' armpits, devoid of any armor.

He let go with a restrained grunt that lasted quite a while. That wouldn't hold him back for long. Her mind was hazy as she leaped high into the air with a series of flips. She was uncertain of success, but she had to try.

She extended one leg out and dropped down. Her vision tried to deceive her. No. There was only one destination. A bone shattering kick, delivered squarely to Solaris' brittler armor.

Her knee stung as she flipped away, and the pain felt even worse on landing. Solaris stood up and laid an arm over the bare space in his armor. He curled his fist inside of it and jerked his head up at her.

"All that...to break part of my armor?" His lips stretched for his cocksure grin. Lunis looked him in the eyes, eve after he swung his arm out and called his sword back.

"Stop this brother, I don't want to hurt you." She said with a small frown.

"Stop? Stop?!" He spat back in her face with laughter, "You're always acting like you're the older sibling and it pisses me off!"

"Do this? Don't do that?! I'm done listening to that crap!" He swung at his chest while hunched over, "I will live my life **my** way! To hell with the rest of you!"

"This won't make you happy." She said in return.

"And your 'friends' will, you pampered princess?" His sharp tongued growl made her look away timidly, "Daddy's little girl...You make me _sick_."

She thrust her glare out with quivering eyes and whispered, "You mean that, don't you?" Not disappointed just...sad.

She summoned her knives with a downward flick of the wrists and Solaris sneered in turn, "Yeah. Come on 'White Shroud'. We both know this won't stop unless I drop dead."

Fire rose around his body and lashed out at his surroundings, "If you can even bring yourself to kill your 'dear brother'."

A sharp jolt of aggression in the air stunned her and allowed him to close the gap with a single swing. She slipped around to his back and he turned around, aiming for her head.

She ducked under it and then quickly flipped into a handstand, kicking him up via his chin. She leaped after him and spun around, driving a flurry of kicks into his face.

Once past him she flipped upright and tried one last kick atop his head. He blocked with his blade's blunt edge and shoved her off, going straight into a fiery slash.

She used a clone to grab her leg and pull her down just in time, then leaped away as he aimed another slash at the ground. Her clone fired a few knives towards his face, then vanished.

He squeezed the knives down to liquid metal in an instant, boasting a smirk. He then came crashing straight down like a white hot arrowhead. His impact threw a large lava plume her way.

She put frost on her knife and sliced cleanly up through the middle, then tackled through the gap. Solaris tried to snag her out of the sky, but she had time to hop off his palm and fly over.

He raised his arm back and threw a fireball as she tossed a knife, canceling the two out, then repeated this two more times. When she landed she gathered a knife in each hand above her head and filled them with silver frost, while he raised his blade overhead and it howled with crimson fire.

The two dragged their weapons down in a slash of equal might, dividing their battle with wings of frozen flames and red mist.

She vaulted forward and took a dive between his legs as he swung down again, picking up right at his back. She jabbed him with twenty rapid-fire punches as he slowly turned around with a sinister glow in his eyes.

He whipped around his whole body and lashed the air with multiple waves of fire. She hopped back, narrowly grazing between two of them, then diving to the ground to escape the next wave.

She attempted to spin around and trip him up, but his stance was too solid and her bones paid the price. She clicked her tongue and pulled away, staying hunch flat against the ground on one hand.

He pounded the ground with the tip of his blade and sent flame pillars erupting in a straight line after her. She slid over to the right, then back to the left for the next wave. When he tried going for three, she narrowed her gaze and dashed ahead, zigzagging between each pillar until she was directly below him.

She raised a fist straight at his chest and, as expected, he was deceived into only moving back just as far as to avoid the knuckles. So she called her knife out midway through and cut him across the nose. He wasn't smug after that.

She backed away before facing harsh retaliation. His flame slash tore through part of the mountain behind her and made her wince. But she forced herself to not look back.

She flipped away, masterfully avoiding two of his slashes. His third one went for an upward swing, requiring the use of a clone to pull herself away. She tossed herself at another mountainside and noticed a fallen tree trunk at the ground.

She summoned another clone to pick up the tree and toss it at Solaris while she bent down and launched herself forward with incredible force. He let the wood splinter against the blunt edge of his blade and then fired off a blast of explosive ash when Lunis got close.

She forced herself towards the ground and rammed her shoulder along the dirt to slide underneath him. She pulled out her knives and took a swing at his legs, but couldn't break through the armor.

She stuck her feet to the back of his legs and propelled herself further back with a kick, giving her space and time to stand. She then flung two knives in anticipation for him exposing his chest.

She surprised her by leaving his armor out and blasting the knives to ash with a large fireball. She swerved to the right and ran straight at him. He tossed another fireball to swerve her to the left, where he was preparing to swing his sword into her path.

She leaped and rolled over the blade and the ensuing explosion. He dug his blade into the ground and started tearing through the space around him in a jagged circle. And, unfortunately, caught her against the blunt edge.

The burning pain didn't last long as she was thrown out after the first rotation and sent rolling across the ground. She got right up and breathed somewhat more heavily than before. Her eyes slowly widened as she saw his flames roar out of the cracks into a gigantic wall.

She called out a few clones and they all drew knives covered in silver frost. Solaris lashed his blade out hard enough to shake the air, and the fire wall was spread out quickly.

Her and her clones stabbed their knives into the wall and the ensuing combined chill was more than enough to freeze the whole wall solid before it could spread its inferno through the far away trees.

She hung her head up and panted, a brief calm before the storm, as it were. The wall cracked all around, and then shattered against the force of Solaris' fiery burst. She stayed still, but her clones were flung back.

He dropped his sword to the ground and started a slow march towards her. The intense heat surrounding him added a demonic sense of menace to his body.

"You. Can't. BEAT ME!" He roared, the flames spewing from his body dispelling most of the heat. He then dragged his sword up with a heavy swing to send a wave of fire her way.

She leaped to the right and waited. He sent out another wave, so she leaped to the right. No. The left. He was getting closer, this was no time to second guess things.

She needed an opening. Any opening. Her eyes remained wide open against the dry air as she charged forward, summoning a clone and zipping back and forth to hide which one was her.

They both attacked him from different sides but he slowly craned his head back to lock eyes only on her. He raised his sword high and brought it down. She gasped, falling on one knee and using her knives to block his aggressive assault.

"I know its you...!" He sneered with pride. The clone attempted to attack his chest but he grabbed it by the face without looking and slammed it into her. Her defenses were thrown off-balance, and the blade started coming down...

She dug her slanted feet into the ground and hopped away, the only harm being the bottom of her feet scraped by the blade.

She had to stand on her hands until her feet stopped flaring in pain. He was more than glad to start swinging at her in the meantime.

She carefully planned each flip to keep landing on her palms and he seemed hyper focused on attacking her like this. **That** was the opportunity she needed.

She flared her eyes open and summoned a clone directly next to him that ran right in and clocked him hard in the wrist, forcing the blade out of his grasp.

So attuned to his berserker state, he immediately grabbed the clone in the back of the head and slammed it against the ground.

Her feet, now feeling fine, freed up her mind to focus entirely on her target. She suspended briefly in the air and dove straight for Solaris' chest, tackling him down into dozens of feet of ground.

He responded in kind with a fiery burst that blew her away and shatter his surroundings. He dragged the burning rock up with one hand and flung it out as a hellish hailstorm.

She created two clones and hunched behind them so they could act as a shield. Then, the moment the brimstone had fallen, she dispelled them and darted in a zigzag towards him.

He was making the hand gesture to call his sword back. Desperation clung to her mind like an iron weight and forced a knife out in her hand, which she used to slice him quickly across the wrist.

While he reeled in pain she summoned frost in both knives and forced them against the bare spot of his armor. Not stabbing, just laying them there, and letting the frost spread out across his skin.

He grit his teeth and lunged out as quick as she made her retreat. But his reach was just a little quicker and longer, allowing him to grab her face and blast her with a couple explosions.

He then slammed her against the ground and threw her through the surface until she hit up the slope of the nearest mountainside.

Mind spinning. Thoughts scattered. Was...was that blood trickling down below her eye? She slowly pushed herself up and her arm limped for a moment, forcing her to brace it with her hand. Her ponytail had become undone, and the long locks of hair stuck to the smear of blood on her right cheek.

But she remained as sure as her ability to stand. Not even her knees wanted to tremble in the face of her brother's overwhelming tenacity.

He dragged his blade off the ground and tried to summon flames around it. But then, he hunched over, and started coughing hard and rough, like rock was being dragged up his throat.

The flames spurted out then faded away in short bursts. He immediately reached for his chest and scraped his sharp fingertips over the ice.

Lunis' chest heaved with each heavy breath and she narrowly glared at her brother, _"You need oxygen for your flames to work...That's always been your biggest weakness, brother."_

She pulled herself upright as the pain in her arm dulled with her cold touch, then calmly took a slower breath in, _"I'm sorry I had to do this..." _

"Grrrr...! GRRRRR!" Solaris desperately clawed away at the ice but it refused to go away. He lashed his arm out and flashed a wild look her way.

She puckered her lips and her eyes sagged, "Stop this now brother. Please, before you hurt yourself anymore."

"Shut up...SHUT UP!" He lashed his head out and madly swung his hand through the air, "I'm stronger than you! Tougher than you! Better than you in every way!"

He wheezed out a bitter cold fog and clutched the faded flames on his hand against his chest, "Y-You...don't get to look down on me...!"

"What would father think if he saw this?!" Lunis screamed from the tired, pained depths of her heart.

"Like he'd give a shit!" Solaris viciously grit his teeth and threw his head up in a scowl, "Daddy's little girl...always acting like you knew what he wanted...!"

"He didn't want us to kill each other, or give in to revenge...!" She laid a hand over her chest and squeezed it into a trembling fist, "Your anger is out of control...It'll consume you eventually."

"I am the GODDAMN SUN! I'm stronger than my anger!"

"...But are you stronger than your fear?" Lunis turned aside and could barely face her brother's frenzied look without feeling like she'd cry, "That's what this has really been about...You're not angry that father's dead. Your scared because without him, you don't know what to do..."

Solaris clasped his teeth shut with a hiss. Lunis closed her eyes and murmured, "Do you remember when we were young?"

_We spent a lot of time at father's hip. But you were the louder of us. Always talking to him, listening closely to his stories. You loved him a lot. _

_I remember one night when father took us stargazing. The moon was big and blue, and it made the stars sparkle like emeralds. We learned about the five Aurian constellations. _

_And you...you were so eager to find out which one was the Sun. Father told you it was the only star visible in the day time. And it took you forever to realize that the big ball of fire was what you were looking for._

_We always enjoyed stargazing with father. It was the one time he seemed to be at peace. He used to let us sit on his legs, even when we got too big for him. _

"Yeah I remember that...!" Solaris said not in fond remembrance, but sheer disgust, "But of course you'd sugarcoat things..."

"That one night you mentioned? Did you remember how you thought I left ahead of you and dad?" He slanted his eyes and scowled, "I **heard** you two talking."

Lunis flinched as he began explaining what he had heard.

_I was standing behind a nearby house, wondering what was taking you two so long. You were gripping father's hand extra tight and helping him stand up. God, you were so clingy..._

_Then you pointed up at the sky and asked, "Father, is that the moon?"_

_He answered your dumb question and you stared up at the moon to say, "Its the prettiest object in the sky."_

_And then father lifted you up and said, "No, you are, my dear sweet daughter..."_

Only his scowl could be seen when he hunched over and trembled violently, "You were always father's favorite...!"

He raised and stabbed his sword into the ground, "I worked hard, got stronger and stronger, but he never looked at me the same way he did you! Everything I did wasn't good enough for him!"

He lashed his head up and his eyes were dry with redness, "But none of that matters now because he's DEAD!"

The roar of his emotions burned louder than his flames, but it was born from only half the truth.

"That's...what you think he felt about you?" Lunis looked him in the eyes and bit her teeth in a tearful scowl, "You're wrong! Father loved us equally!"

_That night, after father lifted me up into the sky, I looked at his eyes...And they were crying. Like it hurt him to hold me. _

_I was too young to understand that he was looking at the future...__**our **__futures. But I'll never forget what he told me that night._

"_You two are my shining stars...My salvation. I want you to grow big and strong...and be happy. So that one day, I will gaze down at your smiles, and see a light brighter than any star, any moon...any sun."_

Lunis bit and quivered her lower lip with a sniffle, "We were young and foolish and thought we knew what it'd take to make father happy."

She swung her tearful face up and screamed from the pits of her soul, "While every mistake we made tore him apart inside!"

Solaris' face froze with mouth agape, and she eased up slightly, even though this was the hardest thing to admit, "And even then...he never stopped loving us."

He gasped, jerking forward with his hand clutched over his chest. His body began to glow with a terrifying crimson light, and he slowly raised his head to eye her. His pupils shrank, and he was heaving quietly.

The tense, quiet atmosphere was broken by the fall of his sword, as he tightly grasped the sides of his head and his trembling affected the ground at his feet.

"Nnnrrrrghh...! Nrgghhh...!" He threw his head back and roared with an ear-shattering scream, "STOP CONFUSING MEEEEEEEEE!"

His body exploded outward with a pale white and red blast that she was quickly swept up inside. His power was out of control, threatening to wipe out everything that surrounded him, including her.

"_H-He can't sustain this...! This'll kill him!" _In a panic, she pushed against the force of the explosion as it ripped away her suit.

When she tried to leap in close he backhanded her away with a weak flail of his arm. She hunched down on the ground and forced her eyes open as the heat of a thousand suns assailed them.

"_You've always been stronger than me...But not today!" _She dug her fingertips into the ground and pulled herself forward, _"I have something worth fighting for...And people who are counting on me to win!" _

She dragged herself up and summoned two clones to her sides. She grit her teeth hard and commanded those clones to run in closer, and force themselves onto Solaris' hands to pull them down to his hips.

"_Mew, Riku, father..." _She widened her eyes as far as they'd go and leaped against the immense pressure to get behind her brother's back, _"And you too!"_

She clasped her hand over her brother's mouth and braced the other arm under his arm. He flailed and squirmed to break free. His tenacity was as unmatched as his flames.

But his godly strength was still bound by human limitations. Left with no way to breathe, his immense explosion whittled away into his body, and she could sense his eyelids closing. His string of grunts ended with a wet whimper, and a lone tear trickled down onto her hand.

There was nothing around them but black ash and rock, filled with glowing white cracks.

Her heart pounded against her chest. Slowly, her arm slid down to his neck, and lowered him to the ground. She wrapped his upper body in a hug, and cried her eyes out, broken up with the occasional hiccup.

He still breathed. A slow breath, fainter than a whisper, but a breath nonetheless.

Her nerves burned. Her skin blistered.

"Why?" She begged, "Why did this have to happen?"

One man, one monster, was burned into her retinas.

"Him...!" She grit her shaking teeth and raised her head. A streak of crimson climbed down her hair, and a glint of bright red flickered around her body.

Dracula, the Lord of Monsters. Her brother had been motivated by rage, but it was by that beast's hand that he was guided back here.

Hate him. Hate him! **HATE HIM!**

Meanwhile, the Lord of Monsters enjoyed the view of battle from the comfort of the air. He twitched with a meager smile, and whispered in delight, "Two gods fade, as is the fate of all stars in the sky..."

"...Mrrr?" He perked his brows up and craned his head towards the mountain ahead.

Mew, Grimmley, Joe Dark, Alura...they all stopped what they were doing, their eyes drawn to where he looked with a dew of cold sweat trickling down the side of their faces.

"This feeling...its cold...but hot, with rage..." Mew murmured.

A red glow scaled the peak of that mountain ahead of its owner. With every step they took, the mountain melted at their feet.

Standing in view of all was a woman with long silvery hair clad in streaks of blood red. Her pupils at a paper thin slit, saw nothing but their enemy in their sights. A thick set of nine fox tails swung around at her back, tipped with a blue, ghostly flame. Her fingernails had grown longer and more pointed, while her knives now looked more like sickles.

There was not a shred of mercy visible in that posture, and even Mew was nervous to acknowledge their name.

"L-Lunis?"

The Lord of Monsters stirred, rising from his comfort to stretch his arms in greeting of this changed lunar goddess.

"You BASTARD!" She screamed with the echoing ferocity of her bestial name, "Thinking you could manipulate my brother...AND FEED OFF HIS FEARS AND RAGE...?!"

Her aura exploded like wildfire and took off the top of her perch, "I'LL NEVER...FORGIVE YOU!"

"Come to me my child, so I may fe-"

His neck was sliced through in the blink of an eye, and Lunis landed on all fours on the mountain behind him. The grotesque splitting of the beast's tendons as his head started rolling back drew the eye of all back towards him.

"L-Lord Dracula!" Grimmley exclaimed in a panic.

Alura gasped, her face turning even paler than the norm.

"No way..." Joe Dark couldn't believe it.

Lunis turned around, her eyes flaring open as she let out a surprised grunt. The Lord of Monster grabbed his head and pushed it back into place. The visceral sounds of his skin sealing back up made Mew sick to his stomach.

"Wh...what?" Grimmley muttered.

Dracula turned towards Lunis, who didn't hesitate to leap at him and stab her sickle through his chest and into his mouth...And found her other hand being clenched tightly in his grasp.

As blood dripped down his jaw, it mixed with a growing salivation, and a hungered glaze filled his eyes, "Give me all that you have. The rage, the hatred...the fear...I shall devour it all."

_Next Time: One Last Germ_


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Plague of Nights**

_Sancturia..._

Gabriel was locked in combat with Plagueis. The squirming fiend had a surprisingly agile fighting style and swiftly clawed away at his body with his many vile needles.

But Gabriel knew where he'd strike and when to block. His blade's length ensured not a single gap could be opened to his foe.

Yet when it came to striking back, that was not so easy. Plagueis swerved away from each thrust and slice and continued fighting back with no pause in between.

Gabriel shifted forward and went towards his foe's face, and found his blade locked in a cage of needles. Plagueis gurgled, feeling elated at the struggle.

"You're more stubborn than a squad of white blood cells!" He pushed his face towards the tip of the blade, knowingly enticing the pain that he presumed would never come, "But that's always when I have the most _fuuuuuun_!"

He threw the katana towards the ground and slid away momentarily as it rose towards his face. He then flew right back into the fray and kept swinging his needles away at the samurai's face.

Gabriel had a close encounter with the grimy tips that drew a bead of sweat from his forehead. Meanwhile, Saturn was pacing around slowly and filing information away on her handy watch.

"Gabriel, I need you to try and push him away!" She said, her tone more respectful than forceful.

"Yes, I'll get right on that." He replied, his tone tensing as he found Plagueis' needles grinding against his blade.

"Hmmm!" Saturn nudges up her glasses and shut off the watch, "I guess I can work with this."

She reached into her pocket and lightly tossed up a small, metallic yellow orb. It tingled her nerves with excitement when she wrapped it in her hand, and after smirking she chuckled slyly.

She then clicked the top and the middle split open with a few blue sparks. Gabriel glanced her way and subtly nodded before resuming contact with their enemy.

Saturn flicked the grenade in an arc and its ticking counted down rapidly. When Plagueis took notice, too bad! There's no escape this time.

A magnetic burst from the grenade repelled Gabriel and Plagueis from each other. Saturn then raised her watch and quick-fired a purple laser at the enemy.

It scorched his coat as he squirmed out of the way with _annoyingly _unnatural timing. She tried two more lasers in quick succession and the grimy fiend took that as a cue to start dancing around them.

"Hold still you devil!" She raised the watch before her eyes and started charging up for a double-sized dynamic laser attack!

Plagueis twisted towards her and started scuttling at her like a crab after ingesting a mix of sugar and cocaine. She fired the laser off without warning and he swerved out of the way.

Gabriel provided back-up by deflecting it back down with a slice, burning a hole in the bottom of Plagueis' coat. He quickly squirmed many feet away and tucked his arms down by his sides.

"Gggggggggg!" There goes the arrogant laughter. A common coping mechanism for cornered cronies. Next up he'll probably say "I have you all figured out now".

"I have you all figured out now."

"Hehehe...!" She cracked a smirk as the subtle raise of her lips nudged her glasses into a perfect spot to shine.

"_And then he'll say 'Enjoy your last living moments in this world'." _

"Enjoy your last living moments in this world." He said while raising his head up high, stretching his shadow further under the pale moonlight.

"_Haha! Two for two! I'm unstoppable today! And, for the coup de grace..." _Saturn pushed up the bridge of her glasses on one finger and the lens fogged up. Given the fiend's fetish for flus, his next line will be...

"For the diseases I have concocted will take your breath AND life away!" She said in perfect unison with Plagueis, up to attempting to ape his slimy voice.

Her slime ridden nemesis lurched upright like he'd been turned to stone. Truly, his mind had been violated so thoroughly by her sheer _awesomeness_!

"Hahahaha!" She crossed her arms firmly with a smile.

"...What freak world were you born on woman?" Plagueis said in the driest tone his moist mouth could muster.

"A world where radiance shines from every star, and I shine the brightest of them all!" Saturn flipped part of her hair back and paused for a chuckle, then resumed with a deeper, more bombastic voice, like she was announcing for a sports game, "I am the ray of hope to illuminate the darkest depths, and burn away evil at the source! I am the ultimate superheroine of the stars! Galaxy Rider...Saturn!"

And of course, gotta finish off another great speech by setting off an explosion behind her. But first...

"Ahem...!" She cleared her throat and Gabriel sighed, then took a few steps to the right with a smile.

She then pleasantly crossed her arms and "Kaboom!", off went the (safety regulated) fireworks behind her, leaving behind a flashy blue and purple cloud.

"Oh good grief enough already!" Plagueis violently squirmed and swung his needles back out, "You're making **me **sick with all this nonchalant chit-chat and insane antics...! Do you take me for the common flu?!"

"Your foul ilk is a disease and we are the cure!" Saturn proclaimed while thrusting her pointer finger out.

"You haven't _seen_ me play foul yet..." Plagueis wiggled one hand's worth of needles before his face, "Allow me to elucidate to you...the **true** definition of fear."

A heavy breeze blew forth from the fiend's body. Nay, it was his speed at work, and the complimentary afterimage acted as his deception.

With a quick flinch Saturn hopped away and narrowly avoided the sting of Plagueis' needles. All the while, he took another swing at Gabriel's head, and the samurai guarded with his katana.

"Got you...!" The fiend's voice deepened with malice and after a sharp turn of his head, one of the needles dislodged from his hand and stuck into Gabriel's neck.

"Ghhh...!" Gabriel bit his teeth down and took a swing at Plagueis, only for him to slip away like a tadpole. He then quickly pulled the needle out, leaving a throbbing, discolored hole in his skin, with the veins slowly turning yellow underneath.

"Gack...!" He heaved a dry cough and clasped his neck, dropping onto one knee as less and less noise came out of him.

"Ohohoho, now that's more like it. Grovel near the dirt like the worm you are!" Plagueis boasted while all hunched towards his foe.

Saturn ran towards her ally and diagnosed the conditions immediately. The fiend had infected Gabriel with a virus that forced his esophagus closed and made it hard to breathe.

"You slimy scoundrel!" She proclaimed whilst turning her head hard towards the enemy, and giving them an even harder glare.

Plagueis gently wagged the tips of his needles beside his face and brushed her confidence off with a laugh, "Arrogance, mankind's greatest disease..."

He waved his hand out a finger a time and shook his head in pity, "You were so relaxed trying to beat me that I had plenty of time to figure you out, while I kept my cards close to my chest."

"The moss skinned samurai is tough, granted, but he still needs to _breathe_," Plagueis' collar started to become drenched in slime yet again, "Oh I wonder how much oxygen he has left to spare...How quickly shall he lose the color in his eyes. I want to see this green man turn **purple**..."

"...But I have work to do and lost time to catch up on. There's no more need to entertain a crazy girl playing make believe hero..." He kept his hands close to his chest and muttered, "The doctor is in, and **you** are out."

He turned around and scuttled straight into the city. He wasn't just scum, he was cowardly scum, the worst kind of them all!

Saturn looked at Gabriel and saw the samurai close his eyes in a wince of pain, "G-Go! I'll be fine..."

It was a vote of confidence gifted by what few precious breaths he might have left. And there was no way in heck she was going to let that go to waste.

"Yeah!" She stood right up and threw her coat back, releasing a few hand-sized drones from the pockets, "I ain't letting this scumbag outta my sight. Nobody hurts my comrades and gets away with it!"

That slime scoundrel wants to talk definitions? She's about to show him what being a "heroine" really means. And really, claiming that he's got **her** all figured out?

"Heh, I ain't even used one full deck of cards!" She said with a confident smirk, "Time to get to work!"

"Phi!" She proclaimed to the drone with rough pink lights.

"Yes madame?" They replied in a respectful chiptune voice.

"Monitor Gabriel's condition and keep his vitals in check. The rest of us are gonna take the bad guy down!"

"Of course. Be on your way."

That drone hovered behind while Saturn leaped onto the nearest rooftop and started bouncing across them like they were the soft, springy mushrooms on Caulispo 7.

She tapped the side of her glasses and her field of vision became covered in an olive green tint. A certain scoundrel appeared through the houses as a glowing blue figure.

"Gotcha punk!" She kicked up the pace and bolted across the roofs while barely taking a break to land.

Plagueis wiggled his way through the streets of Sancturia and flicked his needles towards the houses, striking the bold but now foolish Aurians for daring to peek outside the sanctity of their homes.

"Flus and viruses and vernal diseases! These are but some of my favorite thiiiings~" And worse than anything he'd done up until this point, he was singing. Badly. Nails on chalkboard had better rhythm than him.

He twirled around in the middle of a cul-de-sac of houses as Aurians collapsed to their ground, scratching at their boil filled faces or becoming paralyzed by bulging mushrooms erupting out of their backs.

"Take part in my pleasures, and fill me with your fear! Writhe in agony, _for your end is near_!"

"You're not just ugly, you're tone deaf too!" Saturn proclaimed as she vaulted high off the nearest roof top and descended in front of the moonlight with her coat swung back like a cape.

"Ugh...Do you ever give up?!" Plagueis hunched down then lashed his upper body out in a grotesque fashion, firing all the needles at his current disposal her way.

She summoned a wall of aura to deflect them and then pinched the side of her glasses to keep them on, "Attacking an officer of the law too? Your evil knows no bounds!"

Changing her field of vision to blue revealed the veins of the infected Aurians were quickly turning a slimy yellow. Disgusting!

"Copper, Byte, Gamma, tend to the sick!"

"Roger roger!" "Of course ma'am!" "It shall be done." The drones separated and hovered over the Aurians. They were properly equipped with nanobots that knew how to hunt down and eliminate these specific diseases. If these were the cards the enemy was holding back, then they're about as disappointing as his fashion sense.

But, it didn't hurt to be safe. Right upon landing she quarantined the sick in bubbles of aura and cocked her watch up towards Plagueis.

"Hiyah!" She hollered as she fired a laser straight at him. He wormed his way around the beam and it passed between a pair of houses instead. Then he turned upright and gurgled.

"Hmph! Lets see if you can keep up! Flu season is in...!" He flicked a few more dirty needles and right upon doing so turned tail and ran like the dickens.

Running. Curse her young, supple body for this one weakness...! But justice didn't need speed. It catches up to evil eventually!

She followed the obvious trail of slime he secreted in joy and found him targeting more Aurians that were joining in the fight. Now yes, it'd feel a little wrong to douse their hot-headed heroism, buuuuut...

"Outta the way, he's gonna make you sick just by looking at him!" She tried, they just didn't quite hear her in time.

They looked back at her and allowed Plagueis to jab his needles into each of their guts, infecting six in under a second. He then squirmed away from the crowd as they dropped to the ground, rolling over with their arms clutched against their gut.

Some started coughing up blood, others browned their pants. Disgusting, times two! This would absolutely require more drones to fix up.

She called out four from her pockets and ran at the crowd yelling, "Don't worry! Help's on the way!"

Comfort, one of the best medicines out there!

"You should worry about helping yourself girl..." Plagueis mockingly commented. He jerked his right hand up, then his left. The ill bodies left in his wake were forced to their feet, and tossed through the air like rag dolls.

"_He can control the people he infects?! That's a lower than low blow!" _

She caught the first one flying at her in an aura bubble and vaulted over it like it was a hurdle, "Epsy! Clear out his stomach and give his body a clean-up!"

"Beep!" The drone replied with a very high-pitched sound.

Upon landing she caught the second body in a bubble and carefully swerved around to place them beside the first. Then she flipped back and thrust her hands down to catch a third one in a bubble.

"Ortega, give these two's throats a couple nanobot lozenges and wash their chins off!"

"MA'AM YES MA'AM!" The drone replied in a general's booming voice.

Upon landing she only had moments to respond to two more being flung at her sides. She turned around and ducked and ran underneath them, then flipped back to put them both in the same bubble.

"_They're both inflicted with the same disease. How fortuitous!" _As she casually pushed her left hand behind to catch the last ailing Aurian, she gave commands to the last drones.

"W3!" That drone turned around and made a computer start up sound, "Clean out these two's intestines of any germs! Also..."

She reached into her chest pocket and flashed a card with her face and logo imprinted on it, "Go and buy 'em some new pairs of pants!"

She slung the card into the droid's slotted mouth and it bobbed in the air. Then she turned to the last drone and hastily said, "As for you Roze, just do what you normally do, but be gentle."

"Oooh I will, mistress Saturn." They responded in a sultry voice.

She then ran around the last bubble as Plagueis was beginning to turn tail yet again, "That's it fiend! Your pants pooping reign of terror is over!"

The fiend looked over his shoulder and the contempt he glared felt empowering. Widening her smile just to squeeeze all that hatred outta him, she then crossed her arms and stood at a slant.

"You're ridiculously persistent. But I will not play your little game of cops and robbers..."

As he turned around Saturn thrust her right hand towards the sky and proclaimed, "Ship! Deploy the Frost Suit!"

"_As you command." _Came out from her wrist. Her sleek ship sped on by overhead and sent a beam down directly on top of her.

She crossed her arms again and closed her eyes as her body was enveloped in that comfy form-fitting nanofiber she loved the most. Once hair, skin and face were properly sealed in her vision outside was exposed via a light-blue snowflake shaped glass plate. Dozens of data points ran at once from her point of view, and she, of course, kept track of them all.

The sheer awesomeness she exuded sent Plagueis into a state of shock, emphasized by him bending his head down and uttering a blunt "WHAT?!"

"_Yeah. I know it. I'm awesome." _She closed her eyes with a joyous laugh and then crossed her arms to deliver the message heralding his demise, "You face Galaxy Rider Saturn, in the flesh! There is no escape for you now!"

"How **hard** were you hit in the head as a child?" The villain turned to face her.

"The only thing that hit this head were the books!" She pointed out her fists and remarked, "And now I'm going to do the same to you! Book you, that is."

Plagueis slumped and slowly started turning to do his usual cowardice. He really needs to..._chill_.

She jabbed out and shot a thick blast of ice at the ground to freeze it over. The moment Plagueis moved his upper body bobbed around, failing to gain momentum.

He then shifted right at her and grumbled, "I'm not going to get anywhere unless I deal with you personally..."

Saturn wagged her fingers towards her and the front of her enemy's hat slanted like brows. He then slowly pushed himself off the ice and, the moment he was off, bolted straight for her in a daring attempt to give her the flu.

But as the needles got close to her suit she flexed the ol' brain muscles and made a heavy frost surround her suit and freeze them in place.

She then shattered them with a rising knee that lifted her off the ground. "HIYAAAH!" She attempted to kick him but he scurried back and shoved more needles out from his gloves.

"Gggggg!" Plagueis flung them out, as expected.

She put her hands an inch apart and focused aura and frost between them into the shape of a blade, "Zero Cutter!"

She swung right out and the dashing wave of ice released filled the floor with spikes between her and the house farthest back...And missed her foe entirely.

Plagueis had taken that time to run right in and attempt another infection. Saturn released a wave of frost and not only stiffened his needles, but heavily covered his coat.

Spin kicking his body was foiled by his agile retreat yet again. He shuffled his head around and then eyed the houses.

"_What's he plotting?" _She prepared another blade and swung it at him the moment he looked ready to move.

Plagueis reeled back centimeters from the wall of spikes and then scurried along it towards the houses, ducking behind cover.

She quickly put her vision into focus via an x-ray mode and saw the fiend rounding the houses. Oddly, not retreating.

"_Hiding out of sight? That ain't gonna help you here!" _She had fully consumed his foul stench and could track it without opening her eyes. She fired off small, carefully guided missiles of frosted aura around the houses to tag the fiend the moment he popped up.

A few seconds later he made his first appearance outside of a house to the right and flicked his needles towards her. The frost field been on the upkeep rendered his little game of hide and seek fruitless.

He popped out from behind a different house every few seconds and seemed to not be trouble by the missiles satelliting the area. Why he kept trying to fight this way was beyond her comprehension but there wasn't even a 1% chance she'd let her guard down.

It wasn't until a minute into this silly game when Plagueis sprinted out behind a house and threw an entire healthy Aurian at her.

"!" Saturn popped her aura off and held her hands up to catch the panicking Aurian, "Hang on citizen, I've got you!"

Her eyes widened as a stabbing pain throbbed in both her palms. Plagueis had run behind the Aurian and pierced their body with his needles to get to her.

"Found you..." He murmured.

Saturn's hands trembled and she could feel a horribly chafing rash forming all over the skin. And the same was happening throughout the Aurian's body.

She quickly froze the Aurian over and apologized, "I'll thaw you out later!"

She flung them overhead and contained them in a soft, temperate bubble. At least that way the infection wouldn't spread through their body. She then applied the same layer of frost over her own hands and went up to the wrists.

Plagueis backed away slowly, grinding his needles against each other, "I will start simple...and work my way up. When I'm done they won't even recognize you by the hairs on your head!"

"...Ship! I need the Thermal Suit, pronto!" Blah blah blah, the bad guys love to brag, but she'll always remain undaunted by meager taunts!

The ship shone another beam down and swapped suits on the fly. Now her glass visor was shaped like a red hot ember and intense heat exuded from every pore of the suit.

"_Alright, time to expel these germs!" _Specifically targeting the infected parts of her skin with heat caused sweat to seep through the pores, both expelling and drying up the germs that gave her that nasty rash. But boy howdy, did it still itch like her-

Plagueis ran in and attempted scraping his needles down her chest like claws. She backed away and thrust out a punch that carried him away on a wave of heat.

He wormed his way out of it and lobbed a volley of needles her way. She turned up the outward heat to, ironically, freeze them in the air until they started melting down.

The itchy hands were starting to be a HUGE pain in the rear, _"Note to self...Create a Remedy Suit later."_

The computer in the suit wrote that down.

She swung a few punches at Plagueis to get him sweating, but the only wetness on his clothes came from his own intoxicated, slime-ridden mouth.

She had to get in close whether she liked it or not. One short burst of speed closed the gap and she rapidly swung her fists out. He dodged around every one of them, and it felt like she was hitting empty air when she did scrape the coat.

When Plagueis retaliated with whipping movements she backed away and used aura as a shield. In turn, the fiend detached a needle down into her foot.

She flinched and directed the heat down to her foot to eject the germs before they cause any harm. Plagueis stabbed dangerously close to her eyes and she recoiled her head back.

Then he took his other hand and managed to stick a couple needles in her chest. She hurried to eject those germs before her heart wound up racing faster than it already was.

She swung her legs towards his stomach and head and he ran directly away from them, only to pull himself right back in to slash his needles down towards her chest.

She threw her hands up to grab whatever qualified as his wrists and tried to drag him in. He slipped right out and scraped the tips of his needles over her palms.

Sweating continued to thwart his infections at every turn. Sure, her vision was blurry and her breathing had to increase, but she was totally in control of the battle!

"_Just got to get one good hit in..." _She swung out a few times and waves of heat shoved Plagueis away. He threw his needles out in a wide spread, forcing the use of her field to give her time to dodge.

He thrust himself right into the fray and wrapped his wiggly arms around her back to inject disease near the shoulder blades. It was a little painful, but more sweating took care of the worst of it.

She grabbed his arms, leaped, and kicked him square in the gut, sliding him all the way back into a house. Once she landed she huffed and puffed.

Plagueis hunched over and chuckled, "You're starting to tire...Is this plan of yours really doing you any good?"

She arched her brows and heated up her right arm until it was red hot. She then did a full circle turnaround and swung at the air with a vigorous thrust, "Raging Cycle!"

A circular wave of heat rose into a spiral on its advance upon the field. With a joyous fit of laughter the fiend scuttled around the attack and darted straight for her.

"Shoot Geyser!" She punched the ground and a geyser of heat erupted out of it, launching itself into the air. It then burst, spreading a volley of heat blasts across their battlefield.

Plagueis cackled like a madman as she squirmed his way around every shot and was soon mere inches from her body.

"Time for a more direct approach...!" He hissed, giving no time to react to the **grime ridden needles being stabbed into her skull.**

She froze up as a strange feeling entered her brain in a second. It was like poison was enveloping her mind in an intoxicating fog. The colors of the world became...funny. Lots of strange greens and yellows she couldn't identify swirled before her.

The colors began to mix into a striking, if dirty, azure, with bits of black and gray inside. It melted down into a massive puddle, and formed wavy lumps that ebbed like a steady tide.

The lumps rose and three holes formed near the top. Two circles, and an oval of sorts. A cacophony of moans filled the air. They were hurting. They were in pain.

..."They"?

Yes. They definitely had...jaws. Broken jaws. Slanted jaws. Detached jaws. Were they human? Yes, at one point. Now they were screams. Echoing, desperate screams, clawing for either Heaven or Hell to take them.

"_I must die...!"_

"_Why did you do this to us?"_

"_Catherine."_

"_Catherine!"_

"_This is __**your **__fault."_

"_CATHERINE!"_

"_Daughter...you killed us..."_

"_**All **__of us."_

Dragged through the muck, where the lumps continued to grow in number. Then, carried into the black abyss beyond, the mass was revealed to have a curvature to it. And the bodies, so many bodies, were merely parts of a greater whole. The teeth of something bigger, nastier, **unnatural**.

And stretch did its maw, as the face of a skull pulled itself away from the rest of the titanic, spherical mass and whispered in its dissonant tone.

"_**MOTHER."**_

…

…

Plagueis hovered over his knelt foe and leaned his head in close. Her eyes were wide-open and trembling. There was something..._beautiful_ about how white her eyes were.

"Fascinating..." He murmured in delight, while caressing the curve of her skull with his right hand, "You are a more interesting specimen than I could've ever imagined..."

Enticed into a state of bliss, he failed to pay attention to the shifting of her eyes downward, and the slow, steady breaths she started taking. Hot and cold sweat mixed profusely out of her pores. And her fists, turned taut.

"...Banish the Nightmare..." Starting with a whisper, the moment Plagueis began to move, she stood right up and rammed her knee into his gut, "KICK!"

"GHHHH!" He spat up slime and recoiled quite a few feet back. He quickly raised his head and swiped a hand over his chest, "WHAT?!"

Saturn stood up and firmly crossed her arms with thunderous resolve, "You'll have to do better than that to throw me off my game!"

"Oh?" Plagueis twisted his head right and boldly remarked, "Is that a _dare_?"

He gently pointed downward and looking there showed Saturn that he had stuck another needle into her foot as he retreated. She scoffed "So what? I'll sweat it out like I always do!"

"I'm afraid you won't find that possible for **this** one." A dull laugh filled his coat as he rose.

A cracking sound started climbing her from below. When she looked down again, her skin turned stone cold. An azure mass with bits of black and gray spread out from the needle and onto her armor at an alarming rate.

"I hardly have much use for something like this but...A virus is a virus, and I am nothing if not a diligent connoisseur," Plagueis boasted, "But to think I'd run into someone else who knows about, nay, _fears_ it."

The mass had gotten to her waist already. Her body froze up, and she hastily screamed, "E-EJECT SUIT! SET TO SELF DESTRUCT NOW!"

"_Are you s-"_

"YES YES YES HURRY!" The fabric came undone and repelled into the air. A countdown hastily went from 5 to 1, filling the material with white light. And then, it exploded, taking out that mass.

Saturn's heart felt ready to burst out of her chest. She breathed so much, how could her lungs possibly be keeping up?

Plagueis, the cruel fiend, stood there and giggled at her expense, "Ggggggg...! Oh, aren't you adorable?"

He hunched forward and slowly remarked, "Little miss perfect...You are the funnest type of subject to break. Hiding flaws behind shells, always trying to do the right thing..."

"Slowly, surely, I wear your kind down and chip away at your brittle shell...Then you face reality, the darkest truth of the world..." He waved his arms down and stared up into the sky, "There is no such thing as **perfection**. We live, and we die. Mortality is an everlasting flaw, a disease that corrupts down to the soul..."

"You are no different, no matter how many suits you hide behind. Deep down, you're just a scared little girl playing superhero..."

Saturn's eyes were obscured in shadow, and her lips laid flat.

"And you will die, alone and unloved..."

"..." Saturn's lips perked into a smile, and slowly she raised her shaky hand to her glasses. Give it a few seconds, then raise them so they shine.

"Hahaha..." Start it off slow, let the fear sink into his villainous mind.

"HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!" Then erupt into laughter, crossing your arms as a defiant shield of justice, and watch as the fiend sinks into utter confusion.

"Ha! So you've finally gone mad!" He exclaimed in ecstasy.

"Wrong!" She barked back in his face with a tight grin, "You've got it all wrong! I'm many things, but alone ain't one of them!"

Plagueis hunched down and seemed increasingly unaware of the massive shadow flying closer behind him.

"YOU GOT THAT RIGHT CAT!"

"Who NOW-" Plagueis turned around and his coat bent back against the pressure of Jupiter's approaching fist. He thrust his needles at her knuckles, and they shattered instantly on the skin.

"...Oh shit." He whimpered while quickly pulling away, avoiding becoming paste in the crater she smashed upon the ground.

"Its like we said!" Mars jumped in and almost shotgun blasted Plagueis' head off, then took a few swings in rapid succession as the fiend made his retreat. His expression was fired up and his pursuit of his enemy proved relentless, "We're not going to abandon a friend in need!"

Plagueis repelled himself away with one flailing shove and found himself backed against the wall of the house. He squirmed his head around, watching as Jupiter approached with her knuckles cracked and Mars swung his nunchucks over his shoulder.

"Looks like this scumbag's gonna be our tiebreaker." She remarked, teeth grit in a fanged smile.

"Fine by me! He's got nowhere to run to!" Mars exclaimed.

"What what what?!" Plagueis looked around and quickly came to realize that it was deadly silent in the city. He was the only monster left.

"I-Impossible...! What are you freaks of nature?!" He hollered out as an immense gasp of panic and Saturn, gladly, walked closer to explain.

"We're friends!" She perched her glasses upright and fogged them up as she smiled, "And friendship, is the strongest medicine against evil!"

Plagueis started vibrating all over and wrenched upright with a shriek, "GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

His eyes darted towards Saturn as he screamed, "SPARE ME YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL DIAGNOSIS...AND DIE!"

He lunged straight past Jupiter and Mars on a one way course for Saturn...Only for his needles to be blocked by a familiar katana, held behind the back of the last person he expected to see.

"YOU!" He yelled at Gabriel, standing as tall as a mountain, "How. Are. You...?!"

He turned his head so the fiend could get a good look at how clean his neck looked now, and answered only with a smile.

"Farewell." He turned right around and delivered a hard slash through Plagueis' stomach. A stroke so clean, that his fluids didn't even spill a drop.

"Ghhhurkkk...! CCKKK!" The squirming menace collapsed onto the floor, and its continued movements loosened its coat to reveal...

A giant tapeworm, using its stupendous length to make its own arms, hands, and legs.

"Ugh...!" Jupiter flinched.

"I-!" Was the last word the doctor would get before Saturn crushed him under a giant aura flyswatter.

"Are through!" She rang in victory with a snap of her fingers...And then totally collapsed back first onto the ground.

"Aaaaah..." She let out a long, well-earned sigh of relief while Gabriel picked her up in his arms.

She then turned her head at her friends and asked, "Alright guys, status report?"

Jupiter and Mars were glaring up at Gabriel. And the amazon started railing on him angrily, "What the HELL Gabriel, that was our kill!"

"We needed him to decide the tie breaker in our contest..." Mars lamented a lot more quietly.

Gabriel slowly blinked and muttered, "I'm sorry...?"

"Guys." Saturn remarked.

Jupiter looked down and laughed, "Oh right, sorry Cat."

Mars tucked his nunchucks away and relaxed his shoulders, "City's clear, and there were no causalities."

"Well ignoring the destruction of one of my favorite suits..." Saturn gave a big thumbs-up and exclaimed, "Mission accomplished everyone! Not a bad night of heroics if I do say so myself!"

"I hate to be the one to say it," Gabriel quietly remarked, "But there's still the matter of the monsters' master to attend to."

"...Oh yeah." Jupiter remarked.

"Ehhhh..." Saturn was going to be dragging this out of herself by tooth and nail, "I hate to say it but. I **guess** we could just leave it up to that miscreant Mew to deal with him."

As Gabriel began to smile Saturn pointed her finger up towards the moon and exclaimed, "BUT! If he messes up _which I know he will_, we're joining in!"

"You got it!" Jupiter exclaimed, and Mars nodded.

"..." Saturn curled her fist towards the moon and stared at it quietly, _"Don't screw it up Mew. This is your planet, your home. You don't want to know what its like to lose it..."_

She closed her eyes, and decided to take a bit of a nap...

_Next Time: Eyes of Red_


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Illusionary Mary**

_With the situation fully resolved at Sancturia, it was up to Mew and his friends to deal with the remaining threats on their end. Perhaps things are going a little better than they were last time?_

"RAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Dracula has been slammed into a mountainside and his girth brought most of the rocks down upon him. Lunis didn't see those as an obstacles, and wildly started stabbing her sickles through the rocks to get to him. Blood quickly filled the cracks.

The rocks parted as the vampire rose like from a coffin. His eyes were in a constant state of ecstasy and refused to blink, even as his body looked like a pincushion oozing with blood.

He raised his hand out towards the angered goddess and her fury seeped into his skin, sealing his wounds shut. He then murmured, after enjoying the brief whiff of confusion on her face, "Dry your throat of screams girl...I am barely fed."

He then thrust forth, carrying her by the face into a tree below to split it in half. And, upon hitting the ground, the sheer force of impact threw the broken halves hundreds of feet into the air.

The thrill of this game, to him, seemed like the most fun he'd had in a long time. All it did to Lunis, however, was continue to piss her off.

She whipped her sickles out faster than either could see and cut the monster's hands clean off. She then threw herself at him, disregarding the hand still clutched to her face, and rammed him back into the mountain. She then got on top and railed him with a mad flurry of kicks, driving him all the way to the peak.

And she wouldn't stop screaming. There was no room for her patient, demure self in that raging inferno she now called her heart. He **needed** to suffer, and die in agony.

She punted him down the opposite of the mountain but quickly threw her sickles in pursuit, attached to her wrists by a set of burning chains. Once she got them in his chest she ripped him right back up, feeling the bones shatter in his rib cage.

Yet when he arrived back at her, his eyes were thrust open with the most ecstatic pleasure, and his hand swung out to grab her face yet again. He raised her high overhead with the ease he would a child, and dropped her into the peak of the mountain.

Her body was driven straight to the bottom, smashing the rest of the mountain full of cracks. He then raised his hand towards the sky. Blood seeped from his pores to create a liquid sphere whose size overlapped the glistening sun, and drenched the battlefield in crimson.

He calmly shoved the orb all the way down the crater, where upon reaching the bottom it burst into a glorious flood of blood to overload the cracks. And then, the mountain shattered. Chunks of stone went flying everywhere.

Mew had been engaged in a deadlock with Grimmley for a bit now but this sudden catastrophe was more worthy of his attention.

"_Crap! Not the house!" _He quickly shoved the werewolf off with a forceful slash of light and thrust his hand towards his home to cover it in a protective barrier.

And Grimmley saw his chance to charge in and try to tear him to pieces. Mew pivoted his blade around in a circle to deflect the beast's wild swings.

"Is this really the time?!" He blurted out with mild frustration. A quick glance up gave him an idea, however.

He hopped away and kicked one of the falling rocks at his foe. They caught it on their claws and ripped them apart with one downward jerk.

At least by that point the catastrophe had passed. Though if that had just been the opening to what Dracula had to offer, Mew could only think of one thing, _"This is going to be such a hassle to clean up afterwards..."_

He swung a few light crescents at Grimmley and then dove at him when he cut them down. He tackled him with his shoulder and whipped around a few times, bashing the werewolf into the ground. Then he repelled off and tried delivered a hard slash to his body.

The beast sliced through as he lunged up, locking blades with the boy, "I've wasted enough time on you...!"

"Yeah, and you've done a terribly job making me scream. What's the matter wolf boy? Your master regenerating his head throwing off your game?" Mew retaliated with a smirk

"I-Its no surprise that his power is beyond all mortal reckoning!" He gave a very unconvincing answer.

"Ha! You didn't know at all, and now you're freaking out!" Mew had a good laugh at that.

"Silence!" Grimmley scowled as the two of them landed and broke off their little clash, "You do not know what true power is! You can barely beat me, and yet you think you stand a chance against my master?!"

Mew closed his eyes and let out a subtle sigh, _"He's...sort of got a point. I'm wasting my time on __**him**__ when I should be helping..." _

An explosion of power went off behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Lunis rocketing into the sky and slicing up Dracula's front into ribbons. She then wrapped him up in her tails and spun around, building momentum on the way down for maximum impact.

Once she hit him against the ground she unraveled her tails and slashed through his chest. The second strike was caught through his palm, while the other lifted towards her and blasted her into the sky with a thunderous shockwave.

But it barely fazed her and she grappled with him once again, dragging their combat right past the frazzled Mew.

"_...I-I guess she's holding up just fine right now..." _He narrowly got his blade up in time to stop Grimmley's lunging strike. The beast then used his katana to flip over and cut him down his back. Mew grimaced and spun around, managing to cut him across the chest.

It took until now to notice that his body was a mess of red over white. And he probably had more cuts than he did skin at this point. Still, this wasn't much to worry about. If push comes to shove he still had his ace-in-the-hole.

He took a moment to glance over and see how Joe Dark was faring. It didn't seem like much had changed. Joe Dark was still swinging and missing while the pale-faced girl didn't seem to be doing anything in retaliation, despite the pain he looked to be in.

"_That girl...is she an illusionist?" _It seemed like the right answer given the circumstances.

But illusions weren't the problem for Joe Dark. At least as much as they had been before. The flaw of making these "illusions" feel so real is that he could fight back against them.

No, it was getting to the girl making them that proved troublesome. How she threw out constant waves of spears made it come across that, despite her longevity, she was very inexperienced with her powers. Yet in spite of that, this onslaught was keeping him from getting closer.

He was constantly swinging around, making sure he wouldn't miss an attack. His dagger cut and shattered each spear, filling his vision with purple. He could make out the girl floating beyond the "glass" petals. Her eyes gave a weak gaze, mired with confusion.

He forced his hand out and had to restrain himself a ton when he fired off a dark blast. But it didn't matter. The girl was yet another trick of the mind.

And then he found himself surrounded with a ring of spears plunging inward. He levitated away as they thrust in, only to be surrounded by a second ring forming. He dove down and tried looking around for the girl. She was floating a few feet away over the house with a couple spears over her shoulders.

They thrust out towards his face, caught by the brisk swing of his hands with the tips floating dangerously close to his eyes. He shook with gritted teeth as a sharp pain shot out from the objects, forcing them out of his hand.

The lances now had thorns like from a rose, and more were coming his way. He dashed to the right in a quick burst of speed and pushed a little bit closer, then shifted to the left and thrust diagonally towards her location.

When he was directly under her he flew up and tried to snag her out of the air. One blink later and she was gone, replaced with a ring of lances around him.

He flipped over the ring and landed back on the ground, shaking his head around until he caught sight of her to his right.

He dug his feet into the ground and prepared to run. Suddenly, Lunis and Dracula's scuffle tore their way through in front of him, forcing him back. He couldn't see the girl anymore beyond the tower of dust, and the glint of her lances grew in her place.

He raised his dagger to slice through one lance, but the other scraped through his left shoulder. He turned around and whipped up a slicing field to break the surrounding lances, then took to the sky a few yards off the ground.

When he tried looking around for her he was interrupted by a pair of lances going for a pincer attack on his neck. He pulled his head back, then the rest of his body away in time. And, inadvertently, he wound up bumping into her.

Or was it really her? He was playing this game entirely by her rules. He turned around and the moment he reached out, his hand went right through her.

Frustration was growing. He tiredly lowered his eyes and glanced over his shoulder, finding her floating away with the usual bouquet of lances surrounding her.

He took up his dagger and flipped it into a backwards grip, then covered his other hand in darkness. The others could make as much noise as they wanted fighting. He only had his focus on her.

"You'll get tired of running eventually." He muttered to himself.

The lances came flying three at a time, curving their flight to try and throw him off. But he barreled straight between them and tried a very light slash towards her. She vanished, and he was surrounded in a double-layered sphere of weapons.

The first layer drew back to strike, but in doing so gave him the opening to speed out. The moment he was out, he blinked, and suddenly, found himself back in the center of the sphere.

Had he even gone away? Or was his perception flipped around? It was such a hassle to figure that out. He was better off just escaping.

He sliced open a rift with his dagger and tucked inside as the weapons came piercing down. He then gripped the side of his head and gave it a quick shake. This was an unknown feeling, perhaps this is what they call "being intoxicated".

Yes. That's fair. Her power is a poison of the mind, making one doubt everything they see. Fatal, like a thorny rose.

But in here, in the darkness, he was safe. For now. He'd have to return eventually and settle things with her. Now, it was time to plan.

"_I can't sense where she's at. There must be some way to figure out where she's hiding..." _He closed his eyes and tried thinking long and hard about how their fight had been going so far. He quickly got angry over a lack of progress.

"Ghhh...! How does **he** always come up with a plan so easily?! Am I somehow actually **dumber** than him?!" Shockingly though venting helped clear out his mind a bit and gave him something in particular to focus on.

"...She's still there," It was a super simple, but super enlightening revelation, "And she's not going to leave while she's still loyal to her bastard father."

It had to be restated. Her power is deadly, but her domain over it was lacking. She was a rose bud. If she knew how to properly use illusions, she could just force him to chase her shadow forever while being miles away.

But she was trapped in a cage of her own making. And now...

"Heh..." He felt his lips curls and the grip on his dagger tighten, "I know how to break you out of it."

He cut his way back out onto the battlefield and immediately turned right, looking towards the pale-faced girl. She bobbed in place and raised her aura, and thus became surrounded in lances.

"You didn't run away again?" She said with the mildest contempt she could have given.

"You're one to talk," He faced her directly and positioned his dagger below the chin, "Why are you so afraid of answering my question, mannequin?"

"..." Her eyes moved downward.

"Look at my when I'm talking to you!" His sudden yell jolted her head up and left her eyes wide open, "This is why you can't beat me. You don't have any conviction of your own! Everything you do, everything you say, its just an echo of your father's corruption!"

Her eyes started shaking, and her lips curled into a tiny frown. Some pent up frustration was beginning to show, not just in her expression, but the bloody color of her aura.

"I know what I believe. Humans like you can't be trusted at all! I won't let your lies trick me again!" She threw her arm up and the lances shot towards the sky.

Joe Dark's eyes began to glow and the surrounding area was covered in a dark mist, "Then I will expose the truth in your heart!"

The lances came crashing down in a random pattern on the ground, launching shockwaves for him to jump over. He kept his eyes wide open as she started darting around the air, leaving behind crimson silhouettes as she tapped a foot down atop each lance.

Towering roses bloomed beautifully into the moonlit sky, but with them came deadly thorns. Lances, expunged from the stems, kept him on his toes.

He widened his eyes to a straining point and focused not on her, but his darkness. He could feel her, the real her, moving among the mist separate from her shadow.

"_You can fool my eyes..." _He concealed his dagger inside of a rift opened behind his back, _"But the darkness has always been my friend." _

He ducked and weaved between the lances until he was a safe distance back, and the real her stopped moving. He then snapped his fingers, making the dagger fly in front of her face.

The sensation of fear was thick around her body, making her an easy target at long last. He flew in between the storm of lances and stretched his hand out, snagging her on the shoulder. His body was throbbing in immense, deceptive pain, but he could tell that this, this one moment, was real.

He cocked a grin as the veil of illusion disappeared around her, "Got you."

Her body was trembling. He was being a little rough, admittedly. But he couldn't let her go. Not now. Not again.

He looked her straight in the eyes and asked her for the final time, "Alura...are you a human, or are you a monster?"

She started breathing slowly, but that quickly became hasty, like a mild form of hyperventilation. Her eyes were darting around. The tear of battle across the land was distracting her.

"I-I..." Her muttering brought his attention back with brows arched, as something was becoming off about her face...More specifically, her eyes.

They were widened in an inhuman fashion. The closest comparison would be like an owl's. Her pupils expanded. Not grew, expanded, to consume the whites of her eyes, like a black hole would light. A truly mortifying, vapid stare, bore into his mind and soul.

The center of her abyss filled eyes split open, revealing a dark yellow "pupil" beneath. Her voice gained a slight echo, as his perception of reality began to shake.

"F-Father...needs me...I...I have to end this now, Joe Dark. There is no escaping this abyss...My ultimate power will plunge you into your worst nightmare, where you will wander an eternity until your mind breaks..." With one distorting thrust of her eyes she whispered this technique's name, "Rest in peace...**Illusionary Mary**!"

**Darkness falls.**

…

…

…

A beautiful meadow in the middle of spring, surrounded in trees. The sky was mildly cloud with some sun peeking out. A perfect day for a pic (_slaughter_) nic.

Its so gray out everywhere. Where is all the color? Needs more **(blood)** greens, and blues.

Alura walks through the grass and it gives off a crunch with every step. Her body distorts despite the stability of everything else. Because she does not belong. But be here, she'll remain, as she must always see what her victims' worst fear is.

And so far this is...Not disappointing. No, she doesn't know what that feels like. Curious? Doesn't know that either. Odd? Could mean a lot of things, but that sounded right here.

"This isn't...scary." She remarked. She's wandered many grasslands like this before. Is Joe Dark really afraid of a bunch of plants? Couldn't be...So why...?

"**BANG!" "BANG!" "BANG!"**

Three ear-piercing sounds vibrated through the air and turned her around, her heart narrowly escaping her chest. Her body trembled loosely as she murmured, "What...is that horrible sound?"

A being, barely human-shaped, masked in black fog with daunting, red eyes, raised a small silver object at a group of humans that seemed to have gathered in celebration.

Three figures lied on the ground. Red liquid was oozing from their backs and staining the grass. The remainders screams and shrieks made Alura's stomach curl.

"Wh-why...?" She watched the figure slowly advance towards his retreating prey, and unload more of those terrifying sounds from the item in his hand.

They were drilled into her ears, and wobbled her knees. But she couldn't look away. One by one the humans fell, their eyes hollowing out. The shadow advanced, until none were left standing.

The last figure put up a defiant stand, but died just as quick as the rest. And the killer, limping back for some reason, dropped its murder weapon and ripped open its mouth, its scream calling forth flames to consume it whole.

Alura's feet felt damp. She looked down, and found herself standing in a sea of blood. Her body made an unconscious retreat, bumping up against someone behind her.

She jolted upright and turned around. Standing there was a very young boy with black hair and blue eyes in a fancy suit, as gray as their surroundings. His cheeks were lit up by the descent of blue streaks down from their eyes as he dashed ahead.

He screamed at the top of his lungs a terrifying, pained sound...of loss.

The boy dug his knees deep into the blood and shook the lifeless bodies.

"Wake up...! Please...wake up! D-Dad...!" This wasn't a voice. It was the unanswered cry of a ghost.

There was this...pain in Alura's chest. A deep, twisting pain. She slowly raised her hand towards it, and it only hurt more.

"On that day..."

She jolted and turned to the left, and found Joe Dark standing there, full of his usual color. But right now he looked...relaxed.

"I lost everything. My mother, my father...my entire family," He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, "And every night since I've relieved this moment in my head, knowing that there was nothing I could have done to stop it..."

Alura paused and looked towards the kid in the bloodbath, as they now had their face buried in their father's chest.

"...I-I don't understand Joe Dark..." She murmured, unable to look away, "It...it was humans that took your family away. But...you ally with them?"

"Humans didn't do this," Joe Dark answered with a soft gaze in his eyes, "Just one very, very bad one."

He began to turn her way and tucked his hands into his pockets, looking upon her with an odd smile, "You've had it all wrong Alura. Humans can be bad, but that's because we're flawed, not because we're evil."

He took one step closer and she turned on the spot to face him with eyes frozen wide, "But humans can be **good** too. I...didn't believe that myself, once upon a time."

"One exceptional guy helped restore that faith I had lost," His gaze wandered skyward and he scoffed in laughter, "He looked at me, a complete and utter low-life, and told me 'You're not nothing'. I'd been his enemy...But he saw me as a friend...As family."

"...Hic!" Alura reached up to the sides of her face and found they were damp. Her hands began shaking, and she looked upon her dampened palms with trembling eyes, "Why...why is my face wet...?"

"Because you're not a monster," Joe Dark knelt down in front of her with a smile, "You're a human, just like me. And sometimes, when humans gets sad, they cry."

"I-I...I don't understand..." Her voice broke as she shook her head.

"You don't have to. Not yet...But you can," He began to extend his hand out towards her, "If you'll let me help you."

She threw her hands out and pulled away, a scream ripped free from her throat, "G-GET AWAY FROM ME...!"

She gasped, for the sudden noise that ripped from her lungs was frightening.

He just stayed there, gesturing his hand forward with that same smile. And her own hand, guided by a puppet's string, raised to meet his.

"Joe Dark...I-I'm scared..."

"I know..." Joe Dark squeezed his eyes and a tear came out, "I am too."

He then forced a smile and said in a raspy voice, "We can be scared together, Alura."

She laid her hand down in his and this entire scene vanished into complete darkness.

In reality, Joe Dark fluttered his eyelids, his eyes feeling rather dry after that odd spell that had fell over him. He locked eyes with Alura's eyes, which had returned to their normal appearance, now moist and full of tears. And in his hand was hers, so tiny and timid in its hold on his palm.

He silently breathed out in relief and then smirked, "...Tsk! I-I hope you realize you're not allowed to mention a word of this to **him**, else I'll never hear the end of it."

She paused for quite a while before giving a silent nod in return.

Discord tends to come quicker than lightning. The unexpected strikes, and tends to take away those one cherishes in the blink of an eye...

Joe Dark lost a second of time. What he saw was Alura widening her eyes...as the life drained right out of them. Then there was pain. Intense, unbearable pain, shooting up his right hip.

He'd be punctured...by the same condensed stream of blood that also ripped through Alura's heart.

His body lost all sense of feeling, and gravity took care of the rest, dragging him and her limply towards the ground. As her curtain of hair fell, he saw Dracula with his pointer finger coldly raised towards them, and not a hint of emotion in his eyes.

As the two of them fell, the rest of the battlefield went silent. Grimmley turned away from his battle with Mew, and his eyes widened with a gasp.

"P-Princess...?" And the next second, Mew's katana pierced through both chest and back, blood spurting from the wound.

Mew grit his teeth, unsatisfied, and murmured to his foe, "Sorry...you...you let your guard down."

"...Hmph..." Grimmley scoffed and wrapped his claws around Mew's katana, "S-Seems...there is still one accursed part of my humanity that needed to be cut loose..."

He forced Mew's katana in deeper, tearing his heart in half. He weakly grinned from cheek-to-cheek, and chuckled, "There...now...I am...complete..."

Mew pulled his blade out and caught Grimmley before his lifeless body collapsed upon the ground. He held him up slightly, and glared across the battlefield.

Joe Dark was down, the girl he fought in an even worse shape. He felt no life from her anymore. And Dracula, it seems, was the one responsible.

"HEY!" Mew screamed to grab the monster's attention, "What the hell's going on?! Wasn't she your daughter?!"

Dracula turned his head and his eyes appeared lost. Nevertheless, he easily grabbed Lunis by the face as she tried to attack him from behind.

"Daughter...?" The Lord of Monsters turned his head and muttered, "What is a...daughter?"

Mew grit his teeth in a scowl, as a fury rose in his soul, "Your child, you monster!"

"Oh..." Even that didn't seem to spark much of a reaction from him beyond mild curiosity. He turned his head down towards Alura's body, having no response to Lunis flailing to hit him.

"Ah yes, that's right...I vaguely recall a witch who infiltrated my castle and dared to rob my body of its seed..." A smirk perked up on his face, "I humored the wench, for her lust would bear a most beautiful fruit..."

"Yet never could I have expected our contact to drive her mad...She blathered on about _love_, and claimed we were bound by our souls..." He spat towards the ground, "Her touch began to burn. So...I killed her."

He said with a **smile**.

"So...she was her child?" He said coldly, "A pity she was cursed with human weakness..."

Mew stood right up and went for the black trigger on his katana. With a dry scoff he remarked, "Alright that's it buddy. I am SO sick of you-!"

He froze upright, the hairs on his arms standing on end in the direction of Joe Dark. He slowly turned his head. The air drew silent, and cold...

Joe Dark shook, his hand refusing to let go of Alura's. A puddle of blood formed around her still body. Her skin, colder than the coldest ice.

Bodies began flashing in his vision. A different corpse every time, bathed in the same pool of blood. They started appearing and repeating faster and faster and faster AND FASTER AND FASTER. Nails scratched against his brain with a most reviling shriek.

_**Failure. **_**WOOORTHLESS. **_**death. die. DIE. die. DIE. Always alone, always forgotten...**_

The visions broke, a fanged grin stretching across a black horizon, wreathed in flames.

"_**How does it feel to continue being so worthless?" **_

And then, **there was nothing**.

His body quaked, and he pulled his hands back. He rose to his knees, and smashed the ground with his fists twice. His body erupted with darkness, and he kept beating the ground like a drum.

Thunder roared in the sky, dragging lightning down with a hellish red hue. Joe Dark's hands bled onto his fingernails, filling the cracks below.

A black armor of hate enveloped his body, as he stood to his feet like a newly crafted marionette. He wobbled to the left, then the right, as storm clouds consumed the moon's light.

Mew stared at him and slowly shook his head, "Joe...don't..."

But it was a vain whisper, delivered to a deaf beast. He threw his face forward, eyes flushed with red light, and his heart bled out a terrifying scream...

"**I'LL KILL YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!" **

And for this one moment, even the devil could not look away...

_Next Time: Battle Against Rage_


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Banquet of Twilight**

There was no calm. No pause. A terrible storm had begun to rage out of control...And Dracula, was the sole target of its wrath.

The swirling mass of darkness that was once Joe Dark rammed forthright into the Lord of Monsters and a shockwave burst out of him on impact, shattering a hefty chunk of the mountain behind him.

"RAHHH! RAHHHH!" He was reduced to screaming, worse than any Whiter, past or present, had ever seen him get to.

By contrast, Dracula was happier than ever. His eyes were lighting up like a child in the candy store, and he thrust his hands down to grapple the storm's head with immense vigor.

Thus, he also freed Lunis from his grasp. But even with how angry she was, her expression was left frazzled by how much her fury paled in comparison to the darkness.

Dracula was forced into the already breaking mountain, and darkness seethed through the cracks, exploding chunks of rocks into the sky with geysers.

The Lord of Monsters twisted his head and planted his palms firmly before his assailant's head. His skin peeling away and reforming moment he resisted.

"If you are paying me tribute..._then on your __**knees**__._" A visceral crack ripped out of his palms and Joe Dark was carried to the ground on a vein-y cylinder torn open in the atmosphere, which then began to bleed some form of silvery, static goop.

Joe Dark immediately hauled ass back at Dracula and shoved his fist through his chest, hollowing it out. The beast lurched with a gasp, and then began to chuckle deeply.

"That's it more...! I demand MORE!" His enthusiasm finally came to the forefront with a bellowing echo, and the moment after he grabbed Joe Dark by the head and dove down to slam his face into the hard stone.

But his prey's darkness erupted, cushioning the blow, and shoving the gluttonous beast back into the air. The darkness then collapsed, draining the light along with it to create this oppressive black bubble. It burst forth, carrying with it the power to blot out the light of the moon forever.

Dracula crushed his fingers around the bubble and was forced hundreds of feet into the air, his elbow snapping in two. But the bubble shrunk down, absorbed into his skin, and thus his wounds became nothing more than a forgotten memory.

The darkness seeped off him like a bog mist, and was particularly thick coming out of his mouth. He slowly lowered his hand down, and smashed Joe Dark's body further into the ground with a meager show of power.

He then found a sickle sticking out through his chest and grinned. He spun right around and grabbed Lunis by her face, leaving the fury in her eyes piercing him between his fingers.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten you...But be patient, you will make a fine dessert...!" He jerked right back around and threw her straight into Joe Dark as he stood.

He didn't flinch, and in fact threw her aside into another mountain as he went charging up after his target. Dracula swept aside his cloak and dashed away without appearing to move. Strands of blood whipped out from his palm and strangled Joe Dark around the neck.

He was pulled closer, and glued to the beast's palm. The blood spread to cover his mouth, but that didn't stop the violent screams.

Joe Dark grabbed onto his wrist and tore the whole arm right off, then clubbed its owner across the face while blood spewed from the socket.

He kept beating away at the beast's skin until the muscle was torn off and the bone beneath broke away. Dracula's arm regrew, first from bone, then from flesh, and right as the fingers stitched together sinew and muscle he plunged his tips into his assailant's chest.

"Hmm...!" He chuckled, an ill omen before the fatal blow to be delivered upon his prey's flesh. Two blistering fast beams of blood punctured out of Joe Dark's back.

The air shook, as he returned the favor by blasting Dracula's chest clean off. The beast's arms and head floated there, his face lit with a smile.

Hollowed bones filled the space between them, and he threw his hands onto Joe Dark's skull. He swung him up high and then dove towards the ground, igniting the air around him before impact.

His skin was regrowing as he started slashing away at Joe Dark's face with his pale claws, stripping him down to his veins, and feasting on the blood that spewed forth.

When Joe Dark attempted to rise, Dracula smashed him down with an open palm and cracked the back of his skull. Saliva oozed from his lips, and there was no shine in his eyes.

"More...! MORE...!"

"You hungry?" A heroic sound interrupted this feral battle, and as Dracula rose his head to greet it, Mew's foot was shoved an inch into his face.

"Then eat this!" Mew snapped his foot away, hurtling the beast through a quarter mile of stone, where he climbed the mountain when he ran out of ground. And on final impact, a blast went off, throwing boulders down like rain.

Mew, now in Dark Form, landed beside his brother and shook his foot around, "Whew...he's pretty sturdy for a bag of bones..."

He turned back and extended his hand down, "Here, let me-"

Joe Dark rose, grabbed Mew by the face, and shoved him down right with an inhuman growl of, "Out of my way...!"

He then launched forward like a missile and smashed Dracula further into the mountain, where an explosion of darkness atomized his immediate surroundings.

Mew hopped back up with a frown and unusually narrow gaze, _"He's lost control of himself...This is bad." _

Joe Dark's scream was followed by the rest of the mountaintop being obliterated by darkness, the chunks hurtling in multiple directions.

"_REALLY bad...!" _Mew hastily thrust his hands out and opened multiple dark rifts to catch the rocks, then curled his fists down by his hips, _"If I don't get a handle on this soon he'll drag innocent lives into this!"_

He sprung forth towards the carnage and saw Joe Dark wailing on Dracula's body. But the pressure of a 100 ton hydraulic press imbued into every blow felt like a foot to the beast, who rose to carry the Dark King standing on his chest.

Joe Dark slid off and continued to throw punches as if the beast wasn't now towering over him. Dracula put a finger to his forehead, and gave him a "gentle" flick. He was knocked off his feet and spiraled through the air through the mountain behind Mew.

Mew grimaced, then grit his teeth and charged at Dracula. He threw a right hook at the beast's face and he stood his ground, causing only his head to budge an inch.

His hungered eyes turned on him, and began to narrow. He looked...disappointed.

"You...are not angry? Or scared?" He murmured.

Mew snickered and flexed his knuckles deeper into the beast's maimed skin, "Heh, ain't got time for that! You threatened my home and hurt my brother, I'm taking you down!"

Dracula extended his hand before Mew's face and blood began to seep from the palm, "I shall show you what true fear is."

Mew's eyes widened with intensity and he laughed in his face, "Well I'm not squeamish around blood, if that's what you're thinking!"

Mew dashed to the right as the blood blast fractured the ground where he stood. He then clobbered Dracula's chin with a rising uppercut, and smashed both his fists down atop his head.

The ground cracked at his feet, growing thicker and wider as he levitated and began striking with a flurry of blows. He was smiling up until his head started pushing against his neck. That was when a frown started to form.

Dracula thrust his hand up and summoned a dome of blood from the palm, but Mew bounced back and did a couple flips on the ground. He then swiped a hand below his chin and chuckled.

"Now you're on the defensive? What, did I figure out your weakness already, bloodsucker?"

Dracula creaked his head back and the rest of his body began to turn. As his hands went up, a crimson streak suddenly dropped from behind, and bright slashes cleaved down his shoulders.

The Lord of Monsters flinched, only for his smile to return more powerful than one could possibly imagine. His right arm was thrown back attached to his body by strings of viscera and clawed Lunis across her gut.

She whipped her sickles around, carving up more of Dracula's body. But the wounds didn't exist in the aftermath. He was healing too fast.

Mew extended his darkness out to grab Dracula by the head and throw him back. He then looked at Lunis. Her usual beauty had been erased and replaced with animalistic fury, and it was a little sad to see.

She only had eyes of hatred locked on her vampiric prey. And she was off after him without a word of thanks towards Mew.

She leaped and then fell as a slicing spiral. Dracula raised both hands towards her and repelled her with a shrieking shockwave that made the air bleed, and pelted her all over with the droplets.

Dracula swung behind her and delivered a painful looking blow to her backside, and Mew could hear the crack of her spine from afar. Though she was sent to the ground, she turned and landed on her feet. But when she started to rise the pain in her back dropped her down flat, and she let out a ragged gasp.

Dracula prepared another attack in his palm and fired it without a shred of mercy. Mew leaped in and roundhouse kicked the projectile. The energy warped around his foot for a few seconds before launching back into its owner's gut...where it was quickly sucked back into his skin.

"You're a pest..." He dully remarked.

"I get that a lot." Mew said with a smarmy shrug.

He then felt a disastrous surge of power coming from behind and looked to see Joe Dark charging up an attack. He held a growing void between his outstretched arms and red lightning ripped through the ground and sky around him. Light was being consumed, until he could not longer be seen.

That attack was going to be BIG. Lunis was in danger. Hell, the entire planet might very well be too! While Dracula's eyes were bulging out of their sockets, Mew's were doing so more out of panic than anything else.

He quickly dove down and tackled Lunis out of the way to the right. But it was too late to do any more. Joe Dark's scream ripped his throat apart as a black beam, blacker than the blackest part of space, shattered through the atmosphere and wiped out anything that stood in its path.

All that is, except for the one he wanted dead. He, of everlasting Twilight, delighted in extending his hand towards the embodiment of his prey's fury and watching as the energy collapsed all but around him. He feasted like never before and his saliva spewed forth like a frothing waterfall.

Mew hated rooting for Dracula to win out but there's no way in hell he'd be able to repair the whole planet if he didn't. The mountains behind the beast were pulling back and crumbling to dust. The wave of destruction would eventually reach the roads, and civilization itself.

The darkness began to collapse towards Dracula's palm, as he swallowed it whole, leaving the whole beam thinner than a silk strand by the time he had his fill.

His muscles throbbed beneath his graceful cloak, and a dark fog poured out from his entire body to create a massive cloud at his back.

"Aaaahhh...I have never felt so full..." His eyes were pure white with ecstasy, and he hung over with his hands clawing at the air, "But I want **more**...!"

Joe Dark flung straight at him and battered his fists into the monster's open palm. His screams were now punctuated with a sobbing sound.

Dracula enjoyed toying with him. He let a couple punches hit his face, just to remind the boy of how futile it all was. And when he retaliated, it was like a father swatting a disobedient child. Rough, infantile, but ultimately a casual act of discord.

Joe Dark was unrelenting. He had become darkness itself. There was only a flicker of humanity in his eyes, and his face. Every scream henceforth hollowed out more of his soul, so that anger could take root and keep him moving onward.

He was dying to that which he hated most, and for a rare moment, Mew clutched his fists in an expression of doubt.

"_I have to stop him, but how?!" _He grit his teeth, trying not to cave in to fear. Yet, his brother was not the only one losing themselves to anger.

Lunis took a stand of defiance against her body's pain and pulled her sickles from the ground, ready to strike again. The moment her feet left the ground, Mew jolted back and forced his arms against her stomach to barricade her off.

"W-Will one of you just calm down already?!" He said, venting his frustrations.

Lunis pushed onward against his arms and swung her weapons at the Lord of Monsters, "Let me GO! I'll kill him...I must kill him!"

Mew put himself directly in her line of sight with a firm glare and then bonked her one on the head. Lightly, of course.

"Stop and look at yourself Lunis!" Mew cautiously backed away and swung his arms down her body, to which she paused and looked down, "I've seen wounded foxes that look better than you do right now."

Her eyes widened briefly but she then grit her teeth and howled, "I don't care! He must pay for what he did to my brother!"

She pushed forward but Mew forced his hands under her armpits like handling a pair of bull horns and dug his heels in, gritting his teeth.

"And that's worth...nnngh...dying for?!"

"You don't know what its like!" She hollered blindly in turn.

Mew rolled his eyes and muttered dryly, "Oh yeah, **I **don't."

She shoved him back and Mew held on tighter, then faced her square in the eyes to say, "Your brother's still alive isn't he?!"

Her silence was rather telling.

"Well he sure as hell won't be if you keep this up!" He was fully expecting her to just cut him at that point. But instead her eyes regained some of their luster, and her mouth began to turn agape.

"We're the last line of defense between this fanged bastard and our home. But we're never going to beat him if we give in to our anger and fear."

Mew slowly pulled away and put his hands onto her shoulders, giving her a soft look in the eyes, "So whaddya say? How about we make this guy pay with the power of teamwork?"

Lunis looked down at herself again, and for a good while, remained like that. Then she sprung up, like a jolt had gone through her body, "W-What happened to me...?!"

"_She only now noticed?" _Mew's eyelids sagged a bit but a sigh of relief followed. He turned around, wagging his hand around in the air, "Don't panic, something similar happened to your brother when we fought."

He laid his hand upright and chuckled, "Though he was more...scaly than furry."

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Lunis bringing her tails to her front to stroke them, "...You really didn't know about this?"

She gave a clear answer with a shake of the head and Mew shrugged in turn, "Well don't worry, its not permanent. Though if it was who knows, maybe Riku's into that."

He glanced aside and mumbled under his breath, "God I hope not."

Lunis fluttered her eyelashes a few times and then pulled the tails back, hunched down in a battle pose while her voice regained its more gentle tone, "Thank you for the pep talk Mew. I see where Riku gets it from now."

Mew rubbed the back of his head and quietly whistled to himself, "Yeeeeeah well...I might have been winging that speech."

He could feel her stare down his back and quickly hunched down in a battle pose himself, "A-Anyways! Now for Joe..."

Dracula and Joe Dark were tearing at each other like two beasts fighting over food. But Joe Dark's strikes looked like weak flailing in comparison to the brutal blows the Lord of Monsters delivered unto his bone.

Mew winced as he heard Joe Dark's rib cage break, while Lunis commentated on the battle with a hint of fear in her voice, "I-I've never seen such anger before..."

"Yeah, its not looking good..." Mew grit his teeth and clenched his fists, "Pale-skin there seems to feed on negative emotions to keep himself going and Joe's feeding him like an endless buffet."

"Can you calm him down like you did me?" Lunis inquired.

"Probably..." Mew said with an antsy click of his tongue, "But I'm going to need you to distract the big man while I get him out of the way."

"Can do!" Lunis leaped straight towards the carnal fist fight and gave Mew a few extra seconds to work something out.

To her fortune, Dracula and Joe Dark had split off from another after a particularly mighty clash of blows. Dracula was fuming with darkness, leaving only his face visible.

Lunis flew in and slashed the beast across his chest with both sickles, dragging some of that darkness out. She then flipped around and tossed one of the sickles, enveloped with silver frost, into the wound.

Dracula turned an eye upon her and gripped the sickle, freezing his hand over. He raised his brows, but nevertheless ripped the sickle out, shattering his hand in the process.

"You have returned," He murmured, "But...something's different."

Lunis called her sickle back and crossed them both below her face. Her eyes had a fire, but they burned with determination, "I wasn't myself before. But now? I'm completely focused on taking you down!"

She dove at him with the sickles aimed for his neck. He held his hand up and blocked them at the center. Then two of her copies appeared and cut them down his chest while she backed away. The force of their swings took him towards the ground.

Lunis finished the job by delivering a firm kick to his head with her right leg. He landed with a thunderous impact and grunted in pain. He then opened his mouth with a thick gasp of bloody air.

Lunis dropped to the ground and used her speed to dance around him and slice him up. He fought back with brutal swings of his arms and the occasional blood blast. She took some close hits but kept on trucking...Unaware that Joe Dark was aiming a powerful blast of darkness at the both of them.

The second he fired Mew grabbed his hand and forced it up, sending the darkness hurtling harmlessly into space.

"Joe, calm down and listen to me!"

"**Move aside." **He replied in a raspy voice, before crunching his hand around Mew's shoulder and shoving him into the ground.

"...Ow." Mew muttered.

He then quickly extended an arm to Joe's shoulder and pulled himself up behind him, where that hand remained rested.

"I'm **not **your enemy. Its fine, just chill and-"

Joe Dark swung his arm back and if Mew hadn't duck he wouldn't have his head anymore. Joe Dark then turned around, bearing his feral scowl, and started swinging wildly at Mew's body.

Mew could dodge them but just being glanced by his fists was winding him. Mew finally decided to catch one of his fists in both hands and hold on tight.

His palms were shoved into his gut, and Joe Dark kept trying to knock his head off.

"LET. GO. OF. MEEEE!" He shrieked, amidst bitter tears.

"_He must have really cared about that girl..." _Mew looked into his brother's eyes with a frown as best he could. Anger, fear, sorrow...All wrapped in a package and tied in a knot of helplessness. That's what he saw.

"_...No, that's not what this is all about." _

Mew paused for a second to catch his breath, then shoved his brother's fist away to put some distance between them. Yet he came charging in, taking a blind swing at his body that he easily stepped away from.

"I'm not going to let you go. Not like this." Mew said in a stern voice.

Joe Dark lashed his arms down and his jaw looked like it was splitting off, "WILL KILL! I WILL! I KILL!"

"Listen to yourself! Is your humanity the price you're willing to pay for revenge?!"

"KILL...KILL...! I...NEED...TO...!" Joe Dark charged at Mew and he sidestepped out of the way.

"You idiot, your anger is the only reason he's not dead right now!"

"GRAHHH!" Joe Dark fired back a massive blast of darkness that Mew cupped around his fingers. It burned, a power beyond darkness lied within: Rage, in its primal form.

Mew clutched his fingertips in deep and began taking this dark power into his body. His arm erupted with a burning pain and his skin peeled off, steam rising off the flesh.

"GHHH...!" He didn't let the pain show, even as it was sending his nerves into overdrive. When the dark power was consumed, he grabbed his elbow and dropped his arms down, gasping for air.

Joe Dark was seconds from being fully consumed by his wrath. Only his eyes shone through the darkness, and his voice was unintelligible.

"DOESN'T...MATTER...NO...WORTH...NO...WORTH...!"

"Is that how you really feel...?" Mew grit his teeth and flared his eyes wide-open, "Fine. Then hit me."

For the first time in minutes, the raging darkness paused, and his heavy breathing stilled.

"Did I stutter? I said 'HIT ME'!" Mew swung his head up and declared, "Take all your pent up anger, frustration, fear, and doubt and let me have it! I can handle it!"

"But once you've cleared your head you better take Dracula down, or you sure as heck ain't getting breakfast in the morning!"

Mew stiffened up and stared his brother in the eyes, unable to read what he was thinking, if anything at all. Then came the crunch of bones, as he wound up his right fist beside his head.

He then charged forth with one rupturing scream and Mew's heart remained firm against all odds. Joe Dark's punch came. A shockwave ripped its way through miles of land, uprooting trees and severing solid stone from the land.

But his punch never landed.

The knuckles brushed against Mew's face, the color drained from his face and eyes. The darkness surrounding his brother broke off, leaving a trembling, frightened soul in its place.

Joe Dark opened his hand, and brushed his fingers down Mew's face until he had the hand on his shoulder.

"You're stupid...you're so incredibly, unbelievably stupid...!" He whimpered, "She's dead...she's dead because of me...!"

He raised his head and looked at Mew with his soft, dripping eyes, "I bring death wherever I go...! A-And you...want to save me?!"

Mew smiled and tapped his fist on his chest a couple times, "Heh, in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty sturdy."

"...Also," Mew lightly slapped Joe across the face with his damaged hand, taking that moment to point down at Dracula, "HE killed her."

Joe Dark turned and faced the Lord of Monsters, who was currently bashing Lunis' whole body into the ground and making a moat with it.

"So you want payback? Fine, I'm game for that," Mew patted him firmly on the shoulder and he flinched upon looking at his smiling face, "But maybe dial it back a _bit_ on the anger this time?"

Joe Dark looked away, stared down at his right hand, and squeezed the tears on his palm into his fist. He then fully turned away and did a terrible job hiding that he was wiping his face dry.

With a wet sniffle he laid his arm limp by his hip. Mew could see some tears still trying to ride the way down his cheeks.

"Fine...I guess I'll do it your way for once," He said with his usual gruffness while looking over his shoulder, "We'll show him our teamwork, and avenge the lives he's taken!"

"Yeah!" Mew firmly nodded.

Joe Dark turned aside and after a brief pause, extended his hand out to grab Mew's damaged hand. He gripped it firmly and fed his own darkness into it. Pain sifted through Mew's teeth as the darkness was forced into his body, helping to mend his skin.

Joe Dark tried to smile. A brief, and fleeting moment, before Dracula rose to cast his shadow over them both.

"There you are..." He murmured with a hungered snarl.

"...That's right." Joe Dark closed his eyes, and summoned his sword backhanded into Dracula's gut. He then spun around and thrust his darkness filled palm into the beast's face, his eyes open with a newly born fire.

"Here I am...!" One blast of darkness ripped half the beast's face clean off and sent him into the ground.

Dracula's arms limped and blood dripped from his wound. He slowly raised his head with a vacant look in his eyes and muttered, "What...is this...?"

Mew clobbered his head into the hilt of his brother's blade and exclaimed, "This is teamwork, you son of a bitch!"

Dracula quickly rose to grab him by the neck and dig his fingertips into the skin, "Worthless...as is your existe-"

Joe Dark dove down, grabbed the blade, and sliced through the beast's right hip. Mew freed himself and kneed Dracula in his grimy nose.

Joe Dark pulled back and sliced through both the beast's knees, allowing Mew to topple him down with two hard punches to the chest.

Dracula's feet were dragged along towards him on strands of blood, stitching back together in seconds. He floated upright and swung a wall of blood up with a flick of the wrist, stopping Mew's follow-up punch.

"Weak...!" He dismissed his foe with a flurry of bloody needles off the wall, ripping into Mew's skin. The darkness helped protect him, giving Joe Dark the time needed to run behind and cut Dracula up his spine.

The beast grunted and turned around, failing to snag his prey by the face. Joe Dark spun right around, slicing Dracula's hand off in the process.

The beast turned the blood that spewed forth into a sharp lance and drove it towards Joe Dark's back. Lunis stepped between them and wrapped her tails around his arm to hold it in place, while using her sickles from behind to slice through the beast's neck.

Dracula started gurgling up blood as he staggered back. The darkness was drying up from his skin, and his eyes regained their normal appearance.

"Your attacks...lack hatred...!" He growled in a feverish manner.

He pulled his arm free and threw his hands up, just to find Mew grappling onto his wrists and ramming his feet into his back. He then launched the two of them off the ground and spun around, pushing the Lord of Monsters downward for the perfect body slam.

Mew then bounded away and gave the beast a cheeky grin, "What's wrong? Is three-on-one too much for your stomach to handle?"

Dracula quickly rose to his feet and appeared before Mew in the blink of an eye, "Hardly."

Joe Dark and Lunis tag-teamed the beast on both sides but he reached out, grabbed their heads, and attempted to sandwich Mew between them.

Mew elbowed them hard in the gut to free them while backing away. Dracula was left performing an empty clap.

Joe Dark rubbed his gut and then ran at Dracula, stabbing him through the chest. The beast grabbed him by the skull and hoisted him up, his expression beginning to look a little more feral.

"Where is it...? Where is your rage...?!"

"In a place you can never reach, monster!" Joe Dark kicked the hilt of his blade, plunging it deeper in, forcing Dracula to let him go.

He then grabbed the hilt and slashed down to his waist, and swung back and forth through his legs multiple times. He pulled away as Dracula swung at him, making his upper body collapse upon the ground.

Mew ran up and punted the beast in the head, where Lunis then leaped up and sliced him apart with a dance from her sickles.

Even with his multitude of body parts strewn upon the ground, he pulled himself together in seconds and rose upright. He huffed heavily, vapor spewing from his mouth as a thick fog.

The trio stood together and raised their weapons at him, with Mew proclaiming, "We got him on the ropes!"

"Hungry...soooo...**hungry**...!" The beast's body became riddled in shivers. His skin writhed, the veins visibly moving underneath. He wobbled forward with one ground-breaking step and thrust his head up. His eyes were a ghastly white, and his voice began to hollow out with an echo.

"Feeeeed me...MOOOOOORE...!"

"You're not getting another nibble outta us!" Mew stood up and thrust a pointer finger at the beast, "Its over!"

"Over...?" His jaw dropped a foot free from his mouth and laughter forced its way out, "Over...over...?! Can't be...can't be over...! I haven't eaten enough...I haven't consumed enough...! Anger, fear, hatred, death, destruction...! I must eat it all!"

"Consume...CONSUME!" Dracula threw his head and arms back and his body hovered off the ground, carried by a pillar of red-white energy that erupted beneath, "**COOOOOONSUUUUUUUMEEEEEEE!" **

The trio braced themselves as raw power surged through the light, and sent a tremor through the mountains. For thirty seconds, they wondered what was coming. But when the light faded, there was nothing in its place.

Mew fluttered his eyelids and muttered, "Was that it?"

"N-No...!" Lunis shivered, her skin turning paler than her hair.

A towering force crashed into the ground before them, knocking them off their feet and bringing a terrible earthquake upon the atmosphere.

Mew raised his head slightly and saw that they were between a pair of long, lanky, discolored fingers, each at least a hundred feet long. They ripped apart the ground in retreat with the help of their mangled, orange claws.

The five-fingered hand was one of two, attached to a thousand foot titan whose upper body was wide like a cobra with its sides extended. Faceless, it still felt like it was looking upon the trio, nay, the world, with an insatiable hunger.

Its wings spread from its back, filled to the brim with horned teeth, while a long, serpentine tail swept the mountains below it clean off the surface. From one palm to another, bridged across its wide chest, the skin began to split open and reveal a black void and thousands of bloody teeth filled with acidic saliva.

"I am he who feasts...Unable to be satisfied by your morsel worlds...! My gullet stretches to eternity, so that even the heavens may be devoured in service of His will! At His behest, my name shall shake your very soul...! I AM...!"

**BA'AL ZEBUL, LEVIATHAN OF THE GLUTTONOUS VOID**

Mew and his friends were trembling head-to-toe. And right now all he could do was bite his lower lip and grumble, "Boy do I wish Riku was here right now...!"

_Next Time: Devouring Twilight_


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: Serpent Devouring the Horizon**

Towering over all, the pale devil eclipses the moonlight, motivated only by his carnal appetite. His faceless gaze no longer seeing his three enemies as anything more than seeds of grain in a field of crops.

The trio were shaking but none felt it worse than Lunis, who began to mumble ill omens to herself, "S-Sins...the end of days...Dying...of the light...!"

Mew faced her and shouted, "H-Hey! You holding up ok there?!"

His voice snapped her out of it for now and she swiftly apologized, "S-Sorry!"

"Its fine..." Mew said and let out a mildly exasperated gasp to stop shaking, "This...caught me by surprise too."

"How the HELL are we supposed to fight something this big?!" Joe Dark exclaimed, a loosened grip on his blade.

"Relax will ya? This is like, the second biggest thing I've ever fought!" Mew bragged but, this foe was sending shivers down his spine.

Last time he fought something this big he was still confident he could win. Now? This beast gave off a powerful, ancient, and foreboding vibe. This was an evil long kept sealed, older than the oldest gods, finally, awakened from his eternal slumber.

And it didn't feel like there would a way to seal it back up.

Mew couldn't stop staring at this pale devil, whose motionless only made its reason for existing all the more unreachable.

"Well, at least he's giving us ample time to think of a plan."

The confines of Ba'al's abyssal maw began to stretch and creak, and Mew felt his body being tugged on.

"Scratch that! Crap!" He instinctively dug his claws into the ground while his allies did the same with their weapons, bracing against the screaming vacuum of a thousand wailing souls the pale devil used to start eating away at the planet.

Long standing settlements of rock and dirt were treated as frail as paper and torn up from the ground in massive chunks, disappearing into Ba'al's gut.

They would be his meal too, it was only a matter of time.

"Anyone got any ideas?!" Mew hustled against the ear-bleeding sounds around him.

"I-I might have one!" Lunis declared as she began to slowly pull her herself up, "Follow me!"

"Follow you? Where?!" Was all Mew got out before watching in shock as Lunis leaped straight for the devil's mouth.

"Has that girl lost her mind?!" Joe Dark barked.

Lunis' speed let her pull free from his all-consuming appetite just barely. She then impaled him in the forehead and a second later, the both of them vanished, enveloped in a silver flash.

As stone crashed down around them, Mew and Joe Dark stood and looked around.

"Did she...sacrifice herself?" Joe Dark murmured.

"Nah, there's no way..." Mew was having his doubts until he slowly panned his gaze up at the moon. There was a very, very tiny plume of dust being formed along the surface.

"There!" He pointed upward, "She teleported him to the moon!"

"That's crazy!" Joe Dark said through gritted teeth.

"So's this whole night so far!" Mew grabbed his brother's hand and glared at him, "We don't have time to debate this. She needs our help, fast!"

"Tsk...! I know that! Quit wasting time!" He barked back.

Mew smiled and the two of them combined their powers to rip open a dark rift that'd speed them straight up to the moon. Adrenaline rushed through their veins as they left their home behind...

Upon arriving at the lunar rock they followed the massive trench in the surface to catch up with Lunis, now hung over catching her breath, and their enemy laying flat on their back.

Mew patted her on the back as she passed her by and said, "Good thinking! Catch your breath, we can handle him for a bit."

The pale devil pulled itself upright and swept away all around it with its tail. Mew and Joe Dark stayed a couple hundred feet away and raised their arms against him.

"This tainted rock..." Ba'al smashed his claws upon the ground and ripped plumes of dust up as he screamed, "Will not satisfy me!"

Even with no air to speak of, the atmosphere trembled in fear of his manic hunger. Mew tightened his fists in anticipation and proclaimed, "Get ready, here he-!"

He couldn't have anticipated the devil bounding at them like a frog and lashing his claw down.

His eyes widened and the two of them split off. The devil ripped the ground up and bashed it into Mew as a makeshift club.

Joe Dark attempted to cut the devil from behind, only to accidentally get smacked by his tail, whipped in a frenzy.

Ba'al smashed the stone across Mew's body twice more and it broke. Then Mew tripled the size of his fists and stretched them out to punch the devil's forehead.

The low gravity made it possible to force this heavy beast off the ground, thankfully. And with his enemy frazzled Mew dug his claws into the beast's bony flesh and pulled right in, kicking with all his strength.

The two of them went flying off the ground, but Mew propelled himself just a _little_ bit further ahead and tried to haul the entire beast overhead.

His muscles gave their all but shock of shocks, the gluttonous beast was heavy, and he winded himself slamming them down on their back.

Joe Dark provided the follow-up in his stead, summoning a rain of black blades to impale the pale devil all the way down to the tip of his tail. Then, he set them to explode, each one making the beast squirm.

During the onslaught the beast pulled itself upright and prepared itself to lunge up at them. The two got out of the way and the devil whipped right back around, leaping at them again.

Mew and Joe Dark dove in and cut through their foe's sides in tandem, their efforts amounting to the equivalent of a paper cut. Joe Dark looked at his blade right after and noticed that it had gotten chipped, and clicked his tongue in frustration.

Mew primed his fists full of darkness and warped straight to the beast's forehead to start wailing on it. Each punch rippled through the planet's surface, covering the two of them in dust.

The devil had adjusted to the gravity and nailed itself to the ground, using its incredible girth to drag Mew down on its forehead.

Mew stretched his limbs out and looked back to quickly open a dark rift that'd catch him before impact. But in darkness' sanctuary he still _felt_ the moon's surface crack apart.

The tremors continued, and grew louder over time. The beast was eating away at the wall between dimensions with his own body.

Mew grit his teeth and swung through the darkness to arrive above the beast's silhouette sneaking through. He then spun out through a rift and barreled into the back of the beast's head like a cannonball.

He jumped right up and smashed his feet down the second time, and when they tried to fight back he went in a third time.

"Stay down will ya?!" He grunted out in frustration, as the beast rose yet again, this time with such immense force that Mew went tumbling hundreds of feet back.

And at the bottom of the beast's staggering jaw dragged yards of darkness turned to rubber, mixed in with ivory stone. The strands snapped into his closing maw, and drool slowly oozed from the sides.

"More...! I need more...!" The pale devil shrieked and darted forward on a one way course for the bright blue planet in the distance.

Only for a large black hand to latch onto the end of his tail, and force him back down out flat upon the moon's surface.

"You're not getting any more!" Mew hollered as he snapped all the way over to his hand, then sprung straight for the beast's backside. His fists clenched at his sides, and the velocity warping around his body like a bubble.

He hit his mark and the only thing the beast ate was a good half a mile of dirt across his face. Yet still it rose to full height immediately.

Ba'al turned around and split its gaping maw all the way open, snagging Mew in its vacuum. Mew dug his feet into the air and tried to pull away, but couldn't, even giving it his all. He tried to stretch one of his limbs to the ground but the arm was pulled right towards the devil's mouth.

Joe Dark suddenly flew up beside the vortex and thrust his hand out, "Hurry! Grab on!"

With a little clever use of the vortex's pull Mew stretched his hand out and grabbed his brother's own to pull free, "Thanks for the save!"

But Ba'al simply redirected the vacuum's pull towards them. However, it was slow, and the two backed away to coordinate an attack on their preoccupied foe.

Joe Dark coated his blade thick with darkness and drove a cross shaped slashed into the devil's forehead. Then Mew wound up his fists full of black flames and struck in the center, forming a violent purple-black "X" overlapping the cross.

The two forces of darkness burst apart into a towering pillar of flame, and for a moment the beast shrieked in agony...

Only for the flames to subside, and little more than soot marks to have marred the devil's skin. Mew clutched his fists and scoffed, "Oh come on! What is this thing made of?!"

Joe Dark raised his blade towards the beast and grunted, "Damn thing has to have some sort of weakness!"

The devil turned towards them and his soul bound gaze left their bodies feeling cold as he whispered, "That hurt..."

He lunged up and immediately had his claws inches from their bodies. They grit their teeth and slammed their arms against the devil's bony palms, only for them to be slammed together, and then bashed down into the moon.

The devil crushed them under palm, his thick, ivory fingers making the perfect cage bars, "I will mince you up, and feast on your innards...!"

Mew reached out at the ground to try and open a dark rift to freedom, but the sound of his bones crunching made it hard to concentrate.

Suddenly the devil's hands swung up and began flailing around, as he was assaulted by copies of Lunis repeatedly stabbing their sickles into his flesh.

Before Ba'al hit them with his tail, the real Lunis scooped them up to safety, while the devil fed on her clones one by one.

And immediately he turned on them and leaped, swinging his entire heaving body around to attack with both claws and tail. Mew and Lunis separated from Joe Dark by the force of the gale from his tail and tried to pull back.

But somehow the beast kept on them just by slashing his claws out diagonally. No, it was more than that. He was eating away the space between them, making speed a non-factor.

Mew grit his teeth and coated his hands in darkness, then turned to Lunis with a nod, "I got an idea. Think you can make some ice for me?"

Lunis held her hands out and created a wall of it directly between them, then nodded back. Mew quickly thrust his palms against the ice and with how thin it was, it acted as glass to amplify the darkness twofold, sending a blazing bright black streak straight through the top of the devil's head.

Aaaaand he would immediately regret doing that. Not for damaging the creature finally, but because what lied beneath the skin were a plethora of squirming, decaying maggots that acted as the beast's flesh, and quickly multiplied to stitch the wound back together.

And thus the devil continued onward without pause, batting the fearstruck Mew into the ground and hoisting Lunis high over its gaping mouth.

It began to drop her right in. Mew hastily stretched his hand out and caught her in a dark rift, then shut it before he could slice it open.

She was dropped out onto the ground with a rather rough landing, but it was the best he could manage. The devil cared little. He found his next meal in Mew and plunged two claws down, impaling the ground beside him and then attempting to hoist him up like his fingers were chopsticks.

Mew ducked back into a dark rift not a second too late and then sped up to get behind the devil. He came out whipping his whole body around, repeatedly bashing his fists into the back to force Ba'al into the ground.

In turn this raised the tail in the perfect position for Mew to do something else. He had a couple ideas and, apologizing in advance to his muscles, decided to go for the more painful option.

He grabbed the tip of the tail in both hands and pulled it over his shoulder, dragging the beast's face against the ground. It tried to turn around and suck Mew in through its vortex.

But this just gave Mew an ingenious idea. He yanked the tail below his body and pulled back as best he could, watching as the beast sucked in his tail and chomped down on it.

This left him in immense agony and he began flailing around, busting up the ground as he turned over and back again.

Mew wound up his fist and dove straight into the devil's forehead, nailing him flat down. He then kept punching away for a few seconds, until a shadow began to grow over his body.

He looked back and narrowly evaded the regrown tail's attempt to grab him...only to wind up in the grasp of his right claw.

As the claw arched towards the mouth Joe Dark flew in and impaled his sword into the beast's wrist, forcing the fingers open.

Mew and Joe Dark got some distance while Ba'al rose for yet another round. Mew hung his head slightly and his panting, while subtle, was enough to get his brother's attention.

He looked at him with mild concern and Mew brushed a shoulder towards him while saying, "I still got plenty of fight in me, don't worry..."

A sweat drop fell off the side of his cheek when he grinned. He charged into battle once more, knocking Ba'al off his stance with an uppercut to the forehead.

The devil responded in kind by lashing a claw down to smack Mew away. Lunis then returned to the fray by throwing her clones into the beast's skin to impale it repeatedly.

Mew snagged the top of the devil's head on one claw and pulled it into the ground. Then he summoned a hundred hands to help keep him down. But the claws and tail played havoc with his plans with their incessant flailing.

The Lunis copies continued attacking away at the creature's back, but to what avail? The devil seemed immune to harm, and only seemed to care for pain when a large chunk of its flesh had been torn asunder.

Joe Dark joined in, dropping down from high above to impale his sword into the center of the creature's back, unleashing a powerful black bolt along with it.

They kept striking away at the devil and it seemed like it wouldn't escape. That is, until, the beast made use of its ravenous maw and started devouring the ground below. It tunneled into the moon like a feral worm and its sudden descent forced Mew to let go.

It wasn't long before Ba'al cast his horrible shadow upon them from behind, rising and diving down to try and eat them in one fell swoop.

The three backed off to see who he'd pursue. And as chance would have it, he went after Mew. Mew rolled out of the way and threw a quick punch clean into the devil's side, but he didn't budge.

He clicked his tongue and felt the ground tremble violently beneath his feet. It broke apart, and he found himself in the center of the devil's mouth.

He stretched his limbs out to the gap between his teeth and held on tight before he was lost to the avoid however. The devil ascended into the dark depths and floated there, using its powerful suction to try and force Mew's surrender.

His grip was slipping. One finger, then two, pulled away from the skin. He trusted his friends to come save him though, and held on with that hope well in his heart.

He heard an explosion go off stronger than the sound of his vortex, and the beast spat out in pain. Mew freed himself immediately and arched behind the beast, watching as a blistering scar formed on its back, glowing with black and red light.

Joe Dark was a few feet away with his hand blistering hot, and his sweating face panting. He acknowledged Mew with a brief glance, then summoned his blade back into hand.

"I can't keep wasting energy bailing you out like this...!" He grunted, showing that he cared...In his own way.

"I could've gotten out of there on my own...!" Mew joked back. His vision fogged up a little, but he rid himself of that with a blink of the eyes.

"Enough!" Ba'al shrieked. As he descended upon the moon he twisted around violently, dragging all three of his foes into him, where upon his landing they'd be flung far, far away by his tail.

He then made a beeline across the ivory surface towards the Earth. Joe Dark landed on his feet first and widened his eyes as the devil braced himself on the ground and stretched his arms in loving embrace towards the blue planet.

"Such a succulent world...I will take great pleasure in consuming it all!"

He expanded his jaw to its limits and unleashed a powerful vacuum towards the planet. The thick clouds and some of the ocean seemed to be gravitating towards the center of his vortex, away from the planet's pull.

Joe Dark gripped his sword in both hands, rallied up darkness to ignite the blade, and swung a powerful slash into the creature's back.

It cut deep and left a bright red gash in the skin, and after one shriek Ba'al turned around and eyed his assailant glaring him down.

"We're not through yet you devil!"

The devil slithered straight for him and Joe Dark readied his blade. Mew, meanwhile, flew in from behind and flung a large spiraling orb into the devil's sealing wound.

The orb drilled its way through and took out a spherical chunk of the beast's flesh when it exploded, part the blast being seen from Joe Dark's side.

The devil refocused its effort onto Mew and lashed its claws out, Mew rolling and weaving his way around as he got in closer to punch him in the forehead.

And with the skin there weakened, Lunis came in and stabbed her sickles in deep. Then the two of them retreated, with Lunis covering her exhaustion with a slow, steady breath, "I wish I could go more to help..."

"We're doing everything we can here, don't worry about it!" Mew noted to rally her falling spirits.

And on cue, Joe Dark followed through on their efforts by delivering a slash through the devil's back, the energy flying out his mouth a moment after.

The devil whipped its tail back and hit Joe Dark, who stabbed his blade into it. He was dragged further into the ground as Ba'al carried him around and around, the whirlwind made keeping Mew and Lunis from helping out.

The devil released Joe Dark when he was centered before the other two, upon which he leaped at them with his open maw.

The two split and Lunis summoned her clones to throw their sickles into his skin. The number she called up was less than they had been so far.

Mew meanwhile drove a punch into the side of the devil to keep it spinning when it tried to face him. He then rammed his right foot into the back of his head and forced him into the ground.

"Come on come on!" There was urgency in his voice that wasn't there before.

Ba'al raised his tail and wrapped it around Mew, then bashed him repeatedly against the ground. When he had his fill he swatted him away, then turned and slithered back towards the Earth.

A thousand black hands clawed into his back and dragged him away from his target. Mew braced his feet into the ground and tugged, harder and harder, as sweat drizzled down his flushed face.

Ba'al swung around and the phantom limbs snapped off. He slashed his claw down, consuming the space between him and this pesky foe of his.

Mew lingered in the devil's pale shadow with a smirk, and began hopping away as the beast spread his wings. The sky was filled by a flood of his teethed feathers that fell upon Mew.

Mew stretched his arms out and summoned an equal number of dark rifts, only to watch as the teeth ate right through them, and began cutting across his body.

"GHHHH...!" He grit his teeth and forced the pain inside as blood sputtered from all corners of his body.

Joe Dark pulled up with his sword as a brace, and could feel the strength bleeding from Mew's presence. His heart skipped a beat, and with his face turned pale he screamed, "BROTHER!"

And then he flung himself at the devil, his roar growing louder as he built up energy to slash the beast across the forehead.

Ba'al let out a chilling laugh, and swatted him out of the sky with one claw. He crashed against the top of the fallen teeth, and bounced along the moon's surface into a roll that laid him flat out.

The teeth broke apart and Mew stood where they all were, his body riddled in trickles of blood. His eyes were still wide-open, forced against their will to defy the enemy's overwhelming presence.

"Man...I just don't have any luck on the moon..." He joked, a weak show of force for a man on wobbling knees.

Joe Dark stood up and gasped the life out of his lungs. Ba'al took his right claw up over him and muttered, "So much energy drained...just to swat a few flies...I need to eat... your FEAR...and your DARKNESS...!"

The claw came crashing down, and Joe Dark began to close his eyes...But found himself swept off his feet and flying back, with Mew standing in his place.

Time slowed to a crawl as Joe Dark's eyes widened, watching Mew glancing over his shoulder with little more than a confident smile...As the devil's pale hammer came crashing down atop him.

Joe Dark stood right back up after he fell and froze there as Ba'al pulled his hand up, and Mew's body peeled right off the palm.

"I have no need of this..." The devil seemed to lose interest and turned right back around to feast his eyes and mouth upon his true prize: The Earth.

Joe Dark rushed straight to Mew's side and cradled him in his arms, giving him a light shake. He then shook him a few more times, getting a slight groan out of him in turn.

"Why...?" He asked, his voice cracking, "Why me again...?"

Mew creaked his eyes open partway and chuckled. He raised his hand to the side of Joe Dark's face and his smile widened a little more. He seemed to be saying something, but it was quieter than a whisper. Then, his hand fell, leaving a smear of blood on Joe Dark's cheek.

Joe Dark's body went cold, and he squeezed his fists taut.

"_Why...Why...?" _Images flashed through his mind of this same scene playing over and over again, with different bodies lying in his arms.

These eyes had seen death, even his own. Yet he continued to survive. He, who had no reason to live.

Mew was stubborn, stupid to a fault...But he was kind. Too kind. He invited a worthless person like him into his home, gave him a room, fed him, and tried to involve him in his daily life.

He was a greater man than most. He had done **nothing** wrong. And for that, he deserved to die? THIS was going to be his reward?

In the face of the absurdity of this injustice, Joe Dark whispered, "Why God...?"

And pulled his head back, tears torn from his shut eyes, "WHY CAN'T IT EVER BE ME?!"

He grit his teeth and his watered gaze took in the pale devil, as they readied their gaping maw to consume the Earth whole. He would again lose not just his family, but his home. And he was powerless to stop it.

A nightmare...without end.

He held Mew closer to his chest and his fists shook.

"No..." He began to rise, leaving his brother's body on the ground, "Not...again!"

Mew never gave up. Where there was a will, there was a way. And even if he was to be reduced to nothingness, then at least he'll have tried, instead of lying down and accepting death.

His body, shrouded in darkness, flew in front of Ba'al and, for a brief moment, managed to still the devil's ravenous appetite.

Ba'al's laughter did nothing to Joe Dark's silent expression, or cold glare.

"You're not even an appetizer to me..." The devil brushed the back of his right claw out and chuckled, "Begone, I have no further need for a frightened little child."

Joe Dark grit his teeth and darkness gathered in his right hand. The power to blot out a thousand suns collapsed into a single sphere no bigger than his head, and surged with uncontrollable electricity.

"Know this you devil..." He widened his eyes and a fire began to be lit up within, "I may be scared, but my love for our home...far surpasses my fear of you!"

He reeled his fist back and squeezed the energy with all his might, "AND YOU WILL NOT DESTROY IT!"

He thrust the dark sphere deep into Ba'al's gullet, and the titanic snake recoiled a few hundred feet back. A mighty explosion expanded the creature's entire body, only for the energy to be devoured within seconds.

And thus, the devil fell to the ground and laughed, while Joe Dark dropped out of the sky, losing his armor and being reduced to a man tiredly staring up on his knees.

"That was tasty...Thank you," Ba'al slithered back into place and left his shadow hanging over his defeated foe, "You gave me a few good meals. I suppose you were worth something after all..."

The devil then began to open his mouth, the end of the world seeming inevitable...

"Mew...I'm...sorry..." Joe Dark began to close his eyes, but as he did so, a dark steam began to spill forth from the devil's maw.

Ba'al screamed and recoiled back, patting the bottom of his jaw with his claws in a panic, "W-What is this feeling...?!"

"AHHHHH!" His skin turned dark, and he feverishly began tearing away at himself while flailing around in circles, "I ate your rage, your darkness, and your fear...SO WHY...WHY DOES IT BURN ME SO?!"

More steam spewed out from his pores, and he raised his upper body off the ground while clawing at the depths of space, "IT HURTS...IT HURTS IT HURTS...! AAAAAAHHHHH! AHHHHHHH!"

He flipped his tail underneath himself so that the tip entered his mouth, upon which he began chomping away at the entire thing.

"This fear...! Its so delicious! I must have more! MORE! MOOOOOOOOOOREEEE!" When there was no tail left to eat, he split the part of his mouth on the arms and used them to gnaw away at the lower part of his body.

"EAT. CONSUME. DEVOUR! BEAUTIFUL! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL TO HAVE IT ALL IN MY BELLY!" His body twisted up into a ravenous, self-consuming vortex that grew smaller and smaller. Until eventually, defying all logic, the pale devil had eaten himself up entirely.

Not a speck, nor a sound, remained of him.

Joe Dark knelt there, staring up in utter disbelief of what had happened, or why it HAD happened.

He, like the fallen leviathan, underestimated the power of a caring heart. Fear, anger, hatred were the devil's boon. Love...was his poison.

Joe Dark pulled himself up and slowly caught his breath. This long night was over. Their enemy, had fallen. But the cost, may have been too high to pay.

He hurried on over to where Mew was and found Lunis hung over him, pressing both her hands on his chest. Her appearance was now back to normal, albeit covered in sweat and blood.

Joe Dark stared at Mew's body and felt empty in his chest. How could he smile, or be happy?

Lunis suddenly jolted upright, and turned her head to Joe Dark with a weak, wobbling...smile?

"H-He's still got a pulse...! He's going to make it!" She stammered in disbelief.

A wave of heat swept through Joe Dark's heart, and his lips spread wide as he dropped on his hands and knees. His gasps were equal to the tears shed, but he made himself add in a lone whisper, "Thank you...Thank you...!"

Lunis lifted Mew onto her back and murmured aloud, "But he oughta get back home before he runs out of air."

Joe Dark slowly rose up and muttered, "R-Right...Lets go home."

"Home." It felt...good to say that. Earth. That was his home. And that's where he was happy to be. For now, he could rest there in peace.

Alura's fallen body flashed in his mind momentarily, and his smile turned into a slow frown.

"_...Except..." _Him and Mew were warped back to the surface with Lunis.

The night...was not **quite** over.

_Next Time: Twilight's Fall_


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Dawn of a New Day**

It had been roughly an hour since Ba'al's defeat. Returning to Earth helped Mew recover his strength while the others assessed the damage in the battle's aftermath.

Lunis found her brother's unconscious body thrown against a mountainside and carried it on over to the Whiter household which, by some miracle, was undamaged.

Joe Dark picked up Alura's body right where he left it, and has since been holding it over his lap with a motionless look in his eyes.

"Gah!" Suddenly Mew sprung up and frantically looked around. His frazzled gaze settled on Lunis for a few seconds, after which he murmured, "Whoa...how long was I out for?"

He rubbed the back of his head and seemed to be fighting off a slight headache that affected his recollection of events, "Last I remember we were fighting...that giant white snake on the moon. Then I took an attack for Joe and..."

He slowly panned his gaze towards the starry sky and muttered, "...Am I dead?"

"No, you're alive," Lunis addressed him with a tender chuckle, "We all made it out alive, thanks to Joe."

Mew cocked his head at her with a slight tilt and murmured, "Seriously?"

The disbelief was temporary as he then swung his head at Joe Dark and smiled, "Well how about that? You saved the world for the first time and I wasn't there to see it!"

He got no answer in return, and that's when he noticed his brother holding onto Alura. The girl's face was frozen in the frightful state death had placed her in, and her skin was even more devoid of color than it ever had before.

"..." Mew closed his eyes and stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets with his back turned to Joe, _"I'll give him some space..." _

He strolled over to where Lunis sat and rolled his head to get the cricks out of his neck. She had Solaris laid flat on the ground and knelt next to him.

"How's he doing?" He asked.

"He's breathing. I bet he'll wake up soon."

Mew lowered his eyes and she looked up to him with a hum of concern, "Are...are you going to punish him Mew?"

He jolted back and shook his head, "W-What no? I mean, sure I'm a little upset he sold us out..."

He looked around and saw all the damage done to the surrounding mountains. The area was so flat now he could almost see out to the roadways. But, there was a noticeable lack of burn marks anywhere.

"...Buuuuut, it doesn't seem like anyone died or got hurt cause of him this time soooo..." Mew shrugged and said, "Eh, whatever. I'll let it slide."

Lunis had a bit of a sigh of relief, though Mew had one last thing to add, "But when he gets up try to restrain him. I don't want him running off into space again."

"I wasn't going to let him," Lunis had her own concerns too, "But...will you be able to handle him if he goes berserk again?"

Mew sucked in and popped his lips while he looked away, "J-Just...don't worry about it. I can handle him this time."

The two of them hovered over Solaris for a few minutes, anticipating his awakening. When it seemed like they underestimated how long it'd take, they stared into each others' eyes.

"Ummmm..." Mew blinked, Lunis fluttered her eyelashes.

"Uhhhh..." She tilted her head.

It just didn't feel like the right time to have any sort of conversation.

"I'm..." Mew turned away and pointed out towards the flat lands, "Going to put the mountains back together. Let me know if he starts moving."

"Y-Yeah, that's fine." She then slowly leaned down towards her brother while Mew got to work.

Another half-hour passed, and a bit of pink began to show over the horizon. Lunis looked up in mild disbelief, "Morning already?"

It had been a long, **long** night and through all odds, the planet had survived it. Her brother was alive, and that's all she could ask for.

When dawn's first rays peeked over the land, Lunis heard a grumble from her brother. The sun had given him that last spark needed to wake up.

"Mew! He's coming to!" She hollered at the top of her lungs, unaware of where he'd gotten off to.

Mew suddenly flew over some of the newly reformed mountains around the house and plopped down beside Solaris looking a little sweaty.

The sun god awoke as ferociously as he did anything else. He was right up on his feet and swinging his head around, gritting his teeth and itching for a fight. With a few huffs like a feral lion, he locked eyes with Mew and growled, "You...!"

Mew crossed his arms and grumbled, "Seriously? You just got up and you want a fight?"

Fire was forming around Solaris' body and he extended his hand back as though ready to draw his sword, "You're weakened...This time I'll settle things for good!"

Mew lowered his hand to his waist prepared to fight back, "You ain't looking so _hot _yourself. I can take you with a hand behind my back!"

Suddenly, Mew swore he was seeing stars. There was a loud snap like rubber, and the next thing he knew him and Solaris were sharing frazzled looks at Lunis for striking her brother with a cold, hard slap to the face.

She had struck the anger right off her brother's face, and gave it to herself.

"Cut it out Solaris!" Her voice was firmer, deeper, and louder than her norm, like she was acting the part of a mother instead of a sister.

"Y-You...slapped me?" Solaris rubbed the red on his cheek slowly and stared into Lunis' eyes. But she threw the pointer finger of doom into his face and started railing on him mercilessly.

"After Mew had the decency to spare your life not once, not twice, but three times, you still want to kill him?!"

He fired back by shoving his face towards hers and yelling, "So what?! Its none of your business what I want! Stop trying to act like you're my mother!"

"I will when you stop acting like a child!"

The argument sounded like it was going to keep escalating and Mew quietly backed away, feeling completely out of place.

"Grrrr! Listen to you! You keep taking their side over everything! Do you care about what happened to father or not?!"

"O-Of course I do! How could you even say that?" Lunis backed away and laid a hand over her chest, "But father died because of his deci-"

"FATHER IS DEAD BECAUSE I WAS TOO WEAK!" Solaris erupted into a roar of flames and reduced all other noise to utter silence.

Lunis and Mew stared as the sun god bashed his fist back against the empty air and squeezed his eyes shut, venting his frustrations through a sobbing, feeble sounding voice, "I'm supposed to be the strongest sun god...But I couldn't protect him, avenge him...!"

"Solaris..." Lunis murmured.

He turned his burning, tearful gaze upon her and growled, "Don't give me your pity...! You don't know what its like to feel powerless to protect your family...!"

"...But I do."

Solaris felt a hand on his shoulder and gave it a quick, rough brush-off as he turned to face Mew, "I don't want to hear it from you...!"

"Well tough shit," Mew laid a hand on his hip and leaned his head back with a serious look in his eyes, "You aren't the only one who lost family that day. The 'Phoenix of Destruction' was my brother, and your father killed him."

"W-What?" Solaris spat out with a gaping look in his eyes.

"I watched him die and all I could do was sit there and let it happen. For the first time in my life I truly felt weak, powerless," Mew squeezed his fists and grunted in anger, "I **hated** it!"

"Your father was incredibly powerful. We only won by a miracle," Mew squinted his eyes at him and said, "It taught me that I still have a ways to go if I want to protect everyone close to me."

He raised a finger at Solaris' chest and told him, "And so do you."

Solaris began to raise a hand to his chest but then curled it into a fist and swung it out, "S-Shut up...!"

"Just because you're a god doesn't mean you've reached your limit. I bet there's an untapped reservoir of power waiting to burst out at any moment..." Mew settled down into a more nonchalant tone of voice and rolled his shoulders, "You just have to train for it. And once you do, you'll never feel weak again."

Solaris thrust a finger at him and exclaimed, "What, are you suggesting we live together as training buddies?!"

"Oh no no no," Mew wagged his hand around without looking him in the eyes, "Just that you ought to stay with your sister who happens to live with me, and maybe you can _happen_ to train with me when you feel like it..."

"Pffft...!" Solaris clutched his hip tightly and grumbled, "You're a loon."

He seemed to think about it for a moment, then answer the offer in the expected manner, "But fine whatever...I'll stick around for now...Just so I can train to become strong enough to take you down!"

"Whatever float's your boat buddy," Mew turned around and casually brushed a hand up beside his face, "You can hash that out with your sister."

"What?!" Solaris clawed his hand out and then grit his teeth in an odd scowl.

"...How'd I ever lose to a nutjob like that?" He failed to catch Lunis coughing into her fist with a smile.

Mew felt comfortable leaving things with Solaris at that. If he didn't run off this time then he's probably not going to try and cause trouble again, at least not a while.

Now, it had been a bit of time since he'd woken up, and Joe Dark's situation remained unchanged. He stopped a few feet behind him and waited to see if he'd react.

When he got the same silence as before, he decided to intervene quietly, "...You really cared about her, didn't you?"

Joe Dark flinched, his teeth tightening into a grimacing scowl, "She...she didn't deserve this...!"

Mew couldn't disagree, but there was no gentle way of putting it. The fact of the matter was, "I know but...she's gone now. Neither of us can change that."

"...How come?" Was not the response Mew expected to get.

Joe Dark leaned his head towards him and muttered, "There has to be something we can do. Is there not some power that can revive the dead?!"

"...If there is I haven't discovered it."

"T-Then someone else must know...! That crazy scientist girl, or that flowery biologist you met...!"

"Even if they could restore her body neither of them have the power to retrieve her soul." Mew hated to cut off every possibility his brother suggested, as every time he did his expression looked more pained and sad.

"She's gone. At least she can rest easy knowing you killed the one who did this."

There was no peace given through his words. Joe Dark's face settled on a wide-eyed disconnection from reality, as he slowly creaked his head to look down at the girl's body. He gently placed her on the ground at his knees, and began muttering to himself...

"Soul..."

"Uhhh..." There was this sudden unease in Mew's gut as he saw his brother take his hands over the hole in Alura's chest. His eyes were firm, focused, with a hint of desperation inside.

"Joe?" Mew held his hand out and saw darkness forming around his brother's body, "Joe stop whatever it is you're doing!"

"That damned old man dragged my soul back into my body with the power of darkness...!" He grizzled his teeth and gathered most of his darkness into his palms.

"That's crazy! You don't know what'll happen if-"

Joe Dark swung his head back and the darkness was already pouring into Alura's body, "Don't try and stop me! I have do try! I don't care what happens to me!"

The slightest hesitation on Mew's part and Joe Dark's whole body suddenly lost all darkness, his eyes hollowing out as he collapsed on top of Alura.

"Joe!" Mew ran over, pulled him up, and gave his body a few shakes, "Joe! Answer me...!"

When he wound up being limp, Mew grit his teeth and hissed, "Jesus christ, where did you go...?"

He was dropping. Deeper and deeper into the darkness. Time, distance, they didn't matter anymore. But his soul still felt the pressure of gravity, and it pulled him into the darkest abyss. Darker than night, blacker than space, beyond the furthest boundaries of the void...He sped through them all, and then came to a swift and sudden stop.

He **felt** nothing. He **heard** nothing. He **saw** nothing. This _place_ was stiff, cold, and suffocating. His body didn't take a breath for a full minute, then the presence of it reminded him that sound existed.

He tried to stretch his hand out into the silent beyond. Nothing.

"Where am I...?" This place was nothing like he expected Heaven or Hell to be. But this had to be where Alura's soul wound up. If only he could see...

Everything began to quake tremendously, rattling him to the core. Then, there was a great moan.

This was no earthly tremor. It was a _voice_, being wrested from its slumber.

"_Why are you here...fledgling __**king**__?" _A dark chorus of a thousand gravely, baritone voices assaulted his ears, addressing him with familiarity, and curiosity.

His soul soon stiffened like stone, and rendered him unable to move. But his bravery ultimately won out, as he screamed into the dark void his answer, "So you must be Satan...You have something you don't deserve to have, and I'm going to take it back!"

"_Ha! Ha! Ha!" _The voice guffawed, letting a tremor stir between every utterance, _"Satan...how laughable."_

"You don't know who you're dealing with." Joe Dark remarked.

"_That little angel you humans fear is the Prince of Lies. Even he bows at the knee to a King, who in turn bow to Emperors, who in turn swear fealty to the Elders beyond comprehension and THEY...!" _The voice grew louder with a shriek, _"ARE BUT WORMS FEEBLY GNAWING AT MY BONES!" _

Light exploded within this fragile void like a sun going off, and Joe Dark was draped with an inescapable feeling of inferiority.

His soul was adrift above a sphere of incomprehensible size, filled to the brim with thousands upon thousands of smaller spheres, each sparkling with nebulas and galaxies.

And around this largest sphere, nailed there by its ribs and spines, was the black skeleton of a dragon lacking its lower jaw. Its hollowed out eyes penetrated right through his soul, and the tip of its tail laid close to its snout.

"_I HAVE BEEN GIVEN MANY NAMES TO SHELTER THE WEAK FROM FEAR...FOR MY TRUE NAME UTTERED CARVES AN INESCAPABLE WOUND INTO THE HEARTS OF EVEN YOUR SO-CALLED ELDER GODS! I AM THE CALL TO ARMAGEDDON, THE REMINDER OF THE END OF DAYS...I AM THE ORIGINATOR OF SIN, THE SPINAL FIRMAMENT, AND THE END OF DREAMS...! I AM...!"_

"_**/\\\\\\\\\\\\\/\\\\\\\\\\\\\/\\\\\\\\\\\\\/\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/\\\\\\\\\\\\\/\\\\\\\\\\\\!" **_

Inescapable. Inhospitable. Joe Dark's soul was torn down to the atom, tormented by the cackling of a thousand feral demons.

And in a second, he was pulled back together, the darkness draping back over this void. He continued to scream like he was running out of breath, while the dragon shook the realm with his laugh.

"_But you can call me..." _The dragon stirred with a curious hum, _"Akumu. Akumu Jigokuryu." _

Joe Dark felt like the dragon was scraping its claw onto his soul, _"I believe I have made my point abundantly clear, __**Joe Dark**__. You are nothing. Acknowledge your worthlessness before me, and __**perhaps **__we can talk." _

The dragon said the one word that could trigger any semblance of bravery within Joe Dark now: "Worthless".

His soul stopped shaking, and he stared into the black abyss between Akumu's eyes. The dragon in turn let out a soft moan of interest.

"_Ahhhh, there it is...I would have been disinterested if there wasn't some courage in your soul." _

"S-Satan, Akumu, I don't give a damn what your name is or who you are! You have someone I want!"

A flick of rose-colored light appeared between the two of them, and the dragon wagged it around just out of arms' reach, _"This one, correct?" _

Joe Dark reached out and it was pulled away into one of the dragon's eyes sockets, _"Ah ah ah. Come now...we both know this isn't what you want." _

"What?"

"_You seek purpose through this girl...Yes. I know what you want, just as I know all things that occur in this universe..." _The soul of Alura continued to drift further into Akumu's skull, _"But alas. She is mine."_

"N-No! Damn you...! You don't have the right to...!"

The void trembled, and the dragon continued to laugh, _"Look at me. Does it __**appear**__ as though I have many rights?" _

"_I am...a prisoner," _The dragon spoke softly, without much of a care, _"Have been since the beginning of time. I can only watch, never interact, with all of creation."_

"_My only company comes in the form of the souls who depart from this world at the hands of my children." _

"Children...?" Joe Dark murmured.

"_Yes. My Seven Deadly Sins," _Akumu's tone turned a little more crass, _"You should know of my youngest one. You just killed him. Murderer." _

The air grew tense, and only settled down when the dragon let out a slow, eerie laugh, _"I hardly care, just as they grew to feel towards me..." _

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark suddenly exclaimed, "Your _child_ murdered billions!"

"_And?" _Akumu's answer should have come as no surprise, _"Are you to suggest that I am to be held accountable?" _

The void trembled some more, and his voice deepened, beckoning his accuser to answer his question, _"Well? __**And just what can you do about it**__?"_

There was no reasonable answer to think of.

"_Of course not. I am not responsible for what they've done in my absence..." _The dragon's bones **creaked**, sending an ear-piercing sound through the nothingness beyond, _"But I am proud. They have delivered many souls to ease my loneliness." _

"_Though..." _Akumu whispered in...melancholy?

"_There comes a point where I can only see them as they are...numbers to fill the emptiness inside of me. They hold as much value to me as stardust does to the cosmos..." _He summoned a black light within his other eye socket and played around with it like a toy ball, _"Souls such as these now...They hold a much greater value to me."_

Joe Dark grimaced, recognizing that soul as that of the original Dark King's.

"_Yes, __**this one**__ made a bargain to surrender his afterlife to me in exchange for restoring you back to life to continue his revenge..." _Even at his softest laugh, Akumu made the worlds shake, _"When one's hatred proves great enough to make me shake...How could I say no?"_

The soul was sent away. To where only the dragon knew for sure. Then Alura's soul reappeared, gently hovering around before the bridge between the dragon's eyes.

"_And this one well...Technically, she is my granddaughter."_

"She's your prisoner!" Joe Dark exclaimed as he swung out to try and grab the soul, only to have it plucked away at the last second, and dangled overhead.

"_When a soul passes on they are left to the mercy of whoever lies on the other side. There is no escape, but that doesn't make them prisoners. That is merely the law of our world." _

Akumu carried Alura's soul over the back of his head, far, far out of Joe Dark's reach, and taunted him with the tone of a child, _"She is lawfully mine."_

Joe Dark slammed his soul into Akumu's body and was sent reeling when the dragon laughed, _"Fufufufu...But, I am willing to...__**bargain**__ for her."_

Joe Dark looked up surprised as the dragon explained, _"It is within my domain to return these souls to their bodies...for a price." _

"I will not give you my soul in exchange for hers!" Joe Dark gave his answer, and the dragon...laughed. But this time was different. It was like he had pulled his head back and lost himself to the humor of his words.

"_Why would anyone want __**yours**__?!" _

Joe Dark was too frightened to be unamused.

"_No...no..." _The dragon struggled to settle down, _"Bargaining for souls is an amateur move. That and marriages. The little red imps see only the greatest value they can snag in their greedy claws." _

"_But when you take the most valuable thing a person has, that's it. No more deals. I prefer...repeat customers." _

"_So, offer me the most valuable thing you can think of...That will still allow us to play again some other day, Joe Dark." _

"T-The most valuable thing...?" He was left to his own devices to think.

What could he give up for Alura's soul? Or rather, was he really willing to go this far just for one person?

...He did not know that it was too late to think otherwise. The devil's whispers had reached his ears, and He would not surrender without an answer.

He thought about it long and hard, not knowing how much time passed in the meantime. An eternity of solitude made the devil the most patient soul alive.

There was really only one answer. The faith and hope that Mew had put in him was the only thing worth any value. But, to give **that **up? Could he really betray him?

Joe Dark clicked his tongue and trembled as he spoke, "I...I offer..."

His soul bent at the proverbial knee to Akumu, "My future."

"_...Tut tut tut..." _The dragon mockingly clicked their silver tongue, _"Joe Dark...are you trying to deceive __**me**__ by being deliberately vague?" _

Joe Dark was left in shivers as Akumu let out a slow, bellowing chuckle, _"Future...that word inspires me. Yes, yes...I have a wonderful, delightful, most horrible of ideas."_

The tension grew with the passing seconds until the dragon felt it was right to speak again, _"Your firstborn, Joe Dark." _

"W...What?"

"_Your heir, whether son or daughter, shall be a herald of my power. In exchange..." _Alura's soul was brought back over the dragon's scalp, _"My granddaughter's soul is yours." _

"...What are you plotting?" Joe Dark immediately snarled in a grizzled tone.

"_I am...to say, at odds with my 'skin', who governs this universe. He gets to watch the world, and make 'friends', while I suffer here. I want...__**revenge**__," _Akumu then spoke in a nonchalant tone, _"I could burn this world whole...Or turn the neglected wastelands green again. I could give humanity peace, or leave them suffering. I could mend the ills of this world...or make it __**bleed**__." _

"_I won't decide now. I may __**never**__ decide. The paranoia will eat away at your soul every day you look your child in the eye. You will blame me for every ill mannered thought, word and action of theirs, and I will delight in your suffering, far beyond your reach."_

"_Is this one soul, worth all that to you, Joe Dark?" _

Joe Dark grit his teeth and stared the devil in the eyes, trembling.

"Your offer has a major flaw, devil...!"

"_Oh? Enlighten me then." _

"I will not abandon my child to their fate...If you corrupt him with your influence, I will do everything in my power to fight back! So I accept your damn bargain, unless you're scared to lose...!"

"_Hrrrmmm..." _Akumu chuckled, _"Cowardly...that name is...unfamiliar." _

"_You __**are**__ a little interesting, I suppose," _On that utterance, Alura's soul began to descend towards Joe Dark's, _"I look forward to your struggle. For now, take the girl back...I will even restore her body, free of charge." _

The moment the two souls touched, they were shunted back to the mortal plain. The dragon remained, stirring with a curious hum.

"_Hmmm...Oh, I forgot to mention the catch to our little bargain," _The void trembled with his chuckle, _"Fufufufu, oh well...He'll remember when the time comes."_

"_A true devil always keeps a trick up their sleeve..." _

Joe Dark awoke back on Earth with a shock to his heart and a hard gasp. He placed his hands on the grassy ground and started looking around, locking eyes with Mew knelt down beside him.

"You're back!" Mew breathed a sigh of relief, then gently slapped Joe Dark on the cheek, "What the HELL were you thinking?!"

Joe Dark rubbed his sore skin and muttered angrily, "Hello to you too..."

"Just where did you go anyways? Hell?!"

"I..." Joe Dark's mouth went agape as the last few minutes were a blank in his head, "I...don't know."

"Oh..._that's _reassuring." Mew said with arms crossed against his chest.

"...I think I got her soul back though..."

The two of them were interrupted by a murmur in front of them. Alura's body began to stir, and after shoving Mew out of the way Joe Dark shuffled over and helped prop her upright.

The wound in her chest had been filled in, and the faint color in her skin had been restored. She squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them back up.

"Mmrrrr..." One hand gravitated towards her wound and she looked...about as confused as she could muster.

"I'm...alive?" She trembled, because Joe Dark's arms were. He forced a smile, and looked ready to cry.

"Joe Dark...? Did...you do this?" She murmured.

He nodded. Alura peered down at herself and gave a tiny frown, "F-Father...he...he...killed me...why?"

It was a shrill, pained question with no right answer. Joe Dark closed his eyes, grit his teeth and exclaimed, "F-Forget him!"

She was shocked into looking his way, "He's gone now, and you're better off without him!"

"...You killed him?" Alura murmured.

"Yeah, shockingly." Mew gave an unwarranted answer and Joe Dark gave him a quick glare in turn.

"...Why?" Alura turned away from him and her hands limped onto her waist, "Why did you do all this...for me?"

Another tough question. She was full of those, for such a sheltered girl...

"Because..." The answer was a little easier to pronounce this time, "It was the right thing to do."

Alura seemed to take a moment to digest that, then stood right up and turned her back to him. She laid her hands over her chest and began to shiver.

Joe Dark put a hand on her shoulder and she looked back at him, a tear trickling down her face. She wiped it on her sleeve and murmured, "I don't like this...wet feeling on my face..."

She got a few moments to herself to sniffle and weep to her heart's content.

"...Joe Dark, what...what am I supposed to do?"

"...I don't know," He patted her on the back and stepped up beside her, gazing towards the rising sun, "We'll have to figure that out together. That's what uhhh...friends do..."

He slowly looked back at Mew and mouthed "Right?" with an uncertain look. Mew gave the thumbs up and then sighed.

"Guess I'll go set up another bed..." He then tucked his hands into his pockets and strolled towards his house, "Boy, do I have a lot of explaining to do when Riku gets back..."

With that third wheel out of the way Joe Dark looked at Alura and found her looking back. She was trying to smile. It was a struggle but...in its own way, that made it cute.

"So we're...friends?"

"...Yeah, we are." Joe Dark said with more certainty.

"I...think I like that."

The sun's climb into the sky caused Alura to curl up behind Joe Dark and shiver. He slowly backed away, telling her softly, "The sun won't hurt you."

"..." She curled her bottom lip and squinted her eyes, "It looks...pretty."

An orange light against a purple backdrop was a perfect way to start the new day. For now, he was perfectly fine just relaxing, and enjoying this moment...The future could wait.

"Yeah, it is." He began to smile.

_Next Time: Growing Up is Hard to Do_


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: Growing Pains**

_Ba'al and his legion of Terrors had been defeated. Victory...did not come at a price. By some miracle of miracles, no innocent life stayed dead that day. The one who died came back to life, and the Aurians in Sancturia survived the ordeal thanks to the defenders of good: The Planetary Aurians._

_Mew managed to restore the landscape ruined by the battle, but was physically and mentally exhausted afterwards. After a short nap, he helped his new guests Solaris and Alura get accustomed to living at his place. _

_Now, it has been a few days since the end of the battle, and Mew will face his toughest challenge yet..._

_**Household chaos.**_

"**CRSSSHH!" **Went the sound of breaking glass.

Mew spun around with gritted teeth and muttered, "AGAIN Solaris?!"

Solaris poked his head out from the kitchen and had shards of glass stuck to his palm, "What? Not my fault your glasses are weak as shit!"

As he pulled back into the kitchen Mew began stomping over in pursuit, only to bump into Alura. The girl was holding a yellow bottle and staring at it even as she hit Mew.

"Mew, what is 'Mus-turd'?" She gave it a hard squeeze and her eyes followed the trail of yellow condiment that spewed into the air and all onto the ground.

"Huh..." She stuck her tongue out and prepared to squeeze again when Mew forced his hand over the lid.

"Alura please put that back." He asked nicely, albeit while completely exasperated. She gave him a blank stare in response.

Joe Dark wandered over and glanced aside at the bottle in her hand then said, "Alura, you use that on food, like hot dogs or hamburgers."

"Hot...dogs? Ham...burgers?" Alura tilted her head both ways and looked like a deer in headlights.

"I'd show you," Joe Dark glared up at Mew with a scoff, "If _someone_ bothered to keep our fridge stocked with any sort of meat."

Mew iced him with a glare back and ignored his usual joke cracking urges to remark, "Well then why don't you get a job ya loafer!"

Joe Dark's eyes widened for a moment as he backed away slowly. Solaris then popped up around the corner and said, "You need meat?! Lemme go fry up those horned beasts outside!"

As he was about to pass by Mew bluntly pointed at him so hard he froze in place and then _softly_ said, "You lay a hand on Billy and his kids and I'll put you to the moon!"

And then, as if on cue, Lunis quietly walked up behind Mew and coughed. He hung his head back with a sigh and asked, "What?"

She clasped a tall book against her chest and muttered, "I-I'm done with all these 'Strategy Guides' you have Mew. Do you have any..._actual_ books in the house?"

She couldn't have tip-toed around Mew's irritation any harder if she tried. He looked away from her and grumbled as Joe Dark then remarked, "Of course not. He's allergic to reading."

"You can be allergic to reading?" Alura remarked.

"...Figure of speech Alura," Joe Dark leaned a hand on his hip, "When you're allergic to something you sneeze."

"Oh..." Alura paused and gave it a thought, "Like when those little white flakes got in my nose...?"

"...Speaking of dust, Mew, you really need to give the upstairs another cleaning."

Mew squeezed his eyes shut and began to tremble slightly.

"Oh yeah if you're cleaning around the house then could you pick up the broken glass?" Solaris demanded in a nonchalant tone.

"Oh! Maybe you could freshen up my room with some flowers!" Lunis suggested.

"Not until he gets us some meat. I'm not going to eat another damn salad!" Joe Dark hollered.

"Yes. I want to put a 'Hot Dog' down my throat." Alura said.

Mew's face turned a light shade of red and he began biting and sucking on his bottom lip.

"Mew."

"Mew."

"Mew."

"Mew!"

"MewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMewMew-"

"ALRIGHT SHUT UP!" Mew threw his hands out and everyone went completely silent. He then swung his head around with a mad look in his eyes, "All of you, quiet! Silence! CEASE!"

Joe Dark began to open his mouth and Mew forced his pointer finger at its center, "Nope! Don't wanna hear it!"

When Solaris tried to even breathe Mew rushed over and clamped his hand over his mouth, "None of that!"

He then kept the hand steady as he walked passed him and headed for the door. Naturally, he left a crowd of blank stares in his wake.

He grasped the doorknob, faced the bewildered crew, and said with a slacked jaw, "I'm going outside. I don't know when I'll be back. Got a problem? Work it out **yourselves**."

He swung the door open without any hesitation and right as he closed it, he felt like he had knocked someone down.

"Owowow!" He could recognize that high-pitched voice anywhere. Saturn was flat on her back at the bottom of the steps.

She sprung right up and Mew gave her an unamused look while tucking his hands into his pockets, "As if this day could get any better..."

She flailed her pointer finger up at him and declared, "Wow! Rude!"

He closed his eyes and sighed, "Are you here to give me an update on Riku?"

"No? I-"

Mew hopped to the bottom of the steps and waved his hand in her face as he passed her by, "Then I ain't in the mood. Go home."

"Ugh!" Saturn growled and then clamped a hand down on his right shoulder. Mew kept walking and dragged her along, not even feeling her grip.

"Have some consideration you big palooka! Trust me you were the last person I wanted to ask for help!"

Mew rolled his eyes up and shook his head. Saturn growled some more and then applied a very firm pinch to a certain nerve in his shoulder and he felt a jolt up his back.

"Ghhh...!" He stopped right then and there and turned around, slapping her hand off of him, "What's the big idea?!"

She crossed her arms full of pride and declared, "I ain't a biologist but I know pressure points! So unless you want me to make ya pee your pants you better listen to me!"

"If its that important just say it already!" Mew barked loudly in turn.

"Fine, you impatient ne'er-do-well..." Saturn paused to catch her breath and calm down to a certainly less insane degree, "Venus needs you."

Mew's brows perked up and he too settled down, "Huh?"

"I don't get her obsession with you to be honest," Saturn shook her head and brushed her hand up beside her face, "I tried to help, offered her far, FAR more qualified people...Then she went and threw a wrench at me!"

Saturn parted the top bangs of her hair and repeatedly pointed at a light bruise, "Look what happened to my cute face!"

Mew pressed his fingers up to his lips and snickered.

"Ugh, see...?!" She puffed her cheeks and flailed a finger at him again, "I really, really don't want a bad influence like you rubbing off on her!"

Mew kept smiling as he told her, "Is it really that bad?"

Saturn squinted her eyes reeeeeally small and put her fists on her hips. Then she stood up and fiddled with her watch to open up a portal beside them.

"We'll discuss it at my place. Come on, chop chop!" She ran right through the portal and it began to close before Mew had stepped foot in it.

"_At least this'll keep me out of the house for a bit..." _He realized, even if it meant dealing with Saturn's brand of chaos.

This time he was taken to a different part of Saturn's station. A little more compact, this place seemed to be the guest quarters, each room having its own lavish setup of beds, fridges and other necessities. It was all clean, which wasn't what he expected. Notably, this was the only floor of its type.

Right out of the portal Saturn spun around and threw her hand up like a stop sign to his face. Mew backed away and let her cross her arms firmly.

"Before we go to Venus' room there's a few things we need to go over."

Mew leaned aside and tapped his foot on the ground, "What's up?"

Saturn popped out a little teaching rod in her right hand and tapped a holographic board that appeared behind her. A montage of flattering snapshots began to unfold showing her, Jupiter and Mars fighting monsters in Sancturia.

"As you may or may not know, we helped fend off half the monster invasion in Sancturia."

"Oh yeah Auris told me all about that," Mew waved his hand out and smiled, "Thanks for the help. I mean that."

Saturn blushed and propped her hands on her hips with a haughty raise of the head, "B-But of course! A true heroine always knows how to sniff out evil whenever they attack!"

She then slowly lowered her head and rolled her hand around in the air, "And I **guess** you did ok yourself. Cause...no one's allowed to conquer the planet but you!"

Mew shook his head with a laugh and she forced a cough, "A-Anyways! More to the point!"

She "slapped" her stick against the hologram, "Venus was there with us cause she wanted to help out. She fought an ancient undead pharaoh by the name of Ankhan'tur, who had the power to age anything his miasma touched to dust."

Mew's eyes widened for a moment before his brain caught up to what he heard, "Oh, but she can't age like the rest of you right? Seems like it was a perfect match-up."

"Right, the old bad bug man's gift prevents us from aging," Saturn smiled and threw a flurry of aura sparkles over her skin, "So I've been young and cute forever!"

Mew gave her the stink eye and she quickly tapped the hologram a few more times while saying, "Hoooooowever, Ankhan'tur's curse affects even immortals. Didn't Lady Auris mention that?"

"She didn't get to the nitty gritty of it all but..." Mew's eyes widened again and he felt momentary dread, "D-Don't tell me Venus is..."

"She's alive! Are you kidding? No one dies on my watch!" Saturn tried to whack Mew across the forehead but he leaned back with a smile.

"A-Alright then what's the problem?" He briskly chuckled.

Saturn pushed the rod down into nothingness and clapped her hands off, "I think you'll get it once you see for yourself."

She waved towards herself and turned around, guiding him a few doors down and then giving it a couple taps, "Here, take a look."

Mew cautiously approached the window and peered inside. Waiting impatiently at the edge of the bed was indeed Venus, but Mew caught what was up with her right away. Her cheeks were a little more defined, her hair was longer, yet still in pigtails, and the overall shape of her body was a little bit bigger. She was wearing the same clothes as before, but fixed up to fit her new size.

"...What?" Mew slowly pulled away from the window and looked Saturn in the eyes, "She's...older? How is that possible?"

Saturn peeled off the wall and threw her hands up in a mighty shrug, "I don't know! I tried asking that fiend Macros but even he couldn't figure it out!"

"She's still got her powers, memories and all that other stuff..." Saturn took a peek into the window herself, "But now she's mortal."

"_Maybe...the agelessness was only tied to her old body." _Was the only thing Mew could come up with.

He took another glimpse into the room and as Saturn backed away asked her, "How old is she now?"

"Well luckily she only got grazed by the miasma so I'd put her in the ballpark of around...10 years old?"

Mew squinted his eyes and muttered to himself, "'Luckily'? No. This isn't right at all..."

He pulled back slightly and reached for the door handle. Saturn barked at him immediately, "And just what're you planning on doing?"

"She needs someone to talk to," Mew glanced at Saturn softly and tried to smile, "And I'm the only one she trusts right now."

"..." Saturn waved her hand around a few times and stepped away from the door, "Ugh fine, but I'm going to be watching."

Mew nodded and then slid the door open to head inside. As the door sealed itself shut Venus perked up and stopped paddling her feet around.

"Hey Maria." He waved his hand up and she looked back down, tucking her hands in-between her legs.

"Hello mister." She whispered, and even Mew barely heard it.

"..." Mew kept a straight face on him as he took a couple steps closer. She lifted her head up, and he kept going at a snail's pace.

Once he was a foot away from the bed he asked "Mind if I sit down next to you?" and waved at the empty space to her left.

She lowered her head but gave a brief, subtle nod. He then took his time sitting a foot next to her, almost letting himself sink into the soft mattress in the process.

He then tried to look Venus in the eyes as he asked, "So how are you doing? Are your living arrangements ok?"

He patted the bed by his hip and chuckled, "Of course they are, do you feel how soft this material is?"

She looked away and the chuckling quieted down to a couple awkward, lonely gasps. He then curled his hand into the sheet and looked straight ahead, kicking his feet against the bed.

"_Think Mew think..." _It wasn't necessary to put too much thought into it however.

"...Mister," Venus seemed content to look at him with one eye as she asked, "Do you like...getting older?"

"H-Huh?" He blathered out at first, forcing him to think about what he heard. Then he closed his eyes slightly and uttered a flat "Oh".

"_I get it now. This is why she couldn't talk to anyone else..." _

He had to think, and found the question vague. Not that he could've expected much more from someone her age. Still...

"What...what do you mean?" He tried to squeeze out a little more of her feelings. Not once did his tone condescend her.

"Don't you feel...different, than you did years ago?" She murmured.

"Different? Well..." Mew patted his chest down and remarked, "I'm...taller. My voice is deeper, I got more hair on my...head."

"But do you _feel _when your body changes?"

"Uhhh..." Mew paused for a few seconds and then rubbed the back of his head, "No."

"No?" She looked more his way.

"Yeah. My body went through changes and one day I just sort of...woke up, looked in a mirror, and realized I wasn't the same person I was back then," He laid his hands down and looked up at the ceiling, "Its the one thing our bodies try to subtle about."

"So our bodies keep growing...?" She asked innocently.

"To a point. I don't think I'm gonna get any taller for example." He said with a chuckle.

"And eventually they give out, and we..._die_?" She swallowed that last word down with a long, timid gulp, followed by a bodily shiver.

"..." Mew's eyes sagged as the girl's hands tensed up between her legs, her whole body cowering under the shade of Death.

Mew closed his eyes and faced straight ahead, a cold ping in his heart as she whispered, "I...I don't want to die."

Everyone has to face their own mortality someday, but this just seemed incredibly unfair to Venus. She had finally gotten her life back, only to be robbed of two very important years of it.

Whoever decided to inflict this confusion and misery on a child deserved to get an ass kicking.

The next thing Mew knew his hand was on her back and that seemed to make her stop shivering. He then looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Its ok to be scared Maria."

Her eyes were watering. Not much, but he still dried them on his sleeve.

"But you're not going to die for a long, loooooong time," He patted her hard once on the back and then pulled away, "Trust me."

"But humans don't live that long..." She murmured.

"Pfft, so what?!" Mew jollily proclaimed, tackling with matter with all the energy and spunk he could muster, "It doesn't matter how long you live, but what you do with that time!"

He squeezed his fists but stuck a pointer finger up, "You got the freedom to do whatever your heart desires Maria. And when you're lying on your bed at 100, thinking back to all you've done, you'll feel like you've lived another two-thousand years!"

"Whatever I want...?" Venus had a slight shine in her eyes.

"Whatever...!" Mew felt a cold chill down his spine and looked at the door to see Saturn pointing at her eyes, then at him through the window. He cracked a weak grin and told her, "I-Is within the law!"

Saturn gave the thumbs up and sunk out of sight.

Venus looked awestruck, sort of like a kid in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory Mew fed into her wonder by listing off some of what she could do, 添ou could go to the beach, visit zoos, hang out with friends your age, climb hills, read books, watch movies...!

The girl's head started spinning like she had a severe case of whiplash. Mew clamped his mouth shut and waited for her to let it all sink in.

She squeezed her tiny knees and murmured, "That sounds exciting mister..."

"Doesn't it?" He said with a big old smile.

"But...I don't know how much Ms. Saturn would let me do," Venus looked at Mew and rolled a finger at herself. He leaned in and she whispered in his ear, "She's really, really strict about rules..."

"Hehehe...!" Mew pulled away and patted her on the head, ruffling her hair much to her delight, "Well then maybe you should come live with me!"

He slowed down upon seeing her look him in the eyes, and his own heart began to sank. He then smiled and told her straight from the heart, "Nah, no 'maybe' about it. Come home with me Maria. I can't replace your father, but I'll do my best to live up to his name and teach you all there is to know about living life to the fullest."

It came out of his mouth without a second thought and he wasn't going to take it back. She needed this, and he wanted it. Not for him, but for her.

She tilted her head and flashed her pearly whites with a childish giggle, "Ok papa."

Mew recoiled hard and felt something tight clutching onto his heart, "Ghhhhh...!"

He laid a hand over his chest and felt like he just fought a powerful enemy. Forcing a smile, admittedly, he had to crack a laugh at this.

"P-P-P...Papa?" It didn't feel...awful, despite the word aging him like...ten years? Fifteen maybe?

"Then..." Mew smiled a little more genuinely and remarked, "I guess that'd make you...Maria Whiter now, huh?"

"Maria...Whiter?" She looked confused.

"Yeah, that's my last name." He replied.

"I like it." She smiled softly.

He patted her on the back and said, "Welcome to the family."

Then pulled her into an short, gentle embrace, allowing her to hug him as well. Both their bodies felt warm to the touch.

When that was done they pulled away and Mew said, "I should probably tell Saturn I'm taking you back home with me. But before that, is there anything else you need to talk about?"

"Ummm..." Venus awkwardly wiggled away and stared down, a slight red appearing over her face, "My body does feel a little...weird."

"Weird? How so?"

"I've been feeling hot sometimes, and I don't know why..."

"You could have gotten a fever." Mew suggested, only for her to shake her head.

"My head's fine."

"...W-Where are you feeling hot then...?" Mew bit his lower lip and felt increasingly nervous as Venus began to spread her le-

"GAAAHH!" Mew threw himself up off the bed and flailed his arms around, "W-Wait...h-h-hold on...!"

The door swung right open and Saturn was postured with a big frown and a very loud hum. Mew sped right over to her and dragged her out by the mouth, leaving the door to slam shut.

She fought back with some inaudible grunts for a while until Mew got his hand off her.

"What do you think you're doing you-"

Mew, red in the face and beginning to sweat, pressed Saturn's cheeks between his hands and pulled her in closer, "J-Just shut up and get Kairi here...!"

"H-Huh?" She stared at him bewildered.

"Hurry!" Mew threw her off gently and swung his hand out, "I ain't qualified for this shit!"

Saturn did an immediate U-Turn while Mew dropped on his butt and threw his head back with a loud sigh. He got roughly three minutes to relax before Saturn came back through her portal shoving a flustered Kairi.

"Alright alright quit shoving already!" Kairi swung her arm to fend her off and then caught Mew from the corner of her eyes, "M-Mew...? What..."

Mew stood right up and ran over, grabbing her by the shoulders with such force it made her face beet red, "Oh thank god you're here!"

"Y-You're sweating...and...you look like you've seen a ghost..." She said sheepishly.

Mew gave a misleading smile and muttered in a deep, exhausted tone of voice, "Kairi, I need you."

"W-WHAT?!" She said with a shrill squeak.

"To talk to Maria." He finished, and thank god, cause he was about to get punched in the gut.

"M-Maria?" Kairi was let go and Mew walked backwards to the door, where she followed him to the window.

Once she took a peek inside she looked even more confused at him, "I...I don't understand."

"I'll catch you up later, but right now she needs..." Mew sucked in his lips and took a very long, very deep swallow, "**The talk**."

"THE talk...?" Kairi's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped.

"Yes, THE talk," Mew leaned in to Kairi's ear and whispered, "I think she's feeling her first-"

Kairi shoved him away and shouted, "I KNOW WHAT IT IS GOD...I don't EVER want to hear any of those words out of YOUR mouth!"

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said following a flustered release, "WHY me...?"

"Cause I know you're the most qualified." He said in earnest.

"M-Me...?!" She laid a hand over her chest then swung it out, "What about mo-"

She glanced aside with a blank look and said, "Or Shi-"

She squeezed her lips shut and began to shout, "Sa-"

She glanced over her shoulder at Saturn flashing her lens with a big grin and then slowly put her hand on the door handle.

With drooping eyes she gave Mew a scornful glare and pointed up at his chin, "You owe me BIG TIME."

Mew placed his hands together and mouthed "Thank you while she slid through the door before it was halfway open."

Mew then leaned up against the door and waited almost an hour for any response on the other side. This was a heavy conversation but surely it didn't require this much time...did it?

Right as Mew was about to take a peek inside the door slid open and Kairi dragged her feet out, collapsing back first against the door once it shut.

"Aaaaaaaagh...!" She gasped out loud, and slid to the ground with her knees against her chest.

"You were certainly in there a while." He remarked in a humored tone.

"She had soooo many questions...I told her literally everything about..." Kairi placed a hand against her forehead and combed back her hair with a hefty, sympathetic grunt, "I-Is this how mom felt talking to me...?"

Mew laughed it off dryly and said, "Sounds pretty draining."

"That's only **half** of it..." Kairi's eyes bulged as she looked at her hand with a few strands of hair stuck to it and murmured, "When we were through she called me Mama. MAMA...!"

She was a little shaky looking at her hairs and remarked, "A-Am I getting old already...?"

Mew crossed his arms and remarked, "Its fine, she's calling me Papa now too."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...!" Kairi's squeal got a little quieter when she closed her mouth and slowly climbed up to her feet, both hands planted on the door.

She turned to Mew and he gave her a couple sluggish blinks. She then shut her eyes and stuttered, "Y-You're her Papa...I-I'm her...Mama...?"

After a drawn out period of silence she threw her fists down and screamed in his face, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DRAG ME INTO THIS TIME?!"

"W-What...?" Mew backed away with his hands swung up, "I think there's been a huge misunderstanding here..."

"Mmrrrr...!" Kairi puffed her cheeks.

"She's just calling me Papa because I chose to adopt her. I don't know WHY she's calling you Mama too..."

Kairi widened her eyes with a gasp, "You...what?"

"She needs me Kairi." Mew placed his hands behind the back of his head and left her slack jawed in awe.

"...I-I..." Her cheeks turned red and her face got really twisted up all of a sudden, "What are you THINKING?!"

"What now?" Mew said with a chuckle.

"Do you even know the first thing about taking care of a child?! How are you going to feed her? Clothe her? Keep her healthy when she gets sick? What about her education? Or taking her out in public?!" Kairi bit her teeth down and starting stuttering, "D-Did you think about any of that when you...when you..."

She wore herself down just looking at the confident smile Mew continued to show. She slumped down before her chest and sighed, "God I feel like an idiot..."

She swung right back up and wagged a pointer finger at his face, "Fine, I'll be her 'Mama' and you can be her 'Papa'! But that's all it means! At all! Got it?"

"Fine by me. You can teach Maria a lot of stuff I don't know." Mew humbly admitted.

Kairi laid a hand against the side of her face and grumbled, "If I left her in your hands all the time she'd never recover."

"Hehehe..." Mew dryly chuckled, then looked at her with a smile, "You know this is the first time we've hung out in a while."

Kairi perked up and turned his way, "Well I've been busy...Y'know, between Shina coming back, the pregnancy...The monster attack."

"You think that's crazy? You should see my house right now!"

"Oh I heard all about it from mom," She propped a hand on her hip and groaned, "Oh crap are you really going to have Maria in the same house as that rampaging boar?"

"It'll be fine." Mew assured her.

"Yeah I know..._somehow_," Kairi rolled her head around and then sighed, "...B-But if you need help, don't be afraid to ask."

"Sure! I'd like to hang out with you some more too."

Kairi's cheeks turned pink and she spun around, "Y-Yeah...right. We'll...we'll see..."

She tucked some of her hair over her face and strolled over to the portal. She then waved her other hand up and muttered, "L-Later Mew..."

Once she was gone Mew laid a hand on his hip and sighed, "I don't get her sometimes..."

He then faced the door and remarked, "Now then..."

There was some resistance on Saturn's part but she ultimately surrendered Maria over to Mew. He took his new daughter in hand and helped her make it back to his house.

"Wow...!" She gasped in awe, "This is your home?"

"Maria, you were here before remember?" He chuckled.

"It looks different now." She murmured.

"Heh," Mew began to take her towards the steps while mentioning, 'Hopefully its still intact inside..."

He slowly pulled the front door open and...saw everyone practically where he left them, only sitting down. His brows sank. Somehow this display of non-activity offended him more than a damaged kitchen would have.

"Oh, you're back already?" Joe Dark was the first to stand up, but it was Solaris, surprisingly, who was the first to notice the change.

"Who's the kid?"

Mew took a step inside and Maria huddled up behind him. He turned back and whispered "Its alright" giving her the bravery to come in and bow her head.

"H-Hello..."

Joe Dark twisted his brow up and remarked, "Hold on...this isn't that one girl you were talking about is it?"

Mew propped her on the back and gave her a smile, "Yep. This is Planetary Aurian Venus...Or as you'll call her from now on, Maria Whiter!"

Everyone except Alura recoiled with a gasp of "WHAT?!" followed by Joe Dark declaring, "Mew have...have you lost your damn mind?! We don't need another mouth to feed around here!"

Mew stared at him through closed eyes and remarked, "Get. A. Job. Then."

That shut him up instantly and allowed Mew to keep on going, "There's going to be a few changes to our living arrangements now that Maria's here."

"First up, I'm taking my room back and giving it to Maria," Mew then pointed at Lunis and suggested, "Don't worry, I'll put your bed upstairs with Joe Dark and Alura's."

"W-What?! I can't share a room with h-her!" Joe Dark exclaimed.

"Then I'll put up a divider, whatever...!" Mew spat up right away.

"Well where does that leave me?!" Solaris wondered.

"The dirt's nice and fresh outside." Mew grumbled without any restraint in his contempt.

"What? No! You sleep outside! I'm taking the couch!"

Mew closed his eyes and replied, "That uncomfortable lump of leather is mine! You can't have it!"

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"Ummm..." Lunis tried to raise her hand against the tide of loud noises, "What are we going to do when Riku gets back?"

"..." Mew gawked and whispered, "Shoot I forgot all about him...!"

"I haven't been gone that long brother," Mew and Lunis perked up in shock and turned to face the door, "But it seems a lot happened in my absence huh?"

Mew stared wide-eyed for a moment and then cracked a smile, "Guess I could say the same to you. Welcome back Riku!"

_Next Time: Change_


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: Rearmed**

_A few days ago..._

For being trapped in a two-man vessel with someone as chatty as Saturn, it was an unexpectedly quiet trip. Riku and her made it to their destination in a couple of hours and it was only when gravity took hold that he was jolted from his nap.

"Well, here we are!" Announced Saturn with a mild cautionary tone, "Back in _dangerous_ enemy territory."

The glass roof slid back into the vehicle and she sprung right out onto the ground. Riku climbed over and took in the sights yet again, and found they were unchanged.

Though the appearance of the clones certainly were. Just different variants, nothing more. Its hard not to look at them and assume they're being made as an army, but none of them captivated on his suspicions to do anything beyond wave their hand and say "Hello".

The host of this clone planet seemed to be nowhere in sight, however. Saturn took a couple steps ahead of him and cupped her mouth, "HEY MACROS! GET YER BUTT OUT HERE!"

Riku glanced with the possibility of his ear drums popping, and received another shock when all of a sudden he heard in response "I'm here, I'm here" coming from behind.

He turned around and saw Macros standing there all aloof with his hard-to-read smile. He had his attention on Saturn as he said, "You arrived a couple seconds sooner than I expected. Did you make improvements to your Gladius VI again?"

"Of **course**!" She puffed out her chest in pride, "I always gotta maintain the element of surprise against you!"

"I do so love our games of cat and mouse Catherine," Macros then glanced aside at Riku and his smile deepened, "Now. Shall we?"

The three of them walked to his lab and Riku remained cautious at all times. For a moment he could've sworn he heard Macros sigh.

Once in the lab Riku saw that there was a pseudo-metallic table set up in the middle of the room, connected to an upright series of pulsing blue nerve ends.

"That's it?" He said, surprised at the lack of visual flare this go around.

Macros looked to his table and then swung his head a few times at him, "Oh no no don't get the wrong idea. We have a lot of work to do, but as far as your seating arrangements go a table will suffice."

He wagged his hand out and Saturn walked right on up instantly, handing over a compact tablet that unfolded to head-size at touch.

"Here you go, all the data I got from my fight with your partner in crime Mew," She said and began to give him a finger wag, "Don't-"

"I won't fiddle around, I promise," Macros smiled softly and let out another sigh. Saturn raised her brows extra high and hummed increasingly louder as he put two crossed fingers and whispered, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

She crossed her arms and arched her brows, "Darn straight."

"Now that the pact's been sealed, shall we?" Macros bowed his hand towards the table and Saturn crossed his path stretching her knuckles out.

"How do you ever get anything done without me?"

"Oh I haven't the faintest clue." Macros smiled and followed her over, taking residence on the left side of the table while she went on the right. Saturn reached into her pockets and pulled out a small round device that expanded into a portal on the ground. There a large conveyor belt strapped to a complex machine popped out.

"You're helping too?" Riku asked on approach to Saturn.

"Duh!" She said, fiddling away at the hundreds of unreadable buttons on her contraption, taking a break to give a shoo'ing motion towards Macros, "You tell him, I'm busy!"

Macros had a wire in each hand, like the kind doctors use to get heartbeat readings, "Come here and lay down Riku."

Riku slowly made his way over and took a seat. The metal was a little cold, but not for long. He started to remove his shirt when suddenly...

"Ah! No need for that. Besides, wouldn't want her getting distracted." Macros winked and Saturn turned her head back.

"Ha. Ha." She did a terrible job hiding her red luminescent cheeks.

Riku then slowly laid himself flat out, and found he was a perfect fit. Macros then began sticking those wires onto his arm and legs.

"I told you how your elemental energy is out of balance. Creating a new arm from flesh and bone won't solve the problem."

"It won't?" Riku said, mildly surprised.

"The energy inside of you flows like a circuit whenever you use it," Saturn chimed in, clapping the metal dust off her fingertips, "Think of it like feeding electricity through cables. If you break the connection, then the electricity has nowhere to go and stops!"

"But the energy still exists, and if you try to use it, you get feedback."

Riku looked at his stump and remarked, "So when I tried to use elemental energy, I was forcing it through a broken circuit...And that caused a feedback."

"Yeah, you picked up on that quick!" Saturn smiled happily.

"In theory I would be able to replicate your arm perfectly, but that circuit would remain incomplete because that arm was not originally there when the loop was made."

"Buuuuuut...!" Saturn propped her fists against her hips and raised her head high, "With the power of my technology, we can fix that!"

"The data I collected fighting your brother allowed me to chart out just what the energy circuit looks like, and replicate the flow perfectly!"

Macros hovered over Riku and remarked, "I will provide the framework and analysis for the finishing touches. Her machine there will put together the new arm."

"So I'm going to have a mechanical arm?" Riku said, raising his stump partway in the air.

"And hopefully that'll be the only mechanical part you have!" Saturn chuckled, but faintly raised the rim of her glasses, "Though..."

"No, this'll be the only time. I won't make this same mistake again." Riku relaxed his stump on the table and took a deep breath.

Macros pulled away and remarked, "If he says so in confidence, then we have no choice but to believe him. Catherine, shall we begin?"

Saturn zipped her fingers along the top of her watch and chuckled, "Hehe! I'm already three steps ahead of you!"

Riku felt a small, tingly jolt through his nerves and his eyes stayed bulged out for five whole minutes. He looked at Macros and the man shrugged, giving the faintest apology of, "I may have overestimated the voltage a tiny bit."

He propped up the tablet Saturn had given him below his face and walked around, giving it a fine comb over with his eyes.

All the while, Saturn's machine whirred and a screen near the buttons began etching out the design of the new arm. Saturn's head made a hard turn towards him and then she whipped a cloth from her upper pocket to cover the screen up.

"No spoilers allowed!" She began wagging her finger at him.

"I-I don't really care what it looks like..." Riku closed his mouth and now curiosity began gnawing away at him over the next hour.

It sounded like it was going to be a long process. Given the circumstances it was fine. He's used to sitting around with nothing to do. But that never included being on a table like an experiment.

"(YOU ARE SUPER STAR! BORN TO FLY! SAAAAAATURN!)" Some strange Japanese sounding sound came blaring out of Saturn's right pocket and she pulled a flip phone out to answer it.

"Saturn here! What's happening?" She suddenly threw her head forward and exhaled, "WHAT?! That's a lot of happening! Of course I'll be there as soon as I can who do you think you're talking to?!"

She slapped the phone shut and shouted out "Bah!" as she suddenly made a dash for the door, "Emergency came up in your quadrant Riku! I gotta bail for a bit, so don't try anything funny while I'm gone Macros!"

Macros' brows sank as Saturn exited the lab. Riku curled his fingers inward and pushed himself up, "D-Did she say my quadrant...?"

Macros gently pushed him down on the chest and remarked, "You can't go anywhere now. Just relax, and trust in her."

Riku took him on in a staredown for a few seconds, and then relaxed upon the table with a long sigh, "You're right. She's competent."

"Sometimes, a little too so..." Macros' words got Riku's attention but he shrugged and said, "But that's part of why I like having her around."

He rounded the table and stared at her machine, "Another is her ingenuity with autonomous machines."

He laid a hand flat on its surface and smiled, "I wouldn't know the first thing about running this. Thanks to her consideration though we can continue our work uninterrupted."

He then continued pacing back and forth in front of the table while staring at the tablet. He gave off the occasional hum but was otherwise quiet.

For the next hour, Riku stared up at the ceiling and just decided to relax. The moment he gave any consideration to the oppressive silence in the room, he'd probably tense up, and ruin the tests.

"Your brother..." Macros suddenly spoke up, tapping on the tablet with a flick of the finger as he stopped beside Riku, "What are the differences between you two?"

"_Where'd that come?" _The scientist had his quirks but even that felt a little odd to ask, _"Maybe...its part of the test?" _

Without giving it much thought Riku decided to go along with it, "He's...a really great guy. He's almost always happy, looking out for others...I've never seen him lose confidence, and he smiles in the face of death."

When he faced the man he was surprising to find him fluttering his eyelids like he'd been caught with his pants down, "...Oh! Pardon me, I meant in how your powers manifest."

Riku's heart skipped a beat and Macros gave a dry chuckle, "Though that was quite the telling answer."

He smiled softly and placed his arms behind him, "You hold your brother in high regard. I can tell he was one of the reasons you decided to come here."

Riku's eyelids sank deep, then closed with his sigh, "I can't be a burden to him, or anyone, anymore."

"I understand that." Macros replied.

"How _could_ you?" Riku snapped right back.

Macros gave a brief, narrow glare and then remarked, "Not in terms of being a burden to family. I mean the general emotion of understanding."

There was a quiet pause between the two, a rift closing from their misunderstanding. Macros filled the silence in the void by shutting the tablet and putting it behind him.

"But...I **do** have a family."

Riku's eyes widened and Macros smirked, "You're surprised? Yes, I have six siblings. Four brothers, two sisters."

He laid a hand out and his smirk wiggled with mischievous intent, "And I do mean REAL siblings, not my clones."

"You don't look like the family type." Riku remarked.

"I'm not," Macros' answer caught him off guard, "I haven't spoken to any of my siblings in at least..."

He turned his head up for a few seconds and then shook it down, "You know, I can't remember. But sometimes, I do feel a little...longing for one more get together between us all."

A sly chuckle slipped through his lips, "They are a strange bunch though, I doubt I'd get along with them now."

Riku's stare turned soft and Macros' expression changed to befit the moment, just like it always seemed to, "There I go, going off about nothing again."

He flicked the tablet right back out and tapped the side a couple times like the last two minutes were non-existent, "There's something I found curious about this data...Your brother has the ability to call out a sword at will?"

"...All three of us can." Riku slowly replied.

"Ah, so you and the deceased one share the same ability?" Macros tucked the tablet back and leaned in closer with his eyes widened a little more, "Can you show me yours?"

He inched closer and his smile grasped firmly onto a brief stint of ecstasy, "Pretty please?"

The growing lack of restraint aside, Riku saw no reason to refuse. He carefully raised his hand up and summoned his sword. Macros recoiled and his mouth popped into an "o" shape.

"Fascinating...! Yours is completely different."

When his brief awe faded, Riku put the sword away and felt a little tired. Macros then chuckled, seemingly at him, "I recognize the design too. One of Dyntos' yes?"

"You know him too?"

"We crafters tend to keep an eye on one another...Either out of convenience or worry."

"What does he feel towards you?" Riku narrowed his gaze.

"Worry," Macros gave a quick, decisive answer, "But that's hardly his fault. My body just naturally radiates suspicion, even long before he was born."

"...!" Riku felt a shock in his heart.

"I make no exaggeration in saying that I am and shall be the oldest person you ever know Riku," Macros waved his hand out by his hip, "I know my way around the world, and that includes sensing things at a...supernatural level."

"You can try and hide it but your soul tells all. You can't bring yourself to trust me." These words would normally be used to hold the person in contempt, but Macros was hardly fazed.

"...I appreciate you doing this for me Macros, but that won't make you my friend."

"I don't want to be one," Yet another surprising response, spoken quick as if premeditated, "...Nor do I need one. Never saw a need."

He turned aside and cracked a smile, "But I do like people. I _like _you."

"You're someone special. Unique, in a way I can't quite describe..." Macros tapped his chin a couple times then gestured his fingers at the air, "Me, at a loss for words. Hohoho, the world works in mysterious ways."

He relaxed his arms to his sides and turned his head at Riku, "Please just stay relaxed during your time here and understand this...You **deserve **love."

Macros left matters between them quiet after that, and it gave Riku a lot of time to do what he suggested and relax and think. About friends, about family...about himself.

He's always been a shadow, the mirror image of his brother. Always chasing, but never surpassing, the kind of man he's seen him as. Thinking about what he has to change, perhaps that should be one of the first.

Time passed on by uneventfully.

Then, Macros began acting odd. He stood motionless, leaning his head back to gaze emptily at the ceiling. A single tear trickled down his face, and the only thing he had to show for it was to smile and say, "I believe Catherine will be returning soon."

A couple more hours passed, and the door suddenly opened with Saturn waltzing inside. She was glugging down a bottle of water so hard it was splashing off the sides of her face. She then slapped it against the floor and brushed her mouth dry.

"WHOO! Haven't needed that many bottles of the good ol' H2O since the Repression of Lavasps!" Her usual lab coat was a little soaked in sweat but she tucked her hands into her pockets and went up to the operating table. She slapped her hand down between Riku's legs and leaned in to him with a tired look in her eyes.

"You missed out buddy! We fought werewolves, gargoyles, and a giant tapeworm in a coat!"

Riku blinked twice and felt himself forced to remark, "T-That's it...?"

"Oh and there was some giant pale worm apparently," Saturn shrugged up and rolled her eyes with an excruciating degree of restraint in her voice, "But that delinquent brother of yours took care of it..._I guess_!"

"That's good to hear." Riku softly smiled.

"Hmph!" Saturn begged to differ, crossing her arms and waltzing off to her machine, "Hmmm, everything looks spic and span here!"

She spun right back on one foot and stamped the other down to kick up dust, "Alright sorry about that! Lets make up for lost time and get right on to Phase 2!"

"Ah yes, Phase 2..." Macros closed his eyes and chuckled as he glanced aside at Riku, "Sorry to say Riku, but you're going to need to sleep for this next part."

Riku stared with a blank expression, "Oh...Ok?"

He didn't recall getting much say in the matter afterwards. Just a quick fade to black, and then suddenly, he blinked and was back to reality.

Saturn and Macros were hovering over him both covered in sweat and a bit of soot in Saturn's case. She cast off a pair of working goggles and her smile was brimming with pride.

"Yep, totally mean to boast, this is one of my finest jobs yet!"

Macros grabbed his chin and gave it a long rub, "You never cease to amaze me. Its beautiful."

"And it only took us three days!" That was a much-needed shock to the system. It had been _three days_? His body felt like he'd only been out of it for a second.

He started to lift himself up and felt unrestrained by wires in his system. His onlookers backed off slowly, and graced his rise with a smile.

"Look who just woke up!" Saturn gestured towards his right side, "How's the new arm feeling?"

Bracing himself on both elbows, Riku...

"_...Huh?" _He looked to his right and his heart narrowly escaped his chest. Staring him right in the face was a metallic arm shaped like a mirror replica of his original. Made of black and gray metals, there were yellow lines going from the back of the fingers to the top of the shoulder. Underneath was a smooth surfaced palm, that morphed as he tried to squeeze into a fist.

The insides of it cracked like bones, and as he unfurled the fist there was a pop in his knuckles.

This wasn't a new sensation. Every feeling and detail was familiar, and comforting. The phantom had been banished, nay, it was like it was never there to begin with.

He slid off the table onto his two feet. His body wobbled a bit, but only as it should. His weight was perfectly balanced, as it should be.

Saturn stretched her cheeks wide and chuckled, "Sooooo? C'mon. Lemme hear your thoughts!"

She leaned in closer and her anticipation, admittedly, was contagious. Riku waved the arm down before his face and smiled, "I-Its perfect..."

"Yep!" Saturn whipped upright and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small remote, "And its got a bunch of cool features too!"

She tapped one button and a hard light layer surrounded the arm, causing it to take on the appearance of actual skin. Riku stared at it some more, only for his ring finger to pop open and a fan to shove out, blowing a cool breeze into his face. Then his pointer finger popped off and summoned an ember at the tip.

"Skin cloaking! A fan! A lighter! Ooooh, I even gave it a Rocket Fist mode cause of course you gotta!" Right as she was about to press that button down harder than the rest Macros snagged it from her grasp and dangled it to his left.

She quickly popped another one out from her coat and wagged it around with a smile. Macros waved his head out and the remote was trapped in a strange cybernetic bubble, then taken far, far above her head.

She crossed her arms and gestured her hand out, "You can also activate all these features by thinking about it...Though its not as fun. I'll give you the manual later."

Riku closed his eyes and shut off the fan and lighter with a thought. He then flipped his hand around and his heart was filled with elation, "I...I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Don't thank her yet." Macros drew his attention towards him as he laid his hand on the table and pushed it into the ground.

"There's still one last test you need to perform." He gave a smirk that made his intentions clear as day.

"...Yes," Riku faced him and raised his new hand before his chest, "I need to test my elements."

Macros nodded and raised his right hand forward, and when he stretched his palm thin streaks of azure light pulsed through his skin towards his face.

"Then allow me to be your opponent."

Riku's expression turned eager and he raised his own hand towards him, "You sure about this?"

"I'm not worried. You're just testing the basics, I can handle that," Macros turned his head aside and murmured, "But tell you what, if you can land a clean hit on me, I'll do you another favor in the future."

"Huh, this guy fighting? This'll be iiiinteresting..." Saturn rubbed her hands and waddled back out of view.

"Don't get your hopes too high there Catherine..." The space behind Macros' lens glowed momentarily and he set his eyes on Riku, "This'll be over quickly."

Riku took a deep breath and steadied his arm out, covering Macros with his palm, _"Focus the energy inside...Let it flow through you..." _

Something clicked inside him, and he immediately thrust his hand out with a yell. A giant red inferno exploded right on Macros' location. He stood there and let the temperature rise, crossing the thousand degree threshold in a second.

"You're able to reach very high temperatures. Very impressive." Macros smile was illuminated by the glow lines over his body.

Riku put the flames out with a closed fist and saw that Macros wasn't even sweating. He then swung his hand out and instantly the room became flooded with water.

Saturn put a barrier to keep the air in. Macros had no such luxury, yet smiled with the best of them.

"Looks like our efforts have proven successful so far." He commented faintly.

Riku drew the water out through the door and then reeled his hand back, firing a bullet of compressed air into Macros' body. Macros caught it on his hand and squeezed it into nothingness.

"Winds of up to thousands miles per hour...More devastating than any hurricane," A brief blue spark flickered through his hand to his fingertips, and he pointed them all his way, "But you can go faster, yes?"

Riku flicked his hand up and launched a massive lightning bolt. Macros shifted a little to the left, then Riku pulled his hand back to call the bolt back to him. All before either of them blinked once.

"Fascinating," His eyes lit dimly on a face unmarred, "What do you have left to show me?"

He was instantly frozen over in a spike of ice, which was entangled in a blend of heavy stone and tight, steel crushing vines and dragged off the ground. Riku punched the floor and smashed the cage against the ground, and it shattered to pieces.

Macros took one step out and rolled his head around, ushering out a crack from his neck, "Brrrr...! And here I forgot to wear my jacket."

Riku closed his eyes as he rose, taking a deep breath through his nostrils. A perfect calm, illuminating the depths of his subconscious. Shining, shining, a white light enveloped his body and allowed him to draw a katana in his right hand.

He spread his angelic wings and charged Macros, attacking his head, then turning back for his legs, and then finishing with an upward slash for his arm.

Macros ducked, hopped, then turned away gracefully through all three attacks. The afterimages of their clash blended together, and Riku repelled off the flap of his wings.

He then fell towards his knee, a brief glint of azure static clinging to his chest. Macros raised his head with a smirk and then swung his hand up, inviting him forward with the wiggle of his fingers.

Riku felt some frustration, and made that his power. Darkness, the black abyss, consumed the light, and enveloped his body. He ripped off the ground and leaped into a dark rift, using the darkness to conceal his attacks upon Macros.

Surrounding him in a cage of strikes seemed to keep Macros on his toes. When he emerged from the last rift he stared where the man was and saw an afterimage disappear like mist, and a weight applied to his shoulder.

He glanced up to see Macros standing there, where he immediately hopped back and took a kick at the back of his head. The toes scraped him as he backed away.

Macros landed with his hands back and rolled his head around a little more, "So, that's all the elements accounted for. The experiment was a success."

Riku hunched over and the subtlest smile crossed his face. His emotions swirled. Light and darkness coalesced inside his mind. A perfect balance formed. Yin AND Yang.

He ran forward, carried by a weightless feeling on his mind and soul. A flash of surprise appeared on Macros' face, and he began to swerve away to the right. Riku's katana nicked his lens, and right at that moment he spun around and stopped, now in Chaos Form.

Macros took a couple steps back and tapped the nick. He jostled with a quiet laugh, then held his head high and let it loose merrily.

"Hahahaha!" He lowered his hand to his back and shook his head, "So...it was I who was caught being arrogant. That's hilarious."

Riku lowered his arms and returned to normal, raising his new arm towards his chest, and clutching it into a fist before his heart, "This arm feels great. Macros...again, thank you."

"Yes well..." Macros wiped the space underneath his eye and shook off the last laugh inside him, "This will be the only time you'll need this, correct?"

Riku nodded, and laid his arm by his side.

"Good," Macros put his arms back one more time and remarked, "Well, a promise is a promise. Whenever you need a favor, just call."

"Actually...I'd like to cash that in now." Riku watched as Macros fluttered his eyelashes quite a bit.

"A-Are you sure? I can offer quite a lot, think about it."

"No," Riku shook his head, "This is really important."

Macros rolled his shoulders and sighed, "Very well. What do you require?"

_Present time..._

Riku wandered into his home and was surprised at all the new faces that had popped up. And the growing number seemed to have left his brother in a predicament.

"Shoot I forgot all about him...!" That seemed like a good as time as any to surprise him.

"I haven't been gone that long brother," He cracked a smile and watched his brother turn around and look surprised, "But it seems a lot happened in my absence huh?"

His brother's eyes widened and he began to smile, "Guess I could say the same to you. Welcome back Riku!"

"_Heh, of course you'd notice right away." _Not just the new arm, but also that he had Macros cut his hair short. Didn't really have him do any styling. He wanted to keep it clean, but relatively neutral, so he can decide what it'll look like on his own.

"Phew...!" Mew whistled and started rubbing his brother's head, "Liking the haircut! Looking sharp Riku!"

Riku fluttered his eyes a couple times and muttered, "T-Thanks...brother."

Mew stood aside and waved to the others, "What do you guys think?"

"Looks like my hair when I was a kid..." Joe Dark murmured.

"Looks stupid." Said Solaris.

"I-It...looks really nice on you." Lunis said, red in her cheeks.

Alura and Venus both stared, the latter snickering.

"Seems the room's split," Mew turned back and immediately went for the new arm, rubbing it thoroughly, "Whoa! Feels like I'm touching skin."

"That's nothing. Look at what Saturn did." Riku closed his eyes and concentrated, peeling off a bit of the concealment so his brother now touched metal.

"Hahaha!" Mew reeled back and then bent down and slapped his knees, "That's so cool!"

He then stood up and patted him on the shoulder while facing the others, "Anyways you came back just in time Riku. We got a lot of new faces living here and were deciding on the living arrangements. Maybe you could-"

"Actually that won't be necessary." Riku knew his words would freeze his brother in his tracks but he wasn't expecting the slight mix of surprised and dejection as his brother turned his head back.

"Huh?"

Riku waved his hand down and told him, "I'm going to be moving out now."

While Mew stared dully into his face, Joe Dark picked up the slack, "Where do you plan to go?"

"Hmm..." Riku rubbed his chin and then gestured outward, "Lunis."

She sprung upright with a stutter, "Y-Yes?"

"Do you want to go live in that palace on the moon?"

She grew a massive grin and chuckled, "O-Of course! I'd love to!"

Solaris' brows furrowed together and he glared at the two of them. Then he threw himself up, thrusting his palms at them, "HOOOOOLD on a minute!"

He aimed his pointer finger and ire straight at Riku, "You're not going up there alone!"

Then he gestured at his chest twice and grit his teeth, covering Lunis with his stature, "We're a complete package! And I ain't trusting you with her!"

"That's...that's perfect!" Mew suddenly intervened with a sharp clap.

"Really?" Joe Dark had his doubts.

"Y-Yeah!" Mew crossed his arms and began nodding his head an odd number of times, "It'll solve the spacing and food problems, and...and it'll stop Solaris from breaking more of my dishes! And..."

There was something unhinged in the way he spoke. His arms trembled, and he slowly turned his head to face Riku with a sinking look in his eyes.

He stared quietly for a long time before whispering, "This really what you want Riku?"

"Brother, I..."

"Haaaa..." Mew placed a limp hand on his shoulder and pulled him in closer. He smiled, but it the one time he was putting on a front.

"You only just got back," He whispered, then pulled back a little and closed his eyes, "...Nah, I can't guilt you into staying."

Riku put his own hand out onto his shoulder and remarked, "I'll always be around brother."

"I know I know its just..." Mew tucked his hands into his pockets and hung his head. He then gently kicked him in the leg and said with a smile, "Don't be a stranger, ok?"

"I'll be back before you know it."

"Sure, sure...But in the meantime," Mew leaned in closer and snickered, "Do us all a favor and teach sun for brains some manners."

Riku patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Haha...I'll try."

Mew pulled back slowly, and shook. He clutched his fists into his pockets, and tried not to cry one tear. Even up until Riku, Lunis and Solaris had gathered their things together for the trip to their new home, he succeeded.

It wasn't a fast trip at all, compared to the length of their goodbyes, including the thanks Lunis had to give for the hospitality. Riku used his powers to start making new arrangements in the palace. There was plenty of space to utilize. Lunis offered her aid. Solaris' only contribution was declaring that they'd all be sharing the same bedroom.

He couldn't stop looking at his arm, and thinking back to the people who helped him get to this point. He clutched his fist to his chest, and took this opportunity to thank them.

"_I won't waste this second chance. I'll do things right this time...With the help of my friends." _

**STORY 5: Banquet of the Twilight END**

**NEXT: STORY 6: Summertime Shenanigans**


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: A Day at the Beach**

Ah, summer. What a wonderful time for appreciating nature's beauty. The sky is at its bluest. The animals, they run free through the grass. And fields of flowers bloom towards the sun. It is truly, truly beautiful...

Except for one _sliiiiiight_ problem...

"I feel like my skin's going to melt off my bones...!" Joe Dark said, laid out flat on the kitchen floor like a wet towel.

The sweltering, unrelenting **heat**.

Alura has been collapsed on the couch for the last few minutes, her favorite ebony dress now proving to be her greatest enemy. She was positively drenched and her hair glistened with a oily sheen.

"J-Joe Dark...help me..." She moaned, struggling to move even a finger.

"I wish I could Alura..." Joe Dark grit his teeth and pulled his head up with a scowl, "If SOMEBODY wasn't hogging the fan!"

Mew stood by the kitchen table and adjusted the fan so it blew upon Maria. She closed her eyes with a smile, and resumed drawing with her crayons on the drier pieces of paper.

He then looked over his shoulder and Joe Dark laid into him, "Seriously, give me one good reason why we don't have air conditioning!"

"Well, I never needed it..." And as a matter-of-fact, Mew didn't have a bead of sweat to his name.

"Fix. This. Now." Joe Dark demanded with a kingly tone.

"I wouldn't even know the first thing about installing one!" Mew said, leaning slightly with fists on his hips.

"...Ugh, you're a terrible host." Joe Dark collapsed upon the kitchen floor and laid his limbs out.

"You're right, I only cook, clean and make your beds." Mew rolled his eyes.

"Joe Dark...am I going to...d-die again?" Alura groaned.

"I-If we're going down I'm taking him with us...!" Joe Dark began to lurch upright when Mew swung his hands up defensively and hollered, "Whoa whoa lets not get crazy here!"

He flashed a grin and snapped his fingers at his chest, "**I** got a wonderful idea!"

He then threw his hands up and exclaimed, "We should all go to the beach!"

Alura's curious eyes perked up immediately, "The beach? What is...the beach?"

Mew's lips slid right into a grin as he rubbed his chin, "Its a wonderful place where you kick back, relax, and gaze into the sparkling sea waters as a cool breeze rubs any sweat off your body. You can play games, lay back, and eat tons of ice cream!"

Alura began to drool, and pulled herself up over the head of the couch, "Joe Dark...I want to go to the beach and try out this 'ice cream'."

"Pah...that doesn't sound too bad honestly..." Joe Dark tried to sit up and weakly wagged a hand beside his head, "Will it just be the four of us then...?"

"I should try and see if the others'll want to come along," He began to walk towards the phone, "If its hot here I can't imagine what its like in Sancturia."

Since Riku was now on the moon they decided to have Saturn set up a hotline between there, here, and Kairi's house for easier communication. To think, in a few minutes he'd be the first person to send a call to the moon.

Ten button taps and three rings later, Mew's heart raced with anticipation as the other line answered with, _"Mew? Is that you?"_

"Heeeeeey Kairi! Looks like the connection's working!" He paced around the room and subtly pumped a fist up by his side.

"_Yeah, it sounds exactly like you over the phone...What's up?" _She sounded a little tired.

"Oh nothing much. Say, how's the weather treating you today?"

"_God!" _She groaned in misery, _"Its sweltering up here! Something must be wrong with the weather regulator or something..." _

"Huh, that's weird," Mew's lips slightly curled, "But hey it ain't any better for us here which is why I called. How'd yoooooou like to go to the beach?!"

"_...The...the beach?" _

"A-yep!"

"_A-As in the...kind of beach where you wear...s-swimsuits?" _

"I don't think there's any other kind of beach..." Mew said with a chuckle.

"_Mmmmmrrr, I don't know..." _He overheard the sound of stampeding footsteps and a slight struggle in the background.

"_THE BEACH? HECK YEAH I'M IN!" _Shina enthusiastically proclaimed, and Mew drew the phone away for the time being.

"_Shina, give me the phone!" _Kairi's voice was fading. A battle was unfolding, and Mew's overeager imagination filled in the blanks.

"_Huh? What's that mom?" _But when Shina said that Mew's heart skipped a beat and his lips puckered inward like he had sucked on a lemon, _"You wanna come too?!" _

Mew's eyes widened, straightening out when he heard a terrible fall in the background. Then, after some familiar pants, Kairi had resumed control.

"_Huff...Unbelievable..."_

Mew snickered and said, "Sounds like its been decided for you!"

"_Yeah whatever...a-anything's better than dying in my own sweat..." _She grumbled for a bit, _"So where are we going to meet up at?" _

"There's a place called Pacific Shores on the west part of the state. Whaddya say we meet up there about...noon?"

"_Fine by me. Oh, and Mew?" _

"Yeah?"

"_Y-You better not...Better not..." _

"Yesssssss?" Mew playfully egged her on.

"_GAH! Don't play ignorant!" _She hung up right after.

Joe Dark had gotten up finally and limped to the corner of the kitchen, "So are those women coming along?"

"Yep!" Mew said leaning over his shoulder. He could see the life fading from his brother's eyes as he groaned longer than a cow in heat.

"_Now for..." _Mew dialed in the next number and paced towards the front door.

"_Hello! Lunar Residence speaking!" _The delightfully lovely Lunis answered, _"Heehee, just kidding, I know its you Mew! This technology is so convenient! So, how's it going?"_

"Oh hi Lunis I wasn't expecting you to pick up the phone. Is Riku busy?" He got his answer in the form of some explosions going off in the background.

"_Him and brother are sparring. Again." _She said with a punctuating sigh.

"Well I hope you all aren't too busy, cause I was hoping you'd join us for a trip to the beach!"

"_Really?!" _Was not the kind of response he expected, _"I'd love to! Absolutely!" _

She stuffed her hand over the phone but he could still hear what she was saying, _"Riku! Brother! Mew's inviting us to the beach! Uh huh. Yeah! You do?! Oh come on brother it'll be fun...Pleeeeeeeeease? Hooray! Thank you thank you!" _

"_We'll be there!" _

"Excellent! The plan's to meet up at Pacific Shores at noon. Riku ought to know how to get there."

"_Alright! See you then!" _

She hung up, leaving Mew hovering the phone before his chest. He squeezed his hand, and his cheeks began to stretch.

"Heh..." If anyone could see his face, they'd describe it as something truly sinister. A scheming, wicked, abnormal grin crossed his face, and his eyes stared forth with staggering confidence.

"_I've won..." _He was hard-pressed not to snicker, _"Exactly as planned." _

**One day ago...**

_It started with what seemed like a normal visit to check out his brother's new home. But he wasn't there for him. He was there for a certain sun god._

"_Hey Solaris," He singled him out by waving his hands towards himself, "C'mere for a moment."_

"_What?" Naturally Solaris resisted with his usual gruff, "Whaddya want?"_

_Once he had gotten the sun god out of Riku's hearing range he leaned in close to whisper, "I have a question. How well can you control the sun's effect on a planet?" _

"_Are you really asking a __**god**__ that?" Solaris answered with a scoff._

_Mew loftily shrugged his shoulders and told him, "I dunno man, you and 'control' ain't exactly a perfect union." _

"_Oh yeah?! I can prove otherwise!" _

"_Really?" Mew softly smirked and put on a facade of curiosity as he pointed outside at the bright blue planet, "Tomorrow morning, make it so its extra hot at my place and Sancturia but nowhere else. If you do that, I'll take back everything I said."_

"_Yeah I'll make you eat those words...!" Solaris turned around and grumbled aloud, "Doubting my control, where does he get off..."_

_Unaware, that Mew was smiling wider than his face should be able to._

**Present day...**

"_This was too easy. Solaris set the stage, and Shina and Lunis helped put everyone else in place for my greatest show of all!" _

**THE BEACH!**

What Mew had "neglected" to mention is that there was one very, very beautiful, wonderful and splendid tradition associated with beach trips:

**SWIMSUITS!**

"_The God of Tailor's gracious gift to manly men alike...! Where bountiful bosoms and bubbly butts are shown off for all to see, unrestrained by the woeful shackles of everyday clothing!" _

Mew imagined himself drifting through a heavenly, arms stretched out as visions of nearly bare-naked beauties danced in his head.

"_This will be the day where I die, surrounded in a sea of long, luscious legs and firm, thick thighs...!" _And as he saw his body and head enveloped in a sea of God's blessings to women, his face melted with the utmost bliss, _"Heaven IS a place on Earth, and I shall claim my rightful throne in PA-RA-DISE!" _

In reality however, he was still wearing that same plotting face and only just now noticed Alura standing near him out of the corner of his eyes.

"..." She tilted her head with a blank, unassuming stare and then turned back to Joe Dark only a few feet away, "Joe Dark, I think Mew's broken his face."

"Maybe the heat's gotten to him after all..." Joe Dark replied with a snicker.

"Ahem...!" Mew forced a cough and turned around with a normal smile, "The Lunar Crew said they're coming too! So we're all set!"

"This'll be my first time at the beach," Maria chimed in with all her child-like enthusiasm bubbling to the surface, "I can't wait! Can we go now papa? Please?"

"Aaahh..." Mew's defenses were quickly folding over. Joe Dark, however, had something to say.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He impatiently tapped his fingers on his hip, "We don't have any bathing gear."

"..." Mew froze up and his brain made a dial-tone noise.

"OH CRAP YOU'RE RIGHT!" He said while in recoil and then quickly tapped redial on the phone.

"_Pickuppickuppickup!"_ Three seconds felt like they lasted an hour.

"_Hello again!" _Lunis chimed in.

"Heeeeeeey Lunis I just remembered something..." Mew's attempt at being casual only worked cause of the socially inept company he kept, "All of us need to go buy swimsuits before we go to the beach."

"_Oh? A-Alright?" _He could feel the fluttering of her eyelashes from here.

"I'll explain later. Just tell Riku to meet us at the mall in South Center."

_Later..._

Mew and his strange little family had arrived at the front of a big mall. The weather isn't as hot here but he wasn't worried about it foiling his plans.

Now they just stood around and waited for the others to show up. And it was not by their hand that they became aware...at least not intentionally. Murmurs and curious gazes began popping up in the crowd and Mew immediately turned right to see Riku, Lunis and Solaris approaching on the sidewalk.

Lunis and Solaris' normal attire stuck out like a sore thumb, not to mention their shiny hair and statuesque appearances.

As Mew walked to greet his brother he waved out to the crowd for some quick damage control, "Its ok guys, we're just going to a cosplay convention!"

And in one fell swoop he halved the amount of people interested. Riku chuckled at the crowd and then turned to his brother, "Maybe its time to shop for some new clothes."

"Yeah you're right..." Mew reached into his pocket and wagged around a debit card, "Go ahead and buy a few, it'll be my treat."

He swung back and hollered, "Same goes for you guys! I bet you're sick of those old clothes Joe."

"And maybe you should buy something different for yourself too." Joe Dark snarked back.

"Nah this one's a classic," Mew tugged at the chest of his shirt, "It'll outlive me for sure."

"So...how do we do this?" Lunis softly inquired, "I've never shopped for clothes before."

"Neither have I." Alura said, while Maria shook her head.

"I'll show you how its done," Mew waved his arms out as he passed his gathered crowd, and then with a showman's grace he stood before the entrance of the mall and exclaimed, "Come on! Lets go!"

This ragtag group stuck together against the restless tides of hundreds gathered here today. Sales aplenty in every store. Capitalism was working its summer magic on the hot **and** the horny.

But with time ticking down to noon Mew had to get them go to the closest clothes store they could. Joe Dark kept having to peel Alura away from other distractions and making promises that they'd visit them another day. Lunis took in all the sights and had Riku answering her book's worth of questions. Solaris wondered what the point of all this was, but nobody cared.

Finally they arrived at the clothes store, and Mew was pleased by the gasps of awe from his peers. There were plenty of clothes to go around, ranging from tight shorts and long, slender leggings to low-cut shirts and cupped bras.

"Alright, here's the most important thing you need to know," Mew faced his crowd of watchful eyes and stretched his arms to the sides of the store, "The clothes are divided by gender and types of clothes. Swimsuits get their own section. If you have further questions just ask the employees, or come to me."

He then looked back at the clock near the cashier and remarked, "We've got a little over an hour to burn but otherwise..."

He clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Go wild!"

Solaris immediately rushed off to inflict unknown degrees of misery upon the poor employees. Riku followed soon after, while Joe Dark, Alura and Maria went in their own group. Lunis stayed behind, bobbing her head back and forth. She then settled on a gentle lean towards Mew with a smile as bright as her skin.

"Mew...can you help me?"

"What's up?" He said, crossing his arms to still his eagerness.

"Could you...help me pick out a swimsuit?" She said with a humbling blush in her cheeks.

Mew's ecstasy was about to burst out of his mouth despite his sucked in lips hardening his defenses, _"Breast. Day. EVER!" _

He gently held out his arms for this princessly presence and murmured, "Right this way milady."

The two made a short trip to the swimsuit section and Lunis' eyes immediately frozen in a stiff bulging glare, "O-Oh my...!"

A pale gasp passed her lips and landed on her fingertips as she tried not to blush at the scandalous selection of clothes lied out before her.

"I...didn't think swimsuits would be so... so...revealing." She was more surprised than concerned, fortunately.

"Of course!" Mew happily pranced into the magical aisle of bikini tops and bottoms, "Its so you'll get the most cool air on your skin!"

He hung his head and smirked when Lunis replied, "Oh! That makes sense."

He swung right up and peppered his _little_ white lie with the perfect piece de resistance, "Plus...I bet Riku'll think you look lovely in one of these."

She had been ensnared, and her brittle resistance turned into ravenous interest. She hurried into the aisle with a big smile and started fiddling through the many swimsuits. Mew watched on, gifted with a smile worthy of an imp's envy.

"Hmmm...I wonder if any of these'll even fit me." She began to murmur.

"You want them to be a light tight for em-" Mew sucked his lips in and quickly came up with an alternative, "Eeeeempowerment! Yep! A good swimsuit'll make you feel super strong!"

She lifted up a two-piece swimsuit with frills on the bra strings and remarked, "Like this?"

Mew's face turned red and he had to pull himself away before his imagination went wild too early, "Y-Yeah like that..."

He then closed his eyes and gestured over his shoulder, "If you need to be sure they do have private rooms back there where you can try on clothes."

"Oh! Thanks for letting me know!" She then put that swimsuit back and started in other ones.

"You're welcome," Mew gazed over her body for a moment and foul thoughts polluted his usually innocent mind, _"What you're doing is thanks enough for me..." _

Deciding to leave at least something to look forward to, Mew rounded out of the aisle she was on and happened to catch Joe Dark and his small group taking care of their shopping.

Joe Dark bent down at a row of swim trunks and had tossed a few onto the ground, "Do they really not have any with skulls...?"

Alura and Maria stood together behind them with a wandering look in their eyes.

"Need any help?" Mew's approach got their attention, and Maria nodded.

"Hmmm, lemme see here..." The kid's section was close by. Right away Mew saw the perfect thing hung on a rack.

"Hey here we go," He pulled out a light-green one-piece swimsuit with a leaf green flowery pattern over it and hints of pink around the flowers, "How's this?"

He handed it off to Maria and she cuddled it against her chest while giving him a smile, "Thanks papa."

"Well hold on," Mew playfully rubbed her head, "Go try it on first, see if it fits you."

He gestured at the fitting rooms and she hustled on over. Mew followed along.

Alura stared at the two and then tapped Joe Dark a dozen times on the back while he turned to look at her, "What?"

"What should I wear, Joe Dark?"

"Mmrrrrgh I don't know," He looked at her funny and then brushed his hand out, "Just...try a few of them on until you find one you like."

She blinked a couple times and then showed gratitude with a nod, "Ok, I will. Your help is appreciated, Joe Dark."

She wandered off. A few seconds later, Joe Dark turned back around and muttered, "Wait what?"

It seemed as though all of them, sans Joe Dark, would soon convene upon the fitting rooms. But one of their group had been held up in there way before the rest, causing the exact kind of trouble Mew had expected him to get wrapped up in.

"_SHRRRIPPP!" _Became a sound of heart-stopping dread for the young lady manning the fitting rooms at the moment.

"Ah damn it not again!" Solaris hollered behind closed doors.

The lady's face was a mix of white and red as she swallowed deep and faced the door, a torn pair of flame patterned boxers being dangled above the frame.

"Hey woman, why do you keep handing me all these weak shorts?!"

"B-But those are large...!" She tenderly bit her lower lip, her tongue moist with a growing thirst.

"Come on there has to be bigger ones! Hurry up!" Solaris let the shorts fall like a leaf and she ran to clasp them in her arms.

"O-Oooh..." Her heart melted and she spun around, avoiding the gaze of the other customers as she scurried off to find an even bigger pair of shorts.

Mew and Maria walked up and he tapped Solaris' door a few times, "Hey don't go harassing the employees we don't want to spend the day in a cold prison."

Solaris pulled his probably naked body on top of the door and the joints began to creak, "What? She didn't seem to have a problem being bossed around."

"That's..." Mew came to be dreadfully reminded that underneath all those layers of mean Solaris was 99% muscle, and tragically, some women didn't mind that "beef jerk-y" combo.

"...Just...get down from there, you look like a gorilla." Mew left it at that and directed Maria to the nearest open room before she became negatively influenced.

A few seconds later Alura came wandering up to the room to the right of Mew carrying a few different swimsuits and headed inside. The room was pretty small and had just enough room to fit her, a seat, and a large mirror.

"...Ummm..." She slowly laid what she picked up on the seat but kept one in her hands. It had a single black rectangular cloth up top and some sort of triangular shaped object at the bottom.

Holding it up in front of the mirror she saw it laid over her body and figured that's where they'd need to go. She fiddled around with the hanger until she heard a click, which unlocked the cloth from it.

She then dropped the triangular piece and took the rectangular cloth over her head and shoulders. The cloth wrapped around her arms and chest and looked like it was stretching.

She stared at herself in the mirror and a bit of pink went in her cheeks, "This doesn't feel right."

As she wiggled the cloth off she heard grunts coming from the right room. She hovered off the ground to peek over into the other room, and stalled stiff at the sight of Lunis, having lost nearly all of her clothes.

She had a lot of skin to show, all silky and smooth. Alura's heartbeat quickened and she found her breathing increasing.

Lunis was struggling to put one of those cloth tops on. It pressed against her giant chest spheres and they began to bounce. After a minute of trying she managed to tie a knot on her back and began to swerve, gazing at herself in the mirror, particularly towards the legs.

"I wish I wasn't so tall..." She whispered with a down look in her eyes.

Alura hadn't noticed her face was bright red until she plopped back down and looked in the mirror. Then her hands began to gravitate towards her chest, where she began rubbing in circles.

"If I take off my clothes...will I look like that too?" She paused on a pair of tiny bumps poking out of her dress and shivered.

She then heard a giggle coming from the left and her curiosity made her peek over there was well. Maria was spinning around in the swimsuit Mew had picked out. SHE didn't have big chest spheres like Lunis. But her suit...looked right on her.

"..." Alura descended and looked at her selection of clothes, plucking out one that looked a lot like Maria's. When she held it against her and looked at the mirror, she felt...odd. Like, this didn't fit her.

She dropped the suit and looked at her dress. This was the garment of her life for the last thousand years. Her mind was thinking things she didn't understand.

She didn't want to look like this anymore. But she didn't want to look like Maria. She wanted to look, and feel, like Lunis. And somehow, an appearance of Joe Dark in her thoughts connected it all together.

She murmured a gentle moan and stared at herself in the mirror. Then, she took another look at the two-pieced garment she discarded before and felt like she had an idea...

The preparations for the beach trip were going rather swimmingly for Mew's merry group. But this is just one side to this story...

_Up in Sancturia..._

"C'mon Gabriel come with us? Pleeeeeease? Please please please please pleeeeeease?" Shina grinned her teeth and bore down on the stalwart samurai with tender eyes.

"Hahaha," He chuckled and wagged his hand at her and Kairi, "You had me at the first 'Please'. I'd be delighted."

Shina turned around and pumped her fist hard before her chest, "YES!"

He rubbed his chin with a warm hum, "The sound of gentle waves caressing the sand, as the wind glides its hand along your face..."

Shina spun around and thrust her pointer finger towards his forehead, "Not ta mention all the delicious food ya can eat!"

"...That gives me an idea," Gabriel put his hand on his sword and nodded, "I'll meet up with you at that beach later."

"You got it!" She proclaimed as Gabriel wandered into the streets of Sancturia. She then spun around and pumped her fist into the sky, "Alright sis! Lets go swimsuit shopping!"

Kairi had her arms curled under her chest and a reluctant vibe all over her body, "I don't know about this Shina..."

Shina wrapped her arm over her back and squeezed their cheeks together, "Ah ya gotta relax! This'll be a ton of fun!"

She squinted with a grunt of hesitation, "Something fishy's going on here..."

"Why do ya say that?"

"Isn't it odd how its suddenly not very hot in Sancturia anymore?"

"Awww," Shina patted her on the back a few times before pulling away, "The weather system musta stopped glitching!"

Kairi ruffled her nose and muttered, "This _reeks_ of Mew."

Then Shina snagged her by the wrist and pulled her along through the streets, "Quit worrying about it and lets go!"

Once at the mall they headed to the nearest swimsuit store. Yes, they do in fact have one in Sancturia. There's a few pools in town, including in the schools.

Kairi would rather be dead than seen in one of these stores. Nothing but flaunting harpies and thirsty men as far as the eye can see. She was better than this. She didn't have to prove nothing! She could totally wear a bikini better than most of these girls. She's just choosing not to!

But choice hardly seemed to matter when Shina was involved. After dragging her all the way into this store she left no room for escape without suffering public humility.

"Alright here we are! I wonder what kinda stuff they got in stock today..." Shina started rubbing her hands mischievously, "Only the finest for my little sis!"

"STOP!" Kairi threw her right hand out and hung her head. When Shina turned around and started blinking, Kairi squeezed her fist and stood her ground with a firm, unshaken voice, "I...am an adult!"

She raised her head and glared, "I _don't _need you buying clothes for me anymore!"

Shina was shook. A look of immediate guilt lurked in her eyes as she laid her hand beside her face and muttered, "Gosh sis, I didn't know you felt that way..."

"..." She snapped her fingers beside her face and smiled, "I got an idea! How about **you**...pick out a swimsuit...for me?"

"Huh?" Kairi stammered.

"But!" Shina hung her pointer finger forward, "On one condition...! You still gotta let me choose yours!"

"_I get to pick Shina's swimsuit?" _Kairi smiled and chuckled internally, _"Hehehe! This is perfect! I'll pick the skimpiest one they got! Then Shina'll be totally embarrassed!" _

"Ok you got a deal!" Kairi shook her sister's hand firmly.

"Great! We'll buy separately and meet up back at the house!" And with the conditions set Shina ran off to do her job. Kairi stayed behind and milked her mischievous thoughts for all they were worth.

She rubbed her hands together like a little gremlin and chuckled, _"Shina'll buy me something cute with minimal exposure. You made a big mistake challenging your sis to a battle of smarts!" _

Her lips began to curl. Into a sinister, wicked, almost sublime smile. And her eyes stared forward with utmost confidence.

"_I've already won," _She tried not to chuckle, _"Exactly as planned." _

It was easy to pick out the kind of scandalous outfit that would leave Shina's face red as a radish. Never had Kairi walked home with such confidence in her stride. Her grin left onlookers afraid. Good. Let them know fear.

Soon she had arrived back home with bag in hand, and found her sister waiting by the couch with their mom packing a large cooler and bags full of stuff nearby.

"Alright Shina, here you go!" Kairi pumped the bag into her sister's chest and raised her head high.

"O-Oh! You're excited..." Shina gently plucked the bag from her hand and opened it up. Her eyes widened and Kairi did a terrible job hiding her sneer.

"Weeeeeell, what do you think?"

"Sniff..." Shina's lips puckered in a whimper and she hung her head, "Oh sis..."

She lowered the bag to her waist and laid a hand on her face, "W-Why did you pick this one...? Do...do you really think your lovely big sis is a...is a...**slut**?"

She squeezed her eyes and tears began to trickle out and Kairi staggered back, "N-No...I-I wasn't..."

Their mother look at her and slowly shook her head. Shina stood up and wiped a finger under her eyes, "Its fine its fine...Its like you said. W-We're adults...I should be a little more grown-up about the clothes I wear..."

She put the bag down and picked up the other one beside her, dangling it out without having the courage to look her sister in the eyes.

"Sis, I-"

"Its ok," Shina interrupted, "I'll...I'll feel better...Once you see yours."

Kairi was weighed by guilt as she slowly took the bag from her sister's hand and looked inside...And then all that guilt was shoved out and replaced with bitter outrage.

"_W-WHAT?!" _Her face turned bright pink and she looked up to see Shina rubbing her eyes dry, while purposefully raising her palm to show off her smirk.

"_C-Crocodile tears?!" _She'd fallen for the easiest guilt trip in the world and was now left holding one of the most _obscene _pieces of fabric known to man.

"Ok! Nuh-uh! I am NOT wearing this!" She dropped the back and staggered back, then clamped in place by her mother's firm grip on her shoulders.

"Now dear, I didn't raise someone who breaks promises." She said with a warm but frightening smile.

She pushed her ahead with her amazonian strength and try as she might, Kairi's feet could not hold her back. She grit her teeth down at the bag and grunted, "Damn you both to Hell! You'll pay for this one day!"

Shina put her fingertips over her lower lip and whispered with a haze in her eyes, "How cute..."

She then grew a sinister, most wicked of smirks and thought to herself, _"Shoulda known better than to outsmart ya big sis! Keikaku doori..." _

**And thus the fated noon arrived...**

At the edge of the beach Mew, Riku, Joe Dark and Solaris were gathered under the shade of some trees. Mew brushed his hands off and said, "Alright, the others went to join up with the Kairi's family."

All of them had gotten into their swim trunks. Mew was wearing black with flame streaks down from his pockets. He wasn't overly muscular but he had no fat to speak of. Just some nice pecs, a bit of abs, the perfect eye candy for the lovely ladies that'll be joining them today.

"So brother, why are you having them come to the beach after us?" Said Riku, adorned in a pair of black and white striped swim trunks of his own. As a mirror reflection his bod was a chip off the old Adonis block, but his new short hair should dissuade a lot of the more hungry gazes...Or turn them on even more. Either way he wasn't concerned. Lunis would hopefully act as a deterrent.

"I'm not complaining, I'd rather not see the kind of low-brow swim wear they chose to put on..." Joe Dark groaned, having somehow found a gray pair of swim trunks covered in skulls, and a pair of sunglasses strapped to his neck. He had that "bad boy" image going on, but with his almost pasty white skin and lean, muscle-less frame he'd probably be better off getting a tan than embarrassing himself. All said for his sake of course.

"Lunis seemed pretty happy with hers but I don't know...I don't like it..." Solaris was the most defensive of the bunch, but his body protruded the greatest offense. Muscles upon muscles, biceps within biceps. That his flaming swim trunks could contain his thick, firm glutes was a miracle and a curse. He was biggest threat of all. Even his offensively bad attitude could make ladies swoon. But if there was one saving grace, Solaris seemed purely "fightsexual".

"Relax," Mew swung an empty bag over his shoulder, "We're here to enjoy ourselves. Who cares what the girls wear?"

"_I mean besides me of course." _Mew snickered out the side of his mouth.

Solaris then nudged him in the shoulder and said, "Oh yeah I almost forgot! Told you I could do it!"

Joe Dark ruffled his brows and murmured, "Told him that you could do...what?"

Mew hastily blinked and in that moment used enough concentration to fill his bag full of charcoal, which he swung over to a puzzled Solaris.

"BBQ! Yeah. Solaris said he's been practicing in secret and wants to show off tonight!" Mew nudged the bag into Solaris' chest and the sun god's need to impress did the rest for him.

"Hmph, I'll make you eat those words!" He snagged the bag out of his hand and Mew breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Except Joe Dark still had his eyes on him.

"That...ought to be interesting..." Riku murmured.

"Whatever..." Joe Dark brushed his hand up and turned away.

"_Heh, it always works to think ahead." _Mew bragged.

They faced the sunny seas and sandy lands and Mew pumped his fist towards the bright golden orb in the sky. It may sound arrogant, despicable, even downright villainous in his head, but for once he was going to pursue his goals without any restraint.

"_Onward! My grand paradise awaits me!" _And so they began their march, into what would be a long and crazy day...

_Next Time: Hot Dames and Summer Games_


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Summertime Shenanigans**

The group of men wandered onto the sandy grains, and were immediately welcomed by its clean ocean breeze. Mew stretched his arms out to the grace of the wind and closed his eyes to the surrender of its calm.

"Aaaaaah, now this is more like it!" He said, the breeze whistling in his ears.

Even Joe Dark felt keen to smile under these conditions, "You're right, this is perfect. I wish I could spend the whole summer here..."

As he closed his eyes to drift off Mew chuckled and said, "You'd actually have some color in your skin then."

Joe Dark groaned his eyes awake, "Why are you spoiling my mood?"

"Hehehe...!" Mew grinned and looked out into the distance. The beach was plentiful with people. Children and parents, students on vacation, all of them relaxing and playing in the sand.

"Seems there's a lot to do on the beach." Riku commented.

"You never went to a beach Riku?" Mew turned to his brother.

"There was one in Tethe'alla but...there was never any time to go there." Riku drooped with a sigh and Mew immediately ran over to pat him on the back.

"Well once the ladies arrive you'll be making up for lost time...in no time!" He pulled away with a grin and started greasing his palms with anticipation, _"So come on out ladies...Show me what you got!"_

"Papa, we're here!" Maria's cheery voice was followed by the muted sound of her footsteps hustling through the sand.

She had on the swimsuit he had picked out for her, with the addition of pink scrunchies on her wrist, and her hair done up in a backward ponytail. By the time she got up to Mew she was hung over and breathing a little heavier than normal.

"Heh, don't tire yourself too early Maria. We got a whole day of fun ahead of us!" Mew bent down and patted her on the head, making her eyes flinch shut.

She started wiggling her little toes in the sand and seemed to already be having a good time. Mew couldn't be happier for her.

"Heeeeeeeeeey!" Speaking of happiness, that was Lunis calling to them. Mew sprung right up with big old eyes and watched the lunar beauty dash onto the shoreline.

Her body had been unchained from the shackles of her clothes and replaced with a somewhat tighter bound on her chest and hips. A white, glittery underwire frilled bikini cupped her massive breasts, giving them just a little bounce, but mostly emphasizing their size and firmness. She complimented this with a bikini bottom riding an inch above her thighs, making her slender, athletic legs appear even longer than normal. And her hair, once bound in an innocent knot, was let loose for all to see. It was like a long wedding hood knitted from the light of the moon.

"_Yes...That graceful bikini top raising those bountiful breasts to the heights of the stars, while the bottom accentuate the towering form of her legs, and the ample curves of her thighs. And letting her hair down? Its a power move. Now her captive audience is sure to look down her entire body. Yet her maturity is enhanced by the curious, timid gaze she gives as she steps upon the sand. Yes, truly this tapestry of beauty can only be described as...Curves of the Moon ala Innocence." _

Mew breathed new life deep into his body and felt like he was being lifted on the arms by a pair of bosom angels. And this was but one of four beauties whom would grace his presence.

Admiration of her appearance aside for now, Mew noticed that Lunis started hopping on one foot and brushing the bottom of the raised one while whispering, "Hot hot hot!"

She then stumbled to a stop a few feet away from the group and leaned in with a smile, "Heh heh, I didn't think the sand would be so hot!"

She then raised her head high, eyes closed, and brushed the side of her hair as the wind draped it behind her like a cape, "Mmmm, but this air...Its so lovely!"

"Holy crap..."

From the corner of his eye Mew glimpsed a rare sight of Riku's jaw dropped with speechlessness. He was doing him proud.

Lunis opened her eyes and lowered her head ever slightly with a smile, "D-Do you like it Riku?"

"It...It looks good on you." He said with a hesitant gesture of the hand, and an even harder smile.

Mew stealthily raised a thumbs-up his way.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Solaris suddenly exclaimed and threw his hands down, "You're showing waaaaay too much skin Lunis!"

"Don't be mad at me!" Lunis replied and gestured in the worst possible direction, "Mew's the one who suggested it!"

"Oh really?" Solaris AND Joe Dark synced their glares in unison.

"H-Hey don't look at me," Mew put up an innocent front, "She asked for my help. And look, she's happy with it!"

"She made a terrible call." Joe Dark murmured.

"Well if she's happy about it..." Solaris muttered through gritted teeth. Crisis averted.

"So where are the others?" Mew asked.

"Oh? I thought I saw Alura with us..." Lunis turned her head around and then shrugged, "Maybe she got lost? Lady Auris and her kids needed a bit more time though."

"_Bah...Oh well, I can wait a little longer." _Lunis began to walk past them to take a little further glance at the ocean. As Mew's gaze lustfully followed her behind, he noticed where one of their missing guests was...Motionless like a statue behind Joe Dark.

Alura's choice of swimsuit was surprising. She had a violet halter top with frills at the bottom, and a cheeky bikini bottom with thin lacy black lingerie underneath. Curiously, her midriff was covered by a see-through fabric that seemed to have been stitched together. She still had her gloves and brooch on, and in addition put on a small straw hat and sunglasses with red rims.

"_Meh," _Mew closed his eyes and shook his head in pity, _"Some people are gifted, some are not. Still, points for trying."_

He then gestured at her and said with a snicker, "Hey Joe, look behind you."

Joe Dark did a quick 180 and jumped back a little, "A-Alura when did you...?"

She turned her head to Mew and seemed to be a bit...angry?

Caught in an unexpected situation, Joe Dark started looking over her clothes and doing his best to comment on it, exposing a clear lack of experience, "Y-You look...I guess..."

As Alura put her gaze back on him she asked in a tone seemingly aping Lunis', "Do you like it, Joe Dark?"

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark laid a hand against the side of his head and looked away, "W-Where did you even find that...?"

Alura's hand hovered over her chest, "I tore up parts of my dress to cover the space between my chest and legs."

"...I guess it could look worse." Joe Dark murmured.

Mew bit his teeth in a hiss of shame while Alura bowed her head, tucked her blushing face under the shade of her hat, and murmured, "T-Thank you."

Mew fluttered his eyes and then daftly crossed his arms against his chest, _"Man, take the edge off Mr. Dark King and he's just another socially inept teenager."_

"YOO HOO! WE'RE HERE!" And finally, after a long feeling lull in beauties, it would be Shina, Shina Aurora, who'd take center stage next.

She waltzed out in a simple azure triangle bikini top with complimenting thin stringed bikini bottom. There was something resembling a bulge forming on her stomach, but she kept that covered up pretty well with a see-through light black cloth covered with glitter for stars. She's tied up her hair in a long braided ponytail and is wearing crystal-clear glasses with only half their rims visible. She looked as radiant as ever. And the curves as curvy as curvy could be.

"_Shining the brightest on this bright sunny day is the loving big sister. Look at her! Her pose, her grace. She struts her long legs onto the beach without a care in the world. Her breasts and thighs are on full display, while her sparkling eyes hide the ravenous hunger of a LION. She desires attention, she CRAVES it. But look at those glasses! While she's busy nonchalantly showing of her sexuality she's purposefully juxtapositioning it with her innate nerdiness. The Ditzy Blonde, a tried and true classic..." _

Mew raised his hand hard in salute and puffed out his lower lip, _"Alex Whiter my fallen brother...You were a goddamn HERO!" _

Shina fluttered her eyelashes and remarked with a giggle, "What's up with the salute?"

Mew threw his hand down and chuckled too, "J-Just...making up for not celebrating the 4th of July!"

"Oh you...!" Shina swayed her hand down and then bopped him in the gut, which Mew pretended to keel over from.

"Heh! So hey..." As he rose back up he scanned the area, "Where's Kairi?"

"Ugh..." Shina threw her head back and cupped her mouth in both hands, "SIS, GET YER BUTT OUT HERE ALREADY!"

"NO! I REFUSE!" Kairi's distinctly furious cry came from behind the pair of outhouses nearby.

"...I'll be riiiiight back." Shina threw up a ton of sand on her way to hunt down her sister. A brief scuffle ensued, after two shadows started to be dragged out into view.

"C'mon, once you get this over with it'll all be better!" Said Shina.

"T-This is so embarrassing! Cut it out!"

"Yooooou promised!"

"And I also promise that one day, when you aren't cowering behind your baby, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS FOR THIS!" It was a declaration of war to rip the heavens asunder. Yet for all that bluster, all Kairi was doing was suffocating Mew with anticipation. Truly, for her to put up THIS much of a fuss the contents of her clothes must be something extraordinary.

Shina gently pushed Kairi out into plain and clear view and Mew stared at her quietly.

She definitely had her sister's body even if there was a little more weight around the hips. Nothing bad really. In fact it looked kind of nice with the green bikini bottom she wore, with multiple strings riding up her thighs. Her top was a bandeau style and had a little trouble keeping her chest from bouncing. Her hair had been clearly forced into a side ponytail with an iris marking where the tie was...But was it really that bad? It actually looked kind of nice on her. Though obviously the beet red face and pertinent scowl wasn't doing her many favors in the attractiveness department.

Once her big sis' hands were off Kairi jerked her hands behind her back and sucked her lips in, mustering a fevered pout along with the occasional glance Mew's way.

Mew stood there and stared at her from top to bottom and his mind emptied the glossary of adjectives he had prepared for this moment. Her face got cuter the more the red retreated from it.

Finally she thrust her face his way and grumbled, "W-What?! A-A-Aren't you going to...S-Say something?!"

Mew gently waved his hand out and the words slipped right out of his mouth, "You look fantastic Kairi."

"D-Do you really think I wanted to wear...?!" She started gritting her teeth but then her face flattened into a stoic declaration of, "W-What?"

"..." Mew's pupils shrank and his cheeks reddened. He scratched the side of his face and chuckled, "I-I mean yeah that is probably a little much..."

She squeaked out a gasp and then threw herself upright with taut fists, and began storming off past Mew. He heard her muttering angrily "I-Idiot...!"

Mew's eyes fluttered a few times and he started rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, the joys of youth." Came the sultry voice that Mew wanted to hear.

There was much to say about Lunis, Shina and Kairi. But they were merely rookies caught in the shade of a pro. This woman's appearance here was the proof that Mew's plans were mandated for success by the Heavens themselves. Breasts. Butt. Thighs. Hips. Legs. Youth. These formed the Hexagon of Sexual Superiority, of whom Auris Aurora had no equal. With all her earthly experience, she would know how to maximize her sexuality to the fullest.

Mew's whole body was stiff but NO, he must look...This was his **destiny**.

He turned around aaaaaaaand...

A coat.

A thin. Draping. Aquamarine. **Plastic** coat. She was locking her gifts away behind zipper and latches. And no, not even the hope of them coming undone meant anything. He could see that underneath her coat was a diving suit. The only skin worth noting was the same old, admittedly pretty, face, but even that was ruined a little by the appearance of sunglasses and a straw hat. Hauled over her back by a firm rope was an ice cooler, a grill, and a whole bunch of towels, umbrellas, and bags of lotion.

**Disappointment. **Didn't even begin to describe his devastation.

He froze there, allowing her to walk right on by. She laid her cold hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Nice try."

Her soft giggle tormented his soul as her godly bountifulness strayed further from his light, "But you're welcome to try and catch a glimpse at true paradise..."

As she left to meet up with the others she teased him one last time, "After all, my body's truly worth _dying_ for..."

Mew slowly picked himself up and rubbed the back of his head, _"Haaaaa...oh well, three out of four ain't too bad."_

He saw their small group fiddling around in place for the moment and counted them up, "Well, everyone's here! Now we can finally-"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" As Mew prepared for what was supposed to be a fun summer day, a certain egotistical fit of laughter turned his body stiff. He sucked his lips in deep and turned a hard right, praying that he was just imagining things.

"**KABOOM!" "KABOOM!" "FFFFZZZLLL..." **Went the fireworks, coating a small group a few feet away in shadows. Not...that it was a big secret who they were.

"Oh great, not her..." Mew groaned like a creaky door. All the casual-goers on the beach were staring now.

When the shadows faded the Planetary Aurians were revealed. Saturn was at the lead in her usual lab coat, but underneath she had a thin rectangular bikini strap and the equivalent of a thong as her bottom. She had a whistle dangling around her neck and a pair of big sunglasses.

Behind was her partners Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter didn't bother changing clothes besides leaving her scarf at home, while Mars was wearing red and brown swim trunks.

Shockingly behind the two of them was Gabriel, with a human skin tone and a flowery set of swim trunks...And his sheathe attached to his hip?!

But there were two others to the left that Mew didn't recognize at first. They both had a human skin tone. One had short mint-green hair and a slimming white one-piece swimsuit, complete with golden sandals and flashy silver shades. The other had striking rosy hair given a rough, short cut, and her skin was riddled with freckles. She had torn jean shorts and thin straps riding up her firm, toned calves, along with a halter top enclosing her chest. Truth be told, if it wasn't for her black fingernails, Mew wouldn't have been able to recognize the two of them as Neptune and Priscilla.

Neptune was carrying around a couple bags with umbrella and towels wedged inside, while Priscilla had a hand on her hip and eyed the sandy horizon.

"Heh, this ain't too bad," The half-dragon remarked, letting her rougher side hang loose this time around, "How long's it been since we went to a beach Belle?"

Neptune hooked her shades downward and smiled, "A hundred and twenty anniversaries ago, give or take two years."

Mew wandered up to the group and threw his arms up as a front of being welcoming, "Heeeeey! What are you guys doing here...?!"

Gabriel coughed and Mew threw him a shocked look, "I invited them."

"YOU did." Mew spat blandly.

"Of course!" Saturn proclaimed and propped her glasses upright, "And I'm glad he did! I ain't gonna let **you** drag this beach atmosphere into total dulldom!"

Mew crossed his arms and sputtered, "Oh really? You think **you** know how to have fun on the beach?!"

Saturn stood on her tip-toes to ram her face into his, "I have 110% more fun in my nose than you do in your entire ugly face!"

Mew pushed back and grit his teeth in a competitive scowl, "Bring it on stove top."

The two exchanged growls for a bit until Kairi suddenly yelled, "W-What the hell are we even supposed to DO at a beach?!"

Saturn brushed Mew aside and twirled her whistle around with a slow confident stride, "Lemme show you how its done..."

She blew the whistle hard and thrust her pointer finger out towards the sandy expanse, "Team! Divide and conquer!"

Jupiter punched into her open palm and exclaimed, "Finally! Time for some fun!"

She hurried past every other person in the area and started dragging her toes through the sand like it was a shovel, etching what appeared to be a volleyball court.

"Shall we?" Neptune eyed Priscilla.

"After you." Priscilla gently extended her hands out, and the two went off and began setting up their towels and umbrellas in the sand. Auris joined them.

"Guess I'll go see what kind of food stands they got around here," Mars took a couple steps forward and patted Mew on the shoulder, "Want to come with?"

"Eh sure why not. I could use a bite to eat." So they went off, leaving Gabriel to muse his purpose here to himself.

"And I suppose...I'll just enjoy the atmosphere for now." And to that extent, he began a brisk stroll across the beach.

Kairi slapped the side of her face and groaned, "T-That really doesn't help..."

Saturn snagged her by the hand and stared at her with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, "At the beach you let loose...!"

Then forcibly turned her dazed body around and threw her hand out towards the efforts of her friends, "AND HAVE FUN!"

The preparations were soon finished up, giving the group a sort of hub to meet up at later on. Everyone was going their separate ways, but Riku and Joe Dark were stuck together pondering what they were going to do.

"Have fun huh...?" Joe Dark murmured and stuck his hands deep in his pockets, then glanced at Riku from the corner of his eyes, "Hey you, got any ideas?"

"Hmmm, honestly I think I might just lay down on a towel for a-" Riku's gesture at the towels was intercepted by Lunis' iron grip, locking his arm between her chest.

"Riku come with me! I found something really cool near the water!" She squealed with childish enthusiasm.

"O-Ok...?" He went right along without much else to say, leaving Joe Dark feeling a little grumpy and betrayed.

"Oh fine, go with the one showing the most skin, what do I care..." He felt a tug at his boxers and, unsurprisingly, Alura was responsible.

She gazed at him with her blank stare and stated, "Joe Dark, I want ice cream."

"...Now?"

"I want ice cream now." Her eyes widened and her lips puckered.

"...Fine, lets go find some." It was better than loafing around anyways.

"Yay." She whispered as the two combed the beach in search of that cold, creamy delight.

They didn't have to go far to find it either. North of the shore was a big hut dedicated to ice creams. They claimed they hosted a hundred unique flavors. The sight of that made Alura start to drool.

"A hundred flavors...?"

"You don't even know how much that is yet." Joe Dark replied.

"Joe Dark, I'm going to try them all." She uttered with staggering unearned confidence.

"My pockets aren't lined with greens Alura!" Joe Dark proclaimed, "I can buy us one each, that's it."

Alura's lower lip curled with a "Hmph!" and he remarked, "Don't be a child."

The two of them climbed up the steps and found Mew and the brown-skinned Aurian turning away from the front counter, a green and tan looking ice cream in their respective mouths.

"Oh hey Joe. Here for some ice cream too?" Mew wagged the two-scoop cone out and Joe Dark felt a bit of revulsion.

"_What on god's Earth kind of flavor is that?" _

"You made a good choice," The brown-skinned Aurian remarked, "This is easily in the Top 5 of ice creams in the universe."

Joe Dark tilted his head and bluntly remarked, "I'm sorry who the hell are you?"

The Aurian glanced at Mew and sounded offended, "You didn't mention me?"

"We've been busy," Mew casually licked his ice cream with a shrug and then nudged his elbow at the Aurian, "This is Seth, Planetary Aurian of Mars. Calls himself the 'Desert Whirlwind'."

He hunched forth with a snickered, "Though today it'd be the 'Des**s**ert Whirlwind.'"

"Ha ha." Mars replied.

"Hmmm..." Alura was off to the side staring up at the overwhelmingly large menu. Joe Dark went from looking at her to Mew and that proved a better use of his time than their dumb jokes.

"Mew, what flavors would you suggest?"

"Uhhhh," He waved his cone out and said, "Can't go wrong with avocado."

"Cappuccino ain't bad either." Mars suggested

"Avocado?!" Joe Dark focused in on Mew's face with a white hot stare, "Is your brain a Cauliflower?!"

He felt another tug at his boxers and Alura pointed at the menu, "Joe Dark, I want to try raspberry."

"...Raspberry?" Wait, why was he angry again?

Whatever. He could see why she'd gravitate towards that flavor, _"Tsk...Now what flavor should I get? Mmrrr, I can't remember what my favorite was..." _

Alura's continued tugging wore him down and so he went "Screw it" and walked them both up to the counter, "Two raspberry ice creams."

A minute later the payment was fulfilled and they each had an ice cream in hand. As the four of them headed out Joe Dark took a lick and remarked, _"Hmph, not bad. Tastes...familiar."_

He checked up on Alura and saw her staring at her cone. The cream was already melting softly under the sun's rays. She raised it to her mouth, and then chomped down on the tip top.

"Ah...!" Her eyes squeezed shut and she grabbed the side of her head, "C-Cold...that...hurt...!"

"You goof," Joe Dark chuckled as she threatened the cone with a light squeeze, "That's not how you eat ice cream."

She stopped and watched as he gave his cone another lick. She then stared at her cone some more and mimicked what he did, but slower and more involved. When she was done her eyes lit up momentarily.

"I like ice cream." Expressed so much joy and wonder in very few words.

"Haaaaa..." Joe Dark licked his ice cream and kept walking. Meanwhile, Mew and Mars split off to continue their mission.

"So where to next partner?" Mars asked.

"I don't know, I've sort of been craving a hot dog..."

"With mustard?"

Mew snapped his fingers at him, "And onions."

"Don't forget the oodles of cheese sauce."

"A little tomato on top maybe..."

"And a pickle..."

"What no!" Mew snapped back in shock, "Don't ruin my hot dog with that wrinkly log!"

"Says Mr. Avocado Ice Cream..." Mars wagged at him in a reprimanding manner.

Mew stared at his ice cream, took another lick and muttered, "Is it really that bizarre...?"

He then glanced off to the right and saw Jupiter spiking the poles of a net into the ground and then standing triumphantly beside them.

"Come one come all! Who's brave enough to challenge the mighty Jupiter to volleyball?!"

Her roar of competition lit the fire in Mew's heart and after finishing off his ice cream he nudged Mars in the hip, "Whaddya say?"

Mars instantly shook his head and backed away, "No way man, she'll murder me..."

"Not if we work together," Mew nudged him in the elbow, "Come on. Cooooome oooooon..."

Mars sighed, a fire lit in his eyes as he raised his hand and proclaimed, "Alright...lets do it partner!"

"Yeah!" Mew pumped his fist and the two of them broke off their duty to dash to Jupiter's court. Along the way Mew accidentally brushed against Kairi's back and knocked her onto her knees.

"AAAH!" She gasped in shocked.

"S-Sorry Kairi...!" Mew turned to her for the moment and then was off quick as the wind.

"Uuuugh..." Kairi clamped her arms against her wobbling chest and tried _desperately_ to make them stop. But the added resistance just made them bounce more.

She grit her teeth and pulled herself up, then dug her feet into the sand and refused to move, _"I__f I move an inch they bounce..." _

She stared down at her chest with wobbly eyes and a vicious pout, _"D__amn you Shina...! My vengeance will be swift and agonizing!" _

"Dear." Her mother's tender voice called to her from behind and she thrust her head around. Her mom had discarded the coat and was now fully revealed in her diving suit, flippers, mask and snorkel included.

"You can't stand around all day. Go on, play with the others."

Kairi pumped her arms under her chest in a huff, "E-Easy for you to say, you have no shame!"

She then turned right around and threw her hands at her, "L-Look at you...! What...what even is that?!"

"A diving suit," Auris stated plainly, "For...diving."

She put on the mask and snorkel and her voiced muffled, "Why don't you play with Shina? Look, she's building a sandcastle."

Kairi turned around and saw her sister dutifully packing sand into a imitation stone tower, whistling while she worked.

"..." Kairi smirked and she replied in an impish tone, "Oh don't worry mom...I _will_."

Her mom's dulcet sighs were a distant memory as she wandered over to Shina's tower, firmed her arms under her chest, and began to stare.

"La la la la...Oh!" Shina perked up with a smile, "Sis, did you come to help?"

Kairi's eyes were black like the devil's, and the swift thrust of her heel toppled Shina's tower in an instant. Shina let out a long gasp of her name, as a devilish smile grew on her face.

"Sis, I think you're regressing..." She then murmured.

"I'm going to regress your face you...!" As Kairi felt inclined to conflict...

"Mama?" Maria's worried voice broke through, revealing herself just a few feet away. Staring. Frightened, but curious, "Why did you ruin Auntie Shina's castle?"

"Guh...!" Kairi clamped her mouth shut and then creaked her head towards Shina. Shina's closed-eye smile was oddly mischievous.

"That's dirty...!" She whispered before kneeling down beside her and picking up some of the sand, "I-I just...noticed a flaw that needed fixing!"

"Oh, ok!" Maria was too young to know any better, and Kairi felt at least a _little _guilt for deceiving her.

"Oh I see what you mean!" Shina played along and started scooping up some sand between her fingers, "Yeah, lets start over and do it right sis!"

"This ISN'T over." Kairi muttered from the corner of her mouth as she roughly smooshed the sand together into the base of a tower.

But what of Riku and Lunis? What have they been up to?

They were at the ocean's edge, the encroaching tide tickling Lunis' toes and fingertips as she dipped down to pluck any seashell that caught her eye.

"Look at these things! They're so many different kinds of them!" The moment she looked ready to keep one, she dropped it for another.

"This reminds me of a beast's scale back on Genestasia!" She said holding a black oval shaped one into the glistening sunlight.

"And this one's like the hoof of another creature...!" She said with a cracked white shell that would normally resemble a fan.

This energetic, exploring side of her was fun to watch and made Riku smile. But it was also curious why she was acting like this.

"Have you never been to a beach before?" He poked his head out in interest.

"No, I haven't." She replied plainly, twirling back to him on one foot.

"..." He stared at her bright expression, which gazed towards the ocean sea and took a whiff of the breeze.

"We didn't have these warm grains of sand, and the ocean was full of terrifying creatures that nobody wanted to mess with."

The water brushed up along her feet, and she squirmed. Taking a long leap back she threw her hands down and summoned her knives.

"Eeek! Like that!" Her chest heaved heavily while her eyes darted around. But, as Riku quickly discovered, all she had was a piece of algae stuck to her foot.

"This is just algae." He bent down and plucked it off. She pulled her head away as it was raised to her face, but over the next five seconds she leaned in closer and eventually let it touch her cheek.

"Hahaha!" She giggled, "This is so slimy!"

Riku flipped it over his head and remarked, "This is the worst it'll get around here. There's a lot of wonderful things under water."

Riku turned his back to the growing wave in the ocean and extended his right hand out towards her with a smile. Lunis laid her hand over her chest and mentioned, "But...I can't swim."

"We don't have to." He said certainly.

She slowly lifted her head, closed her fist, and nodded, running up and taking his hand as he faced the ocean.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Came the muffled voice of Auris, garnering a puzzled look from them both as they saw her decked out in scuba gear.

"Pffft...! What're you wearing Lady Auris?" Lunis barely squeezed her chuckle back in, "Sure, come with us!"

"..." Auris was peeking through her mask with her regular know-it-all glare when she suddenly smirked, "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"

Her eyes were locked onto the two holding hands.

Riku shook his head and told her, "Its fine. I don't mind if you come with."

While Auris strutted confidently into the water, Riku had to gently guide Lunis deeper and deeper into the cold ocean waters. Once their heads began to submerge, he surrounded them in a large air bubble and carried them around far past the shore line.

Auris swam around them for a bit, then dove straight for the bottom. Seems she noticed a few places worth checking out.

Lunis moved around the bubble and pointed at places of interest. There were a lot more shells down here, and a few of the indigenous hermit crabs crawling around.

Rocks that had survived being dragged through miles of sand and tides were given a beautiful sheen. Riku decided to pick up a couple as souvenirs.

Lunis knelt down next to a couple of crabs and poked her finger out. One grabbed on and she pulled it in and flailed it about. It was flung loose into the water, where it drifted down before their bubble, and Lunis waved out an apology at it.

A bit later, Lunis scoops up a few shells and picked out one that almost seemed shaped like a heart. That's the one she decided to keep...

Back with Kairi, she's still playing along with Shina's efforts as long as Maria's watchful gaze remained glued to her back. Kairi snuck the occasional glance back and muttered, "Come on Maria, don't you have other things you want to do?"

The sisters had constructed two towers thus far. And they looked pretty good, albeit a little tilted.

"Ah, so this is where you got off to," Approached Gabriel from their left, "This is...?!"

Shina patted the side of her tower and said, "We're building sandcastles!"

"Unacceptable," He firmed his eyes and planted a hand on his sheathe, "The craftsmanship is amateur at best."

"H-Huh?" Uttered Kairi.

"I understand the lack of experience may hold you back..." Gabriel closed his eyes and shook his head, "But...you should strive to put your best foot forward in all things art."

"Oh yeah? Lets see ya do better!" Shina proclaimed.

"Sis!" Kairi spat through gritted teeth.

"Very well. I shall." Gabriel smiled and sat right down a few feet away, kneading the sand to his will.

Shina pumped her fists and proclaimed, "You heard 'im sis! Lets show 'em our power of teamwork!"

_"What?!" _Kairi watched Shina work harder and faster in the sand, _"W__HAT?!" _

She was thrown into this sudden competition, like it or not, and scrambled to keep up with her sister's pace. All the while Maria sat down and paddled her reddened feet in the air.

A few minutes in Gabriel was crafting a giant cube of sand while the sisters had all the towers finished. Shina was working up a mean sweat and panted.

"You know what this reminds me of?"

"...What?" Kairi groaned.

"When you and I used to build LEGOs!" Shina cheerfully declared.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about...!" Kairi turned her head aside.

"Ah come on sure you do! You mistook a piece for candy and tried to eat it..."

"T-There was candy that looked like the bricks give me a break!" She sheepishly squeaked out.

"Aha!" Rang Shina triumphantly, "We should go through the old album and see what we used to make. Maybe we can share some of those pictures with Mew and the others!"

"Ugh, haven't you embarrassed me enough today..." Kairi collapsed onto her back, receiving another grim reminder of the buoyancy of her chest.

"Sis, you gotta not let yourself get so easily embarrassed," Shina giggled and began working on the foundation of the castle itself, 'It ain't a very attractive look."

"Oh excuuuuuuuse me," Kairi threw herself back up and slapped her knees, "I'm the one stuck in the stripper swimsuit that's barely containing my breasts!"

"Sis, I only chose that cause I care." Shina said with a terribly bad smile.

"Uh uh. Care. Sure." Kairi slanted her brows, huffed out a heavy sigh, and then silently continued work on the castle.

Their work produced something rather impressive by sandcastle standards. Four feet tall, with etched in windows and a raised draw bridge. And so far all Gabriel had to show was a gigantic cube of sand.

"Is that all you got Gabe?" Shina proclaimed with a huff of haughtiness unlike her norm.

Gabriel turned his back to the cube, closed his eyes, and gripped the handle of his sword.

"Cleave the passage of time, and bridge the past to the present..." The blade clicked out, a flurry of slashes occurring in the span of a second, yet undetectable to the naked eye.

"Rendering Slash: A Thousand Words!" At Gabriel's proclamation the excess sand was cut cleanly from the mold, and in its place was a perfect replica of the Ten Sages' Pyramid. No, it was beyond perfection. It breathed with an air of antiquity in its many numerous cracks and flaws. It was art given flesh, unsurpassed even by the hands of a god.

Maria's rapid claps said it all. Gabriel took his humbled bow, and accepted his victory in silence.

"Awwww man..." Shina whispered, her confidence so deflated it sunk into the sand.

Kairi looked down at the castle, then at the pyramid. It was impressive, but in her eyes the castle _looked_ better.

"...Shina?" Got her attention turned around.

"Can we...take a picture of our castle?" Kairi nudged her foot along the ground, watching as Shina pulled her head up on a wonderful smile and dashed for a bag she left on the ground nearby.

Right away she whipped out a camera, hooked her sister across the back, and pulled her in front of the castle. She raised the camera to capture them all in view and flashed a "V" over Kairi's shoulder.

"Cheese!"

Kairi smiled and this moment was captured perfectly with a flash of light.

"Gah...! Bright..." Came the grumbling groan of Joe Dark, joined by Alura.

He rubbed his eyes and then lazily looked at what was going on, "Sand castles...? What are you, children?"

"You're never too old for sand castles!" Shina pumped the camera against her chest.

"..." Joe Dark stared at the two's barely concealing swimsuits and squinted until he could see no more, "...Put some damn clothes on."

The sisters scoffed in differing tones but he didn't really care. He went back to his ice cream, which was down to the last drops.

Alura had gobbled down the rest of her cone a bit ago and rubbed her belly, "I really, really like ice cream."

She then looked his way and asked, "Can we get some more later Joe Dark?"

"You'll get a stomachache if you eat too much."

Alura gave him a long, cold stare and then tilted her head, "I don't care about aches. I need more ice cream."

"...That's a dark road to go down Alura." He advised as he licked the last of his cone dry.

"More like a **rocky** road, aaah...Aaaaah?" Shina wagged her finger and Joe Dark's icy glare was her just desserts.

"Shut up..." He lazily mustered up the effort to bark back.

"Mmmmrrr..."

Joe Dark looked down and expected Alura bugging him but instead was surprised to find Maria tugging at the bottom of his trunks.

"What?" He uttered softly.

"Uncle Joe, my feet hurt..." She raised one foot and...

_"Good god those are redder than a tomato..." _Joe Dark flung the cone over his shoulder and slowly bent down, pointing at his back.

"Come on, I'll carry you to the towels..." He whispered very, very quietly.

"Ok!" Maria hopped onto his back and all the air in his lungs was expunged from his mouth. His knees quaked as he stood and braced the girl's tiny legs under his arms.

"Awwwww..." Shina cooed.

"Look at the big softie carrying his niece..." Kairi said with a smirk.

"Get bent!" Joe Dark yelled, quickly facing Alura to tell her, "Sorry, I'll be right back..."

Alura stared up as he wandered off. Maria watched down from her high perch, and her lips slowly widened into a smirk.

Alura's heart skipped a beat, and she watched in utter silence as Maria pulled down her right eyeduct and stuck the tip of her tongue out.

The two walked a fair distance away. Alura's mouth was left agape, and a burning sensation grew in her chest. She raised her hand towards it, and suddenly felt it clutch into a bone-cracking fist...

Meanwhile, with the two goofballs...

"Hey! Jupiter!" Mew hollered out and the amazon's eyes darted their way, starting off intrigued, then dulling into disinterest.

"Oh great..." She leaned back against the pole and sighed.

"That's...not the greeting I was expecting." Mew said, slowing to a snail's pace.

"Its not you..." Mars sighed loudly.

"You needed to recruit Mew to take me on?" Jupiter remarked.

"Noel you can't use your full strength here. You'd destroy the planet." Mars fought back, but kept to a kind tone.

"So what?" Jupiter peeled off the pole and flexed her biceps proudly, "You can't beat this and you know it."

"Then put your money where your mouth is." Mars' loosened the gentleman gloves a little and stared deep into her eyes, unflinchingly.

"Hooo damn!" Jupiter perked up and cricked her neck around, "Fine then. You and me, 1v1 on the volleyball court!"

"HARK!" Suddenly hollered Saturn, "I think we should up the stakes!"

She ran up to the court wearing a pair of electrified gloves that looked similar to the material her suits were made of. She then crossed her arms, carefully avoiding skin contact.

"Jupiter AND I will face Seth..." She thrust her eyes wide-open, "And YOU!"

Mew flinched and then tightened his fists by his hips, "A battle to settle old scores eh?"

"Mmm hmm!" Saturn feverishly nodded her head and then gestured to the court, "Our field of battle awaits!"

The four took their sides and Jupiter kicked the ball up into her hand, "You're going to regret this. Cat and I are the best power combo this side of the universe!"

"Brains...!"

"And BRAWN!" Jupiter clapped the ball between her hands like thunder.

Mars twitched and Mew gazed right at him, "Don't be intimidated, we can take them."

"Hehehe!" Saturn nudged her glasses down, "Nah, you're going to lose hard you big delinquent!"

"Yeah yeah keep yapping stove top," Mew curled his fingertips into the palm and faced forward, hunched down and ready for battle, "Hope you're prepared to mark a second loss in your record book!"

_Next Time: What About Solaris? (What ABOUT Him?)_


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39: Heated Beach Brawls**

"Alright!" Jupiter threw the ball onto her pointer finger and spun it around, "Here's how it'll go. The losers have to give a back massage to the winners!"

"Don't get too excited about rubbing my back though!" Saturn taunted straight to Mew.

"Puh-leeeeease," Mew laughed, "Baby _don't _got back."

"Hold up Cat, I want him to rub my back! I bet he can do some crazy stuff with his elements..."

"I called dibs!" Saturn bluntly retorted.

"Nah, you can have desert boy there." Jupiter hardly gave Mars a glance though.

Mars slumped over and Mew scoffed, _"Oof, poor Seth." _

Mars looked back at him and Mew gave a wide-eyed shrug. The two then focused on their opponents, "Alright ladies there's plenty of me to go around."

Mew smirked and wagged at himself, "And you'll be rubbing every square inch of it when we win."

Saturn shivered and slanted her brows hard, "In your dreams! C'mon Jupes, spike that ball in his face!"

"You got it!" Jupiter threw the ball ten feet into the air and leaped right for it, "Here we...!"

She spiked it clean against her palm and shouted "GO!" after it had already dove straight at Mew's chest. Mew dug his heels into the sand and was forced back to the line with the ball glued to his cupped fists.

"Hrrrghh!" He broke off its powerful momentum and scooped the ball over to Mars, who shifted to the left and then spiked the ball back to the opposition.

Jupiter nonchalantly nicked the ball over to Saturn and she hopped towards it. Mew couldn't keep his guard down against her and her crazy tech.

A burst of electricity fired from her gloves as she spiked the ball, managing just about the same degree of force as her partner.

"Seth, heads up!" Mew prematurely declared.

Mars stood his ground and cupped his fists at the waist, where the ball smashed into him like a sledgehammer. His eyes burst out of their sockets and he grunted in agony. He made it to the edge of the court, then roared as the lion's do while shifting the ball's course in Mew's direction.

"HERE!"

Mew grinned and backflipped towards the ball, spiking it upon the top of his foot. The ball zoomed right past their opponents, guaranteeing their first point.

"_Gotcha!" _

Suddenly the ball stopped over the line, caught on the grip of a glove made of aura. Saturn smirked and nudged her glasses up.

"What!" This shock made Mew fall on his face and eat a pint of sand.

Saturn flung the ball over to Jupiter and she delivered the perfect spike past Mew. However, it was suddenly caught on a pillow of wind and Mew planted his hands hard upon the ground.

"So powers are fair game eh?" He pushed up and the fired up look in his eye could've scared a swarm of sharks, "Bring. It. On!"

He stood up and flung the ball over to him, then bopped it over to Mars, using the wind to increase its rotation. Mars leaped and smashed the ball down upon his fist.

The ball's path curved past Jupiter, grazing her fingertips as she extend her reach. In desperation she doubled the size of that arm's muscles and grabbed the ball. Then, digging her feet into the sand, she spun around and flicked the ball her partner's way.

"CAT!"

"Got you covered!" Saturn leaped towards the ball and pounded it with both palms, the resulting burst throwing her entire coat back.

"Mew!" Mars trembled as he knocked the ball towards Mew, who braced his palms in vibranium and smacked the ball down.

Saturn smirked and put a curved layer of aura at her palms, giving it a few smacks with the gloves. Then she caught the ball in a sphere and popped it into the air.

"This'll be our finishing blow! Take 'em down Jupes!"

"ONE TON...!" Jupiter reeled her double-sized arm back and leaped straight for the ball, "SPIKE!"

Her punch knocked the sand on Mew's side of the court back up like a wave, which the ball then proceeded to blow a hole straight through.

"Holy...!" Mew turned around and panicked, "The ball's going to hit...!"

The ball hurtled hundreds of miles per hour at their group's resting place. Suddenly, it was snagged out of the air between a set of steel black nails.

Resting on her laurels, Priscilla calmly faced her wife as she sipped on a margarita and said, "Excuse me for a moment."

Neptune nudged her glasses down and smiled, "Give them hell dear."

Priscilla gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then rose off her towel. She tilted her head left to right, the bones cracking like thunder. She dragged the ball by her hip and made her way to the court.

Mew had put the sand back in place before anyone could get suspicious when suddenly...

"You. Get lost." Priscilla made her demands, never stopping a second.

Mew pointed at himself and Priscilla's eyes narrowed, revealing the dragon's pupils. Mew then shrugged and walked past her, exchanging a quick and firm clap.

"So, you think _this_ is a game of volleyball?" Priscilla tossed the ball aside into Mars' gut and then cracked her knuckles, each bone a piano key of impending doom.

Saturn remained stalwart and crossed her arms, "You sure it was wise to keep Seth on your side, Scourge Draconis?"

"He's the perfect partner..." Priscilla hunched down, abiding to a stance that showed no weakness, "As long as he keeps his aura on..."

Her eyes flared furiously and the heat of a hellborn radiated around her body, "I CAN FIGHT WITH NO RESTRAINT AT ALL!"

Jupiter, Saturn, AND Mars trembled.

Mew glanced back with a taste of regret in his mouth, "Aw man, I don't get to fight her now? Damn..."

He hung his head all the way over to the towels, where he snagged up a bottle water and took a seat in the shade.

He couldn't even get a sip in before he heard Joe Dark calling his name, "There you are Mew!"

The usual gruffness aside there was a sense of urgency in his tone worth checking out. He was knelt at the towel left of him and had just finish setting Maria down.

"How the hell am I supposed to fix her feet?" He threw his hands down to her tiny reddened feet.

"Ok first of all, language..." Mew leaned out and got a closer look at his daughter's feet, "Second of all, ooof...That's really bad."

He looked her in the eye and asked, "How's it feeling?"

"Sore." She gave the only answer necessary.

"Gotcha!" Mew stood right up and looked around, "Ah, there it is!"

He went over to Auris' bag and dug through it for a lotion bottle, then pulled out a sunscreen one too. He then walked over and applied the lotion to his hands, then onto Maria's feet.

"Your skin's not used to hot sand," Mew hung his shoulders in a sigh, "I knew I should've bought you some sandals..."

He mixed in a bit of aloe vera to help the skin heal faster. Maria leaned back and relaxed, shivering maybe once or twice.

"Its that easy...?" Joe Dark groaned.

"Yep!" Mew cheerfully replied, "Thanks for looking out for her though Joe."

"Hmph, think nothing of it..." Joe Dark pulled away onto his own towel and decided to lay down.

Meanwhile Mew moved on to the sunscreen and rubbed it down her arms, legs, and back of the neck, "We'll have to get you out more so you can get used to the sun."

"Can we come to the beach again?" Maria turned her head back and gave him a flutter of the eyelashes.

"Yeah we could," Mew gently leaned forward as he put the sunscreen onto her neck, "Glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Well well..." Said Neptune, sitting a couple towels aside with a folding mirror in her hands. She hooked her sunglasses down and smiled, "So you're the one who adopted Venus."

Mew couldn't help but stare at her body until she coughed, and smiled wider, "I know you're looking."

"...Well you do look good in that." Mew quietly admitted.

"Thank you." Neptune bowed her head and her eyes shifted towards Maria. Her smile began to fade.

"A little envious?" Mew teased.

"Hmmm, maybe..." Neptune retracted back into her initial posture, "I've considered having a child before. But it'd be..._complicated_."

"Oh yeah cause you and Priscilla-"

"Oh no we could work around that with magic," Neptune stated proudly, leaving plenty of questions to remain unanswered, "But that in itself has been...a _complicated _matter of debate between Priscilla and I."

"Huh..." Mew slowly focused back on Maria and wrapped up applying sunscreen.

"I'm glad its you though," Neptune whispered out of nowhere, "Venus needs that kind of positive influence in her life right now."

She leaned the mirror closer to her body while Mew slowly pulled his hands away and, after a light pause, patted Maria on the back.

"You're all set now!"

"Thanks papa!" And right after that, they both heard a loud gurgle coming from her.

"...Ummm." She blushed all on her own.

"Heh, guess its lunchtime," Mew chuckled and the two of them stood up, "What're you craving?"

"A hot dog!" She exclaimed full of vigor.

"Haha! That's my girl!" Mew turned towards the food stands and muttered, "Mars and I never did find one..."

"Uuuuuugh...!" And a _certain_ hot-head groaning was TOTALLY not helping his concentration.

He turned behind him and planted a hand on his hip. Solaris crossed his arms and wandered up to them with his mouth frozen in a constantly grumbling mess.

"Whaddya want?" Mew hastened the conversation.

"There's nothing to do on this crappy beach!" As he threw his hands up Mew threw his down, right over Maria's ears.

"Have you tried looking around?" Mew suggested.

"Pffft, yeah right! All I've found is all this sand...! Its coarse, rough and its getting on my nerves!"

Mew _totally_ sympathized, he _really _did, "Haaaaa...Look Solaris, you just got to keep searching. There's gotta be **something** that'll interest you."

"Grrrr..." Solaris was not buying it, and was clearly getting fed up with him, "Fine if you won't help, I'll do it myself!"

"Please, be my guest," Mew waved his hand out and Solaris stormed off, "But for the love of pete, if you get into a competition try and hold back."

"Pffft, there ain't a human on this whole planet that can handle me at my weakest!"

Once the sun god was far enough away Mew pulled his hands off Maria and said, "Sorry about that."

"He's not very nice is he papa?" She giggled.

"Understatement of the century." Mew crossed his arms and the two of them headed to eat.

Meanwhile, Joe Dark was caught off-guard by Alura's shadow cast overhead. He sat right up and noticed that she was pouting...Possibly?

"What?" He dryly remarked.

She closed her eyes and pulled her lower lip out somewhat, "Joe Dark I want you to carry me."

"...What?" He sputtered, "Are your feet sore too?"

She opened her eyes and stated, "Y-Yes..."

Joe Dark sighed and pointed down, "Take a seat Alura."

She slowly sat down and stretched her legs out, staring blankly at Joe Dark grabbing a bottle and applying some of kind of goop onto his hands.

"Lets see here, this is how he did it..." He muttered as the goop went onto Alura's feet.

"Oooooooh...!" A strange sound exited her mouth as her body pulled back on its own, and she wrinkled the towel in her grip.

Joe Dark's fingertips were pressing into her skin and were cold, in a good way. A smile spread to Alura's rosy cheeks and she mumbled, "T-This is fine too..."

A few minutes later Auris, Lunis and Riku exited the ocean and wandered back onto the shore. Lunis caressed dozens of shells under her chest, each sparkling under the sun.

"That was a lot of fun! We'll have to do this again some time!" She raised her head high with a victorious smile and the droplets of water on her hair swung off into a glistening curtain.

Auris took off her snorkel and brushed some algae off her forehead, "I agree. We'll have to go explore a reef next. I heard the one off of Australia is doing pretty well nowadays."

"Ok!" Lunis then faced Riku and raised her hand to a snicker, "R-Riku you..."

She pointed atop his head and he looked up, plucking a wandering piece of algae right off. He stared blankly at it for a while then flicked it back into the sea. Then a round shell fell out of Lunis' pile, but he snagged it right up.

"Careful there."

As he began to hand it back Auris got between them and remarked, "Actually...can I see that for a moment?"

He hand it off with a shrug and she gazed over it, "Hmm, a sand dollar..."

"A sand...dollar?" Lunis tilted her head, "So its some kind of underwater currency?"

"No dear," Auris pleasantly shook her head, "But...Hmmm, I think I have a fun idea. Come with me."

While the three of them made their way for the towels, the volleyball match seemed to have reached its sudden and impactful conclusion. Priscilla rested her hands in her pockets and huffed out a small breath, while everyone else lied collapsed on the ground full of sweat. Her opponent's side of the court was littered in craters.

"Aww man, lost to you again..." Jupiter groaned.

Priscilla turned her ridged back to her victims and spat a puff of smoke, "I'll be looking forward to that back massage later, Noel."

She then leaned in to hoist Mars up and clamped his hand in her grip, "You did good Desert Whirlwind. Enjoy the free massage."

"D-Did I actually do anything..." Mars' head swirled in a daze, "Where did the last few minutes of my life go...?"

A shrill whistle came from the resting space and the small group began wandering over there. Soon everyone sans Mew, Maria and Solaris were gathered around the area, with Auris manning all the attention at the center.

"What's this about mom?" Shina inquired.

"I think its time we all played a fun little game together," Auris held up the sand dollar between her fingers and twirled it around, a large black "X" was inked onto the back, "Here in my hand is a sand dollar. I'm going to hide it somewhere on this beach for you to find."

"A sand dollar? Really?" Joe Dark muttered, "And what's in it for us if we find it?"

"Not everything has to give you a reward Joe." Kairi bluntly remarked.

"Well in this case my dear there **is**, indeed, a prize to be won..." Auris bent at the knee and plucked a small cube shaped cooler, dangling it before her captive audience, "Win and you'll get to eat a special dinner cooked by yours truly."

"Hmmmm?" It was not the allure of a prize that got their interest, but the manner of Gabriel's reaction to it. With a coy smirk he gently lowered his hand to his sheath and remarked, "I will participate."

And immediately Joe Dark's attitude turned a 180, "Hmph, if he's interested it must be worth my time."

And in turn ensnared the little mannequin, "Then...I will too!"

And from there the rest fell like dominoes. Lunis joined, then Riku, then a somewhat reluctant Kairi, followed by Mars. But from there the remainder had their disputes on who was going to participate.

"I'm out," Priscilla said, stretching her creaky bones to the sky as she wandered over by her wife's side, "I need to get back to my tan."

But not without nudging her head back to the others, "One of you still needs to rub my back though."

Jupiter and Saturn turned to each other and immediately started bouncing their fists off their palms, "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!"

Jupiter threw out a paper to her rock and then pumped her fist back, "YES!"

"Bah!" Saturn threw her hands up and waltzed over to Priscilla licking her lips, "Oh well, this'll be fun..."

And that just left Shina, who tucked her hands back and promptly remarked, "I think I'll sit this one out. Wouldn't wanna make the numbers uneven."

"Uneven? Why would you worry about that sis?" Kairi pondered.

"Because, as a matter of fact..." Auris directed everyone's attention to her two raised fingers, "We will be dividing everyone up into pairs."

"With my help," Neptune stood up and whipped out a magic hat and wand, giving it a few twirls and adding a dash of magic into the hat, "So...eight people. Lets see what lady luck has in store for you..."

She drew four papers out sprinkled with magic glitter and levitated them out for all to see. The pairs are as follows: Lunis/Joe Dark, Mars/Jupiter, Kairi/Alura, Gabriel/Riku.

"Oh." Lunis and Alura murmured together.

"Redo! Redo!" Joe Dark and Jupiter proclaimed.

"Belle come oooooon." Jupiter laid her arms down with a loud groan, then hung her head.

"Sorry, the magic's spoken." Neptune popped the hat on her head then made it vanish with the wand, returning to the towel of which she enjoyed her relaxation in peace.

Lunis shuffled on up to Joe Dark and smiled, "Well, we'll do our best together Joe!"

Joe Dark pulled away looking like a cat after smelling something bad.

"Alright," Auris wandered past the crowd and waved the shell at her face, "You all wait here, I'll go and hide the shell."

Meanwhile, Solaris was slouching around through the beach, ignoring all the baffling cheeriness surrounding him.

"What is WITH all this happiness? There's nothing to do here!" Children ran around him trying to squirt water at each other, then ran off laughing like crazy.

"Find something to do...What does he know? Its not like..."

"Yo! Yo! YO!" Hollered someone close by.

"What in the...?" He lurched towards the left and saw a lone table set up near the stone walkway between here and the buildings in the city.

Manning the table was a woman with short messy orange hair shaved off only above her ears. She wore a firm kind of bra and had some big pants on with green, brown and olive colored patched on it. Curiously, for a woman, she had six-pack abs and this odd, grizzly look on her face.

She stood half a foot shorter than him and threw her hand around in the air, yelling to her passerby's, "Come on, is anyone brave enough to go toe-to-toe with these guns?!"

Three people eyed her and then slowly moved on. She slapped her hands on the table and spat at the ground, "Bah! Pussies!"

There was a sudden twitching in his trunks that made him gravitate right over to the table. She looked his way and then settled back into place with her arms crossed.

"Well well, what do we have here?"

"What's your deal?" Solaris demanded to know.

The women shrugged and said, "What's it to ya?"

"Excuse me?" Solaris growled, enticing the woman to bend down and slam her right elbow atop the table.

"You're here to arm wrestle ain't cha? With all those roids you've shoved down your throat I bet you think I'm an easy win!"

"Are you seriously challenging ME?" Solaris was starting to laugh.

"There ain't no other tomato-haired muscle brains in my sight," She clenched her fingers together and grit her teeth, "So what are you waiting for? Scared I'm gonna break your jerkin' off arm, little boy?"

"..." Solaris narrowed his eyes and bent down, slapping his elbow down and grasping her hand in his, "Bring it on!"

"Heh! 3, 2..."

"_This'll be easy. I won't even need to break a-"_

"1!" The woman gripped tightly and pulled Solaris' arm straight down against the table. She then threw herself up and pumped a fist into the air, "YEAH! Slam dunk!"

Solaris stared at his arm limp on the table with an agape mouth. He then squeezed his fist and stood up declaring, "I want a rematch!"

The women looked over her shoulder and turned around with both hands raised and her aura radiating smugness, "Lookie here, found a real whore for humiliation..."

"Bah! You just caught me off-guard..." Solaris knelt down and put his arm back into position, "This time I'm going to-"

_Three attempts later..._

"And that makes four!" The woman and stamped her right foot down on the table before Solaris' limping arm, then leaned her grinning face in for good measure, "Want a break?"

She puckered her lips and began talking like a baby would, "Poor baby need to check his ego...?"

"Grrr...!" Solaris stood up and pounded the table right before her foot. She hopped back and started laughing like a mad dog.

"Hahaha...!" And she wasn't the only one laughing. Behind him was Mew giving off an eat-grating chuckle as he consumed a hot dog.

Solaris narrowed his eyes and backed away, the woman's taunts grinding on his back, "Awww don't run away! I'm sorry I hurt your feelings...! Hahahah!"

"Ghhh...!" Solaris shoved Mew to get him further away from the little hyena, but he was merely replacing one taunter with another.

"I told you to go easy, I didn't say to throw competitions."

"Peh...! There's something odd about that woman." Solaris crossed his arms tightly and glanced back at her.

"Maybe you underestimated humans," Mew chomped down on his hot dog, "Again."

"No that's not it..." Solaris narrowed his gaze, "I raised my power just a little bit a few times and she still beat me."

"Hmmm..." Mew was thinking about it when Maria tapped him on the hip with her mustard stained tray.

"Can I have another?" She smiled with her mustard-y lips.

"Yeah, sure thing," Mew turned away and the two of them walked off, "Just don't go crazy on her ok?"

"Oh don't worry..." Solaris' eyes slanted with a menacing aura, "I'm not going to break her..._much_."

He wandered over to the table and she rolled her tongue as she laughed, "Oh ho ho! Back for more?"

He almost broke the table with his elbow and looked her in the eyes, "Shut up and step up."

"Eh?" She grinned.

"All I got to do is beat you once to prove I'm stronger," Solaris grit his teeth and flared his eyes open, "So come on you shrub head, put your money where your mouth is, I got all day!"

"Heeeeh heh heh heh!" She dropped down and put his hand against his, "I'm gonna bust your arm like you'll bust your balls tonight in frustration when you lose!"

Meanwhile, as Mew and Maria got a second hot dog each, Auris tip-toed over to them with a restrained giggle and slipped the sand dollar into his trunks pocket. She then silently slipped away, like a fox.

"Alright," When she returned to the group she clapped her hands a couple times up by her face and smiled, "Let the hunt begin!"

Riku and Gabriel stayed behind while the others dashed over the beach. Riku looked to his wiser compatriot and asked him, "Got a plan?"

The samurai took a seat and crossed his legs, "Ever read about the tortoise and the hare?"

"No?" Riku slowly sat down, "But I might've heard of it."

"We wait," Gabriel stated plainly and closed his eyes, "And our opportunity to strike will show itself."

"...Alright." Riku closed his eyes and took a deep breath, going into a meditative state.

Gabriel smiled and patted him on the back, "A wise move Riku."

Riku poked one eye open and inquired, "So, you know what the prize is?"

"Yes. Its something I'd put my life on the line to eat..." There was determination with a slight competitive edge in his tone.

_Mars/Jupiter:_

Jupiter was hunched over and examining all the footprints in the sand, "This isn't good, there's too many of them, I can't identify Auris'."

She slapped her knees and stood up, keeping a ten foot gap between her and Mars. He looked around and gestured to the left, "I saw her coming back from this way, we should keep looking."

"Yeah yeah..." Jupiter wagged her hand aside and kept walking.

Mars kept following her pace and looked around. And then he looked at her and said, "Noel, can we talk for a bit...?"

"What's there to talk about?" She remarked, "Focus on finding the shell."

"Noel," Mars firmed his tone of voice, "This is ridiculous, you can't keep avoiding talking about what happened."

"Maybe...I don't want to hear it?" Jupiter shrugged her shoulders.

"Not even a sorry?" Mars was exasperated.

"You can say it as much as you want, it won't change a daaaaamn thing..." Jupiter said all lacks-daisically.

"It WASN'T my fault!" Mars shouted, freezing her on the spot, "That's what I've been trying to tell you! Catherine was the one who tried to force herself onto ME!"

Jupiter put her hands by her sides and remained motionless as Mars laid into her, "I don't...blame Catherine. You know how my Drive works, and with her especially..."

Jupiter's fists began to crunch.

"I should've done more to hold her off but you act like I was going behind your back!"

She spun around and proclaimed, "You just don't get it!"

He looked her in the eyes and muttered, "Then why don't you tell me...?"

Jupiter rolled her body around and planted her hands on her hips, letting out a heavy sigh. She waved her hand around and muttered, "Can we just...focus on the game?"

"...Fine." Mars grumpily lagged behind her through the hot sand...

_Lunis/Joe Dark:_

"Hmmm, if I was Lady Auris, where would I hide something...?" Lunis leaned out with her hand over her forehead. Joe Dark hung back, her butt pronouncing itself towards his face.

"Nnnnn...!" He grit his teeth and turned his head away.

Lunis turned around and tucked her hands behind her hair, "Do you have any idea?"

"N-No!" He thrust his head away.

"...Joe, you always seem to be uncomfortable around me. Did...I do something wrong?" She frowned and wiggled her body around, giving Joe Dark a full view of her breasts and butt jiggling around in that barely constrained bikini.

"_Goddamn all these women and their bodies...!" _He grit his teeth and forced his eyes not to gaze, _"Every time I look at them my body gets hot for some reason...!"_

She turned her head and then stood up with a clap of the hands, "Maybe it'll help if we find a common interest...?"

"Or maybe put some damn clothes on!" Joe Dark immediately regretted that call, _"Tsk...! That won't help, that skin-tight thing will...!"_

"Mmm..." Lunis tugged at her bikini strap and murmured, "I've been getting...mixed opinions on this. Maybe Mew wasn't right..."

"Well that was your first mistake," Joe Dark scoffed, "Try thinking with your head out of the clouds next time."

Lunis dropped her arms and head and gave a soft, embarrassed grin, "S-Sorry, I'm not used to Earth's customs."

She twisted around and gazed at her behind, "But its not like I...hate this. My body feels so free..."

"Mmmmrr..." Joe Dark squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his nose, "If you need help adjusting, read some books..."

"I would but...I don't know where to get some," Lunis sighed, "Mew barely had any in his house."

He chuckled, "He's so allergic to them that he'd pop like a balloon if he touched one."

"Hehehe, yeah."

"Whatever, the best place to go is the library," When she gave him a doe-eyed look he said, "I'll...probably be going there with Alura soon. If you want to come with..."

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Lunis lit with a smile, "See, we found a common interest! I bet that helps a lot!"

"...No," Joe Dark waved backwards, "Go get a damn towel on or...something."

_Kairi/Alura:_

Alura was glaring at Joe Dark off in the distance. He seemed to be enjoying himself with Lunis and her big, bouncing _chest spheres_.

Alura patted her chest with her fingertips and sighed. Kairi groaned beside her, and tugged at the string of her own chest sphere support.

Her face looked distorted and she had a glare like Joe Dark's aimed at a group of men hanging around and whistling her way.

"Damn pigs...!" She growled, then jerked back towards her, "Hey you...Alura right?"

She poked over her shoulder, "Can't you use your illusions to like...scare them or something?"

"...Ok." Alura's eyes began to glow and a lance started forming by her head.

Kairi planting her hands on her shoulders stopped her immediately, "No not like that!"

She looked over her shoulder again and now the guys were looking down and whistling. Kairi grit her teeth and grumbled, "Actually on second thought, maybe being skewered in the dick will shut 'em up...!"

Alura's eyes were hypnotized by the sway of Kairi's chest spheres.

"...Bah, forget it, screw them." Kairi stood up and Alura's head followed those luscious melons.

"...Hello?" Kairi tapped Alura twice on the head and she blinked.

"Ummmm..."

After a long hum from her Kairi remarked, "We've barely gotten anywhere...Why couldn't I have been partnered with Jupiter..."

"Kairi?"

"What?" She looked down at her.

"How do I...become like you?" Alura didn't think Kairi's eyes would widen so much.

"Like...me?" Kairi's cheeks turned red and her head spun around, "O-Oh wow ummm..."

She turned all the way around and started mumbling, "D-Did Mew say good things about me...?"

Alura laid her hands on the center of her chest and sighed, "It just feels like there's something...missing with me."

Kairi turned back around and uttered "Oh". Then she got a contemplative look and tapped the side of her face, "Mew...told me about you. You're having trouble adjusting to life on Earth, right?"

"Ummm..." Alura's head nodded on its own.

"..." Kairi rubbed the back of her head slowly, "Sorry, I'm...I'm not fit for being a role model, or...giving you advice."

She let out a long sigh and then placed her shaking arms under her chest, "But...if there's one thing I CAN say..."

Alura patiently gazed into Kairi's eyes as she spoke in a different sort of voice, "Don't be afraid to ask people for help. You'll see that there's a lot more kindness in people's hearts than what you see on the surface."

"...I see." Alura nodded again.

Kairi glared aside and grumbled aloud, "Can't believe that came from the same idiot who totally plotted this whole swimsuit sham...!"

"Huh?" Alura murmured.

"Forget it...!" Kairi squeezed her eyes shut and gestured a thumb over her shoulder, "Come on lets go hunt for that sand dollar."

As Kairi walked off Alura continued rubbing her chest, feeling a tiny, sliver of warmth inside it, "Kindness...isn't just something you see..."

"Hmmm..." She closed her eyes and wandered after Kairi.

_Mew/Maria:_

"Om nmmm nmmm..." Maria nibbled away at her **fourth** hot dog, topped with cheese, mustard, onion, tomatoes you name it, she's put it on there. Her gopher-like stuffed cheeks held a wonderful smile as she pulled her head back and finished the rest of it off.

Mew stood by at the end of his second hot dog frozen with abject awe, and horror, _"She's got a bigger stomach than me...!" _

With one fine belch she patted her bulging stomach and turned her dreaded, innocent eyes upon him, "Papa can I have another...?"

He could sense a shiver in his wallet.

"S-Save space for dinner dear. Wouldn't want you puffing up like a balloon..."

She giggled and wiped all the sauce off onto her arm, "Ooookay..."

After tossing the two trays into the trash Mew clapped his hands and thought, _"Alright, lets go see what everyone else's up to..." _

"Papa?" Said Maria.

"What's the matter?" He replied as he turned around.

She pointed straight out, "You got something sticking out of your trunks."

Mew grimaced and pulled his hands back, "M-Maria I SWEAR its not supposed to be doing that aro-"

She reached towards his trunks and pulled out a sand dollar from his pocket. She looked it over and then raised it up.

Once Mew's heartbeat was normal he breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed it. He turned it around and muttered, "Now how'd this get there...?"

Once he saw the "X" on the back he pulled it in closer and squinted, "An...X?"

And there was something written underneath in a much smaller font.

"_Run bitch...run?" _Mew pulled back with an utterly baffled look in his eyes, _"The FUCK?"_

"THERE IT IS!" Came the frantic exclamation of one Aurian Jupiter. In a panic Mew turned a hard right and found her, Mars, Lunis, Joe Dark, Kairi and Alura encroaching upon his location with mean glares in their eyes.

"_Ah crap...! What'd I get dragged into this time?!" _

_Next Time: Ultimate Battle_


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Battle for the Sand Dollar**

The group of six was on the prowl, getting closer to Mew and Maria with each passing second. As easy as it was to suspect, and worry, that the six of them had somehow figured out Mew's plot...Mew's eyes instead went towards the sand dollar in his hand.

"_I don't know what's going on with this thing, but I get the feeling I know who put it here..." _Thoughts of Auris' laughter went in his head as he groaned.

"Papa, what's going on?" Maria said with a curious eye towards him.

Mew tucked the sand dollar back in his pocket and shrugged, "Whatever it is I ain't sticking around to find out..."

He bent down and pointed to his back, "Hop on and hold on Maria, I'm taking you for a ride!"

She popped out a big smile and proudly nodded her head, "Ok! I'm ready!"

Mew felt a jolt up his spine as she leaped right on and wrapped her delicate arms around his neck, and braced her legs under his arms. As he stood up Jupiter was twenty feet away from approaching him.

"Alright Mew," She roughly waved her fingers towards herself, "Hand over the sand dollar. Make it easy on yourself."

Mew grinned and matched her gesture towards himself, fired up from the inside, "If you want it, come and get it."

"Heh...! I'm glad you said that!" Jupiter's eyes were locked to his trunks like the gaze of wolves and she squeezed her knuckles 'til the bones popped.

She dashed forth and dove her hand towards his pocket while he leaped back, Maria clutching on tight and giggling with joy.

"Hold still...!" Jupiter immediately leaped ten feet into the air and reeled her fist back.

Mew began to duck and put Maria in the line of fire. Jupiter widened her eyes and exclaimed, "Y-You don't want to take this one Venus!"

"Ok!" She closed her eyes with a smile and then whipped her hand out, "POCKET DUST!"

And threw a bunch of grainy gas into Jupiter's eyes, "GAH...! AH!"

She wound up swerving to the left, crashing and tumbling through the sand as Mew jetted out of there full of pride, "Ha ha! That's my girl!"

He gave Maria a brief hi-five and looked right on ahead to see Mars zooming straight for him. He swerved his hip to the right and he passed him by, but immediately dug in for a U-Turn and returned to match his pace.

"You'll have to do better than that to outmaneuver me Mew!" He proclaimed with determination.

He began to reach for the sand dollar when a dark portal opened up and a hand grabbed and pulled him down by the leg.

"OOOF!" He went. Mew couldn't help but chuckle.

"He's open, get him!" Proclaimed Joe Dark from the side.

Mew turned left, and found himself exchanging one speed demon for another as Lunis darted straight for him.

"Thanks Joe!" She would reach the sand dollar with perfect accuracy unless Mew countered with a perfect defense.

He looked over his shoulder with a exaggerated gasp of shock, "Oh NOW what is Solaris doing?!"

Lunis froze up a foot from him and looked to the right, "Where? What?"

Mew straightened his head out and shook it, _"This is too easy..." _

"I'm having a lot of fun right now papa!" Maria proclaimed energetically.

"Yeah I wish we had been doing this sooner!" Mew decided to U-Turn past Lunis just to extend the game a little while longer.

Jupiter was ripping up the beach towards them, her eyes now dry and red, "Nice trick...! It won't save you AGAIN!"

She went for the lunging tackle towards his gut. Mew bent at the knees, drifting through the sand as he hollered, "Hold on tight Maria!"

She clung to his neck with an iron grip and he leaped into the air, using Jupiter's sculpted back as a platform to launch off of with a flip. The amazon once again ate gallons of sand while he continued on in style.

Joe Dark suddenly flew at him from out of a dark portal only to miss entirely and fall flat on the ground. Mew paused to turn around and raised a brow, "Why're you all being so liberal with your powers? Is Auris offering you something THAT great?"

"RAAAAH!"

Kairi couldn't have telegraphed her staff swing any harder if she tried. Right after ducking it Mew smirked over his shoulder and taunted her, "At LEAST try some subtlety here!"

He then sprinted off, and she dispelled her staff and growled, "Mew...! Get back here!"

She ran after him and he allowed her to catch up to his side. Her breasts were bouncing obscenely so he might as well look while he can.

"Can't believe you're running in that thing!" Mew joked.

"I'm not going to let this skimpy thing Shina forced me into hold me back!" She took a swipe for the sand dollar and Mew hopped out of the way without losing his speed.

"Shina forced you into that?" Mew hardly sounded surprised.

"Oh don't play innocent! You're the mastermind behind all this, I know it!" She aggressively swiped again to no avail.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Mew proclaimed, laughing on the inside, "So what kind of bet did you lose that allowed Shina to do that anyways?"

Kairi grunted and scowled, "T-There was no bet...I didn't want her treating me like a child anymore so we made a deal to pick out each other's swimsuits."

"And you had to wear it?"

"Yes..." She groaned.

"...But she didn't say it was the **only** thing you had to wear? You couldn't have like...covered yourself up like your mom has?"

Kairi's eyes widened like she was caught in headlights and she reeled her head back, slapping her forehead so hard it'd leave a bruise, "FUCK!"

Mew gasped in exasperation, "Kairi...! In front of our kid?!"

Maria's eyes fluttered and she gasped with glee, "FUCK!"

She then started giggling aloud as Mew listened on in horror, "That's a funny sounding word mama...! Fuck! Fuck!"

Kairi's head began to hang and Mew shook his head at her, exaggerating just how ANGRY he was, "I can't believe you...And I'M the bad influence?"

She quickly grit her teeth and took a swing at the prize, "S-Shut up...! This is still your fault!"

Mew dodged again but this time felt something gurgling on the back of his skull. And Maria began to groan in discomfort.

"_Uh oh..." _Mew slowed to a glacial pace and bent down, helping Maria off. Her face was discolored and she was holding onto her stomach.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." Mew reached down to her stomach and felt a miniature earthquake going on in there, "Yep. Major indigestion..."

He snuck his hand down to create a glass full of water and then used a clever combination of Earth and Wind to mimic an Alka-Seltzer. With the water fizzing white he handed the glass to her and said, "Drink up Maria, it'll help your stomach."

She hesitated to take the glass until it was nudged at her a couple of times. But while he was busy with her...

"YOINK!" Kairi had snuck around and plucked the sand dollar from his pocket. Mew leaned over his shoulder with a more genuine gasp of shock.

"Really?" He said as she fanned the shell before her smug face.

"Sorry not sorry Mew, looks like you got this handled anyways!" She looked down at Maria and said, "I promise I'll share the meal with you Maria, bye!"

She then turned around and sprinted for the towels, leaving Mew and Maria to shake their heads.

"Mama's very tense..."

"Yeah but you get used to it..." Mew sighed and resumed focusing on her.

Kairi made a mad dash for her destination, sand dollar in tow. Finally she was feeling happy today, "Hehehe! That meal's mine suckers!"

"Not if I can help it!" Yelled Mars, "Sand Tornado!"

Kairi was suddenly swept up in a small sandy tornado and forced to close her eyes, "Gah! Ppphhttt...!"

"Gotcha!" Yelled Jupiter, as a second later Kairi felt a pound lighter.

"Hey...HEY!" By the time she opened her eyes Jupiter was on the way to the towels with the prize.

"Took some scrapes but this'll totally be worth it!" Jupiter was about to tuck the shell into her pocket when a massive shadow was cast over her body. A towering effigy of sand rose to greet her, with a void mouth and hollow eyes.

"Heh...! Trying to slow me down eh?" Jupiter threw a punch at the beast but it had no effect, "What?"

She tried again, and again, and again. Suddenly though, the sand effigy disappeared like wavy mist, and she plopped her fists on her hips, "Huh...? What was that..."

She realized quickly that she shouldn't have been able to do that with the shell in her hand. It had been snagged from her, and now lied in Alura's grip.

Alura stared at the shell in both hands and turned to look at Kairi, who was frantically waving her arms in the air and yelling, "HURRY! TAKE IT TO MOM!"

"...Who?" Alura tilted her head, and Kairi slapped her face for some reason.

Joe Dark walked up to her breathing a little heavily, and reached his hand out, "Alura...could you please give me that shell?"

Alura stared at it some more, then handed it over to him.

"Thanks." He said with a smile.

"WHAT?!" Kairi yelled and dropped to her knees, gripping and pulling at her hair a lot, "GHHGHGFFGHGFHFHGHFHH! WHY?!"

Alura stared at her and said, "Joe Dark said please."

Lunis ran up to them and Joe Dark passed the shell off to her, "Here, you'll have a better chance of making it."

"Roger!" Lunis buckled down and made a run for it. A second later Jupiter flew in and punched Joe Dark square in the face, his skull making a good-sized trench in the sand.

"Ah crap, I mistimed that..." Jupiter threw her hand up and yelled, "Sorry!"

Meanwhile Lunis was in a mad sprint and seemed untouchable. However, Mars rolled up right beside her and proclaimed, "You're not the fastest one here by a long shot!"

Mars suddenly tripped and went tumbling through the sand shouting "BLARGH!" once he collapsed. Lunis looked back and saw Joe Dark giving a thumbs up out of the trench, then his trembling hand fell.

"_Victory is ours!" _Lunis narrowed her eyes towards the approaching finish line.

Finally, Gabriel smirked and began to stand, "Our opportunity has arrived..."

He laid a hand over his sheathe and took steps towards greeting his rival in battle. Riku stood as well, the samurai cautiously drawing his other hand behind himself.

"Wait for it..." He too narrowed his eyes as Lunis was seconds from arrival.

Lunis hunched towards the ground and prepared to jump. A click came from Gabriel's sheathe, as he prepared to draw his blade.

Kairi dragged her hands over her eyes and exclaimed, "He wouldn't...!"

Mars dug his head out of the sand and went wide-eyed, "For a shell, really Gabriel?!"

Even Riku believed that the samurai was fully committed to this attack. The aggression he exuded was like he was battling a worthy opponent on a rain-soaked bridge.

"Fatal Strike of One-Hundred Dancing Leaves..." Gabriel and Lunis made their moves at the exact same time, and with the grace of a grasshopper she narrowly avoided the cleave of his..._wooden sword?!_

"Hmmm!" Gabriel smirked and his glance back cued Riku to strike.

Lunis had nowhere to go but forward, carrying the coveted prize straight towards him. He reached his hand out towards her, and she clutched the shell against her chest. Riku stayed undeterred and stretched his arm out further.

Forced into a corner, Lunis desperately played her last card, and began to spin around in the air. Riku grabbed onto her arm the moment she started turning, and over the next few seconds was caught up amidst her spiraling body as gravity sent them colliding into the towels.

The perfect arrangement of towels was flung around where they landed, and threw up a brief cloud of sand. Riku coughed a few times and then put his hands down.

"Aaaah~ !" A flowery exclamation of bliss made his eyes bulge quite a ways open as the sand settled.

Lunis was staring at him with a glaze over her eyes and her whole face bright red. She puckered her lower lip and squeaked internally.

"..." Riku's eyes were drawn further down. His hands were on her chest. Her now bare naked, topless chest. Naked. Chest.

_"Ummmm..." _His mind shutdown and rebooted twice.

She started to smile but did everything in her power not to look him in the eyes. Tensely gulping she muttered, "R-Riku...?"

His mind was an empty space filled with a dial tone.

"C-Can you...g-g-get my...bikini...please?"

Riku's head pivoted like stone towards the left where it had fallen a few inches away. But as he lifted his hand she squealed in shock, "N-Not yet!"

He slapped his hand back over her chest and felt a bump stiffening on his palm.

Complete, and utter meltdown...

Gabriel walked up to the two, picked the bikini up, and passed it over to her, "Here, trade you."

Without a second thought Lunis handed him the sand dollar and quickly slid her bikini under Riku's palms. She then went to tie it back on, and Riku slowly stood himself up.

Meanwhile Gabriel handed the shell off to Auris and said, "I believe this is yours, Lady Auris."

She raised the shell high into the air and proclaimed, "The winner is...the team of Gabriel and Riku!"

The losers of the competition gathered back at the towels. Kairi and Jupiter were hanging their heads.

Gabriel closed his eyes with a tender smile and imparted some of his earthly wisdom, "It is always important to conserve your energy and know when to-"

"Oh pipe it Gabriel!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"You played dirty and you know it!" Kairi joined in.

"W-Well..." Gabriel stayed steady and nodded to the two of them, "Its also always important to learn from your mistakes."

"..." Kairi and Jupiter glared and flipped him the bird.

Everyone agreed to settle down a bit for the next few hours after that rousing game...All the injured players totally had nothing to do with that.

The sun was starting to set, though it had a long way to go. Speaking of suns, Solaris was...

**"SLAM!" **

The woman patted her yawning mouth and stood up, while Solaris stared yet again at his defeated arm. He shook his head and exclaimed, "AGAIN!"

She smirked and weakly laughed, "What're you trying to prove? I ain't gonna take your virginity if you win..."

"Ha! I don't want to lose my virginity cause I don't lose!" Solaris squeezed his fist for another round.

"Heh, your 0-60 record would like to say otherwise..." The women tucked her fists into her hips and thrust them out to crack her back, "Fine, if this is how you want to spend your day..."

"SAM!"

The women cocked her head back and another woman with black frizzy hair and buttoned up tropical shirt appeared from around the building, "BBQ's ready, stop beating up randos on the beach and come eat some boneless ribs!"

"Alright coming!" The woman named Sam cocked her head back with a rough shrug of the shoulders, "Oh darn, guess I'm done beating you up today..."

"What? Oh we are NOT done here!" Solaris stood up and slammed his hands on the table. The woman began to turn her back when he said, "How can a human like you be so strong?!"

The woman propped her hands on her hips and scratched the skin. She then glanced over her shoulder with a wily smirk, "I could tell you..."

She dipped into her pocket and twirled a card between two fingers. She then laid it down on the table and patted it, "If you ever feel like losing again, come find me here..."

She then stood up all the way and Solaris noticed that the skin on above her left hip was darker than the rest, like it was damaged. And sticking out from a couple holes in her pants looked like pieces of metal...

"Later!" She waved him off as she turned around, leaving him with even more questions and no answers.

He picked the card up and glanced it over. There was a fireball stuck in a glass mug, with a fuse attached to the handle. It was advertising something called the "Bombbrew Bar" and below it was a name..."Server: Samantha J."

He stared up at the strange women meeting up with her friend and chatting to themselves. He heard a giggle or two, and for a moment she stared at him with a smirk.

"...What an odd person." He tucked the card into his pocket and decided to head back to the others.

A grill was set up and Auris and Shina were working together to unpack ALL the food they had brought with. Dozens of steaks. A plethora of chicken breasts. And all the vegetables you could ever want...Unless you're Joe Dark, who loudly swore them off at that moment.

But there was one cooler that remained unopened, which she took to the winners seated at their own unfolded table.

This is your prize... She laid her hands on both sides of the lid and plucked it off. Gabriel's lips began salivating while Riku gave a strange look at the giant cube of salt she slid out of the cooler.

"Ah, as I suspected...A Saltpuffer." Said Gabriel.

"Salt...puffer?" Riku's curiosity was piqued.

Auris delivered a chop faster than the naked eye could see that split the salt in two. Beneath was a round, porous fish, colorless with dead black eyes.

She took the fish to the grill and ignited the coals. As the fish was laid to sizzle, Gabriel educated his company, "The Saltpuffer projects a heavy layer of salt from its body to ward off attackers or protect itself from heat. Those who brave the salt, however, will find a flavorful experience beyond their wildest imagination..."

"Unfortunately, the species is extinct...But Lady Auris preserved as much meat as she could."

Riku folded his arms below his chin and murmured, "I can't wait to try it."

"It'll be the time of your life..." The two of them waited patiently while the rest of their group gathered at a larger, less shabby table waiting for their meals. Fortunately Auris brought a very, very huge grill.

When the Saltpuffer was done the meat had tenderized into an exotic rainbow color in each large slab plated for the two to eat. Once given knife and fork, Gabriel nudged at Riku and said, "Be my guest."

Riku cautiously eyed the meat as he dug his knife in and juices bubbled out. He stuck an inch sized cube to his fork and put it in his mouth...

"MMMMRRR!" Intense flavor gushed through his whole body, bringing even his stiffest bones and muscles to life. His vision melted as he pulled his head back, feeling the acid on his tongue turning the meat to juice. Layer after layer of flavors tickled his taste buds. First, the sweet crispiness of an apple. Then the vitamin rich sensation of a carrot. The mushy joy of a banana followed. Then came crisp, leafy greens liquidized into a creamy form. The tart taste of fresh blueberries zipped to his brain, and finally, it ended off on the sharp punch of eggplant.

All these flavors, wrapping around a succulent piece of medium-rare meat, created the quintessential meal all in one bite.

Riku's face was driven mad by a smile and he cut away at the fish, desperate for another bite. Gabriel calmly took his meal into his mouth and let out a smooth moan of delight.

"Yes...perfect as always Lady Auris." He gestured his fork to the chef, and she took her humble bow.

Mew wagged his perfectly good looking piece of chicken around on his fork and leaned a hand against his face. He stared at his meal which looked, fine, of course, but then shot envy towards his brother.

"Damn it if I had known that'd be the prize..."

"Ughhh right?! I've always wanted a bite of that!" Saturn proclaimed a couple chairs next to him.

"You know if you two decided to join, you probably would've been paired up." Neptune remarked.

Mew and Saturn took one look at each other, turned away and proclaimed "Nah" and "No way!"

Neptune chuckled as bits of food sprayed onto her shoulder from her ravenous wife and sister nearby. They were in an eating contest, and Shina was there as a third party...?

"OM NOM NOM!" Shina was hording food in her mouth like a dragon hoarded gold.

"Oh good grief sis..." Muttered Kairi.

"Wait..." Jupiter paused for a moment, her voice muffled with food, "I thought you said the results were random Belle?"

Neptune shrugged, gently sweeping the food off her skin with her fingertips, "Lady Luck works in mysterious ways..."

Meanwhile Alura and Joe Dark quietly tried to eat their steaks. Alura had her front teeth latched onto the meat and slurped up the loose juices.

She hadn't even taken a bite of the meat itself yet.

"...I think I like ice cream more, Joe Dark." She murmured.

"T-That's not..." Joe Dark groaned and cut into his steak, "Haaaa, I'm just glad you're not getting overwhelmed."

"Hmmm?" Alura tilted her head and stared blankly at her plate, "Joe Dark I think...I had fun today. Is...that what it means when your chest feels light?"

"Yeah, I...guess so."

"Heh." Her lips widened, retracting when Joe Dark glanced her way.

Everyone enjoyed their meal in relative peace. Surprisingly, Mew was the first to leave the table. He went closer to the crosswalk and turned to face the arrangement of colorful friends and the good times they were having. He took his fingers into a box shape to "Capture" them all and clicked his tongue.

_"That's one for the memory books..." _He gazed up towards the violet skies with a smile, _"I_ _really, really hoping you're looking down on this Alex."_

"Sis, cut it out!"

Mew looked down and saw Kairi escaping the table, with Shina threatening to throw a small lump of mashed potatoes at her.

"C'mon, one food fight! We need to have one! Just one!"

"Haha no...!" Kairi laughed, shook her head and then turned away, immediately bumping into Mew.

"Oh..." She blushed and crunched her arms down atop her chest to stop its bounce then looked at him with a pout, "What're you doing up?"

"Nothing," Mew slyly snuck his hands into his pockets and smiled, "So, looks like you're having a good time now."

Kairi glanced aside and muttered, "Y-Yeah maybe I am..."

She then wagged a finger at his chest and rubbed her face towards his, "But I still ain't buying that you had nothing to do with this!"

"Will you relax already? If I'm guilty of anything its gathering us all here to have a good time..." Mew brought his hands up together before his stomach and sighed, "So if that's so wrong, then cuff me up and put me away copper..."

Kairi backed away and let out one long groan, dragging the bangs of her hair back with one hand, "Uuuugh why can't I ever figure you out?"

As Mew had a laugh at her expense she looked over her shoulder and remarked, "This **has** been the happiest Shina's been since she got back..."

"And look at Maria," Mew gestured to the little girl trying to strike up a conversation with Mars, "She had the time of her life today."

"...Haaaaa," Kairi turned aside and looked disheartened, "I feel really bad about not being with her more but you...actually seem to be doing **fine** with her."

"I don't know Mew, what am I supposed to do?"

"Well..." Mew rubbed his chin, "She wanted to get out more so...next time we go somewhere, I'll invite you to come with!"

Kairi nodded in agreement, "I still got time before school starts up again. I'll keep my schedule open."

"Great! She'll be delighted to spend time with 'Papa' AND 'Mama'."

Kairi's eyes squirmed shut, "That still sounds so weeeeeird..."

"Hehehe you'll get used to it!"

"No!" She playfully nudged him in the gut with her elbow.

Dinnertime began to settle down after that, with their guests taking turns leaving the table to help clean up. The night was young and the sun was still in the sky, but the fun time's had been exhausted, and some people WERE exhausted.

Maria was nodding off at the table when Mew came to check up on her.

"Ready to sleep?" He said.

"Mmmm, so much food..." She rubbed her belly happily, then hopped off the chair. Mew patted her on the back and walked her out towards the crosswalk.

"We'll be heading back shortly. Just got to..."

"Hey you, come here a second...!" Solaris intercepted them and Mew's immediate response was to groan.

"What is it Solaris?" The two went a little more out of the way to talk.

"Ok you know that girl I was arm wrestling?"

"The one who kicked your ass sixty times yeah what about her?"

Solaris grit his teeth in a grimace and then pulled out a small paper card, "She gave me this card and I don't know what ANY of it means..."

Mew took it in his hand and deciphered this "Complex" message in a second, "Oh...!"

His eyes lit up and he nudged his brows a couple times, "Seems she wants to see you again. Not bad stud muffin."

"I...I don't get it." Solaris said as he got the card back.

"She wants you to go to her bar and have drinks."

"Ooooooh..." Solaris nodded his head with an utterly blank look in his eyes, "The hell's a bar?"

Mew slumped over and muttered, "Ask Auris..."

"Well whatever. I'm going to figure out what makes that woman so damn strong, and then beat her in a rematch!" Solaris scoffed, a wound on his pride.

"So you had a good time overall?"

"Yeah yeah I guess..." Solaris gripped his waist and wiggled his fingers, "The beach isn't that bad..."

"Everything worked out in the end," Mew smiled, "We all had a good time but most importantly...I got to see all the girl's in sexy swimsuits, just as planned!"

A subhuman chill. Terror incarnate manifesting as a glare at his back. Such is the way of arrogance, that one becomes blind to restraint, even on the cusp of victory.

The hairs stood on the back of his neck, and he gawked wide open as he looked behind and saw Kairi's eyes wide-open.

"I'm sorry Mew," She said without any emotion in her voice as she raised and cracked her knuckles, "Would you mind **repeating that**."

Not a question. A demand. One that'd be forced out of him by the skin of her knuckles.

Mew spun around and shook his head repeatedly, "You're just hearing things...!"

"Oh REALLY?" Her eyes were hollowed out with rage, "So when you said 'girls' and 'sexy swimsuits' in the same sentence I was just going crazy huh?!"

"I...I _may_ have said those words..." Mew barely raised a finger and started backing away with a grin, "B-But come on what could I have done? Its not like I control the sun!"

"OH!" For once in his life Solaris opened his big mouth and Mew thrust his head at him.

_"Shutupshutupshutup!"_

Solaris snapped his fingers at him, "Is THAT why you had me use my powers? To get all the girls in swimsuits?"

Kairi's hair began to rise from the sheer intensity of her growing rage. Her voice was little more than a subhuman growl, _"Y__ou're fucking dead Mew."_

"Now hang on a second...!"

Mew was about to defend himself when the shaking Solaris uttered, "W-Wait am I in trouble too...?"

Kairi limply wagged her hand out and his eyes lit up with a smile, "Sweet!"

He turned around and walked off whistling. Mew threw his hands down and gawked.

"I knew it...I KNEW IT!" Kairi's voice echoed in anger, "Of all the low brow, depraved schemes you could've pulled...JUST TO GLARE AT MY TITS AND ASS?!"

Mew waved at a cowering Maria to hide behind him and Kairi stamped her foot down in the sand, "YOU get away from her! You used your 'daughter'...FOR GUILT TRIPPING?!"

"Hey hey hey everything I said about her was the truth! You-"

"Sis what's going on?" Shina suddenly waddled up to the scene with a worrying look in her eyes.

Kairi thrust her finger out and exclaimed, "MEW plotted the whole day just so he could leer at us in our swimsuits!"

Shina gasped and placed a hand before her mouth, "No..."

She frowned and shook her head, "I thought you were better than that Mew...Alex would've never done something like this..."

_"Bull fucking shit that horndog had sex with you...!" _Mew's eyes bulged in disbelief at how quickly this was escalating.

"HARK!" Hollered Saturn, approaching the scene with Jupiter in tow.

_"Oh fucking end me..." _Mew stood there and watched the heroine get to work.

"I heard sounds of distress, so I am here to answer the call! What seems to be the pro-"

"Mew's been a giant pervert!" Shina exclaimed, pointing at him like a child.

Saturn's sunglasses slid off her face from how hard she gasped. She firmly crossed her arms and exclaimed, "How dastardly! So you finally show your true colors, delinquent!"

"N-Now wait a minute...!"

Jupiter cracked her knuckles and grit her teeth, "How scummy of you...! I'm going to break your balls."

Mew paused and fought briefly with some temptation, then shook his head and threw his hands up, "You all have the wrong idea here!"

He turned to the left and saw Riku and Joe Dark wandering in from the side and waved to them, "Riku help me out here! Defend my character!"

Riku slowly walked off, put his hand on his shoulder, and quietly shook his head, "You're on your own this time brother..."

But at the very least, he helped walk Maria a bit further away to safety.

"Oh fine! Traitor!" Mew crossed his arms and looked to the left, "At least ONE brother can attest that I'm not a perv-"

Joe Dark was now standing beside Shina shaking his head with contempt.

_"Is my entire family traitorous?!"_

He was facing impossible odds, but while his knees shook, his footing remained strong. He was without allies. A lone star in the inhospitable depths of space.

His eyes glimmered, facing the hath'd fury of these women scorned with a smile. He crossed his arms tight, as Kairi's eyes radiated with malice.

"Any last words Mew Whiter...?!"

Mew closed his eyes, and swung his left hand down, "Maria..."

The little girl stared up with worry and awe, "Remember this moment. Ingrain the image of my back and the words I speak now into your mind forever...!"

"P-Papa...!" She cried out.

Mew mustered up the spirit within his burning soul, and ushered out bravely with a roar, "I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!"

The vibration of his roar stilled his aggressors momentarily, from which he then swung his arms out and forced them into his captivity, "My actions were perverted yes...! BUT! Did I violate any laws? Did I disrespect any of you?!"

Mew firmed his arms up and let the wind blow up his back, "No! I have done only as man is intended to do! My gazes were lustful certainly, but it was born of a respect for your bodies...!"

"And who are you to judge me anyways?!" Mew widened his eyes with a firm, slanting glare, "Deep down we are all perverts!"

All the girls had blank expressions easy to take advantage of, "And don't try and hide it! Saturn I know you thirst at the sight of perfection embodied in the male form...! And Jupiter, don't think I haven't seen you tossing admiring gazes at your own muscles! You're proud of your body to the point of it consuming you in lust! Joe, my brother, my man...Its like, the only way your attraction to curvy women could be any more obvious was if a wooden post sprung out of your trunks saying 'HOLY SHIT THOSE TITS!'. And Shina! Kairi! ...Come on guys, do I really need to say anymore?"

His aggressors were now staring at each other with varying degrees of blushes on their faces. So, for the coup de grace, there was but one thing Mew had to say...

"THE FIRE IN OUR LOINS PROVES THAT WE ARE ALIVE! To deny our perversions is to deny ourselves! So it is for that, I say, that I stand here today with pride in who am I! You may judge me as you will, but I have done nothing wrong...!"

"Uhhh..." Shina blubbered on, while Jupiter and Kairi began lowering their fists.

Joe Dark, however, swung at the group and gasped in utter shock, "Are you serious? He still tricked you all into wearing these damn swimsuits!"

Their eyes widened and immediately refocused all their anger upon Mew, who solemnly closed his eyes and sighed, "Thanks Joe..."

He crossed his arms one last time, facing the whirlwind of indomitable rage with a smile, and a sense of tranquility in his heart.

"...Riku," He uttered, "Take Maria to safety. This isn't going to be pretty..."

Maria gasped "Papa no!" as Riku carried her over his shoulder and looked back with pity in his eyes, "Brother...are you serious?"

"Yes..." Mew clutched his shaking fists by his hip and grit his teeth, "I know what I must do now."

"PAPA!" Maria stretched her hand out towards him and cried as Riku ran her away from there.

A tear fell from Mew's eyes as he closed them one last time, _"N__o...This won't be the end. I refuse to be another statistic in the pantheon of slice-of-life cliche's!"_

He grit his feet into the sand and threw his fists down, roaring triumphantly into the sky, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Power exploded like a shockwave from his body and he turned his fiery gaze upon his enemies. Carried by the inherited wills of those before him, struck down for their ambitious perversions by Tsunderes and terrible writing, or both at the same time, he proclaimed to them one last time.

"YOU'll NEVER STOP AT ONE...!" He leaped twenty feet into the air as his blood boiled like magma, "I'LL TAKE YOU ALL OOOOOOOON!"

**Mew spent the next three days lying and broken in bed.**

_Next Time: The Will of the Books_


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41: Take a Look, Its In a Book**

Just another ordinary day in summer. Mew's happy to go on record saying that there's been NO enemy attacks since Dracula, and if luck be willing it'll stay that way.

He's enjoying this tranquil time with his adopted daughter Maria by finally introducing her to the wonderful world of video games.

He had failed Joe Dark, losing him to the grainy pages of books but Maria? He'll succeed no matter what. It'd be fun to drop her right into the stuff he likes to play but he gets it. There's a learning curve to this sort of thing. Right now he's focusing on the basics, and what better way than via the classic Super Mario World.

She's leaning out towards the TV with controller in hand and a good grip on the buttons, but her reactions aren't the best. She's died ten times on the first world. There's been a couple groans bordering on swearing and he's had to try and curb that cause Kairi introduced her to the big ol' F-Bomb.

But she's mostly smiling. Radiant, and full of wonder. This was her life now, she could be a normal kid, and do normal kid things.

Mew relaxed into the couch and put his hands behind his head with a smile. Then sounds of Mario's death played on the TV.

"Mmmm...drat!" Murmured Maria as she laid the controller on her lap and looked his way, "Papa, how am I supposed to beat the spiked turtle?"

"Want me to show you?" He offered, and she nodded.

He picked up the controller and leaned towards the TV, "Alright watch this."

She leaned in and watched as he cleared the stage in about a minute and a half, and the moment of Iggy's demise in the lava lit up a spark in Maria's eyes.

"Oooooh! You had to knock him off balance..."

"Yep. Just remember that, sometimes the stage hold the key to beating a boss," He handed the controller back to her and waved at the screen, "You're going to like this next world, it introduces my favorite power-up."

After a bit more spectating Mew rubbed under his nose and remarked, "Y'know Maria...I actually met Mario in person."

"Really?" She said, her eyes practically glued to the screen.

"A-yep! It was a few years ago, on one of my more...weird adventures," Mew dusted his knuckles on his shirt and gave a prideful smirk, "We saved the world together. No big deal."

She looked at him for a moment to say, "Do you think I could meet him too?"

"Uhhh, sure, why not!" Mew let her resume playing before letting his expression sag a little, _"Come to think of it they probably still think something bad happened to me...Guess it wouldn't hurt to ask Saturn to take us there someday."_

Maria lost another life dive bombing into a pit with the Cape and Mew jostled with laughter, "Hehe, its a bit finnicky but once you learn it you'll have tons of fun."

"I'm going to do it...!" She said, teeth grit like steel bars.

"That's the spirit!" He rubbed her head and she gestured at him to stop, then got up to go get a drink.

On his way around the corner he heard a knock at the door and wondered "Who could that be?" as he headed towards it.

He froze up on the doorknob as the current pattern is that he mentions doing something, then Saturn's popped up to help with that.

He quickly swung the door open and exclaimed "AHA!" but was instead greeted by the puzzled combination of Riku and Lunis.

Lunis had finally gotten some normal clothes with Riku's assistance, as Mew has been expressly forbidden from picking out clothes again for reasons that are not his fault in the slightest.

Not that Riku's help seemed to be any better. Lunis was in tight black jeans that rode around her thighs and didn't even cover all her legs. Fortunately her slim socks finished the job. But then there was her upper body, covered by a white t-shirt with a glittery yellow crescent moon laid over her chest. "Covered" is used loosely here, as its clearly too small for her chest and thus part of her mid-riff is showing.

Someone was to "blame" here but clearly neither guilty party seemed to care. Also, Lunis cut her hair to a more manageable shoulder length. Took a moment to notice that. Its a pretty jarring change honestly.

But enough of that, down to business...

"Riku? Lunis? What're you doing here?" And right away he got his answer from...

"About damn time you showed up..." Joe Dark, who else?

Mew pulled away from the door and watched Joe Dark and Alura come his way. Ever since Alura tore up her dress to add onto the swimsuit she's had to settle for wearing some of Mew's old shirts and jeans. He wasn't allowed to make her new clothes and he hadn't the_ faintest _idea why...

"Oh, you guys are going somewhere?" He asked.

"We told you we were going to the library today..." Joe Dark took a dry look his way and Mew turned and whistled aloofly.

"Sorry I must've blocked the sounds of the devil's temple from my mind..."

"Uuughh..." Joe Dark ruffled his forehead and glanced around him towards Maria, "Oh, I see you're introducing her to video games."

"...Yeah?" Mew eyed him confusedly.

"Maria," He stepped around him and she stared at him with anticipation, "You're welcome to join us at the library."

"...What's a library?" The **instant** that was uttered Joe Dark had his eyes locked onto Mew.

"Mew what the actual hell." He sputtered dryly.

Mew threw his hands up in a shrug and was laid into again, "Don't shrug it off this is negligent!"

"Ah books are overrated!" Mew walked backwards to the TV and patted it fondly, "You can learn everything you need to from TV and video games. I mean come on, look at me!"

Joe Dark and Riku fluttered their eyes at him, followed by Joe pointing at Maria and then out the door, "You're coming with us."

"I think Maria's already decided where her loyalties lie." Mew said, crossing his arms defensively against his chest.

"We're going to buy ice cream afterwards." Joe Dark quickly peppered in.

Maria's eyes lit up and she laid the controller on the table. Mew's mouth was stunned agape as she got off the couch and ran towards their small group.

Her turning back and saying "I'll be back later papa!" did little to weaken the emotional bruise on Mew's heart.

"W-What?!"

As the group of five left the house Mew ran for the door and slammed his hands upon the frame, "Bribery?! You're using bribery on a child Joe?!"

Joe Dark was the only one not looking back as he used his dagger to open a dark rift in front of them. Mew gawked at the group and exclaimed, "See? This is what reading books leads to! You want to be a delinquent like your Uncle Joe?"

Maria hesitated, but with that curious look in her eye Mew felt his defenses crumbling. Joe Dark patted her on the back and said, "Come on, it'll be fine..."

"C-Come on...really? Really?" Mew watched them enter the dark rift and then hung his head with a sigh before getting out one last shout, "Don't keep her out after dark!"

Upon a quick traversal through the darkness the group of five arrived at somewhere...only a little less dark. An alleyway, secluded off from the gazing eyes of the city folk.

It reeked of moldy food and moss, just as Joe Dark remembered it.

"Lets get out of here quickly..." He said, hastening their exit towards the hustle and bustle of the city itself. It proved a little difficult not to avoid stepping on the discarded heaps of human waste that had gathered here.

Lunis squirmed the most, while Maria wound up clutching to Joe Dark's hip. Unbeknownst to him, she also stuck her tongue out at Alura, which is why they wound up clinging onto his other hip.

He took their actions with a heavy sigh and was grateful when they finally got out of this dank alley and into the sunny streets. Their timing was perfect for avoiding suspicion.

"Whoa..." "Ummm..." Went Maria and Alura as they unclipped themselves from his jeans and stared up towards the sky, where the buildings seemed like towers that pierced the clouds.

"So this is the big city..." Said Lunis, shading her eyes with one hand.

"**HNNNNNKKKKK!" **Screamed a car as it sped on by, making all but Joe Dark jolt.

"Yeeeeep...In every way, good _and _bad..." He took a couple steps out from the group and stood at the edge of the sidewalk.

"Now where was the library at...?" As he murmured aloud he found Riku coming to his aide.

"Need help?"

"Mrrr, it should be close by. If we go a couple blocks North..."

"You're familiar with this city?"

"...It was..." Joe Dark whispered the rest and rubbed the back of his head, "Necessary to survive."

"Alright." Riku backed off.

"_Thank you for keeping it at that." _After shaking off some mild discomfort Joe Dark rolled his shoulders around and decided they'd go North. But not before doubling-back to peel the curious duo away from skyscraper watching.

They had gotten a taste of city life from the mall, but this place more-or-less provided the complete picture. A fast food place on every block. Clothes stores! Jewelry stores! Insurance bureaus filling every other space! And a bunch of people wandering around bumping into each other because they were busy walking their dog, looking at their cell phone, being just plain ol' distracted. Not to mention all the traffic jams, the cigarette smoke...

And after going down a couple blocks there was one other thing he disliked...It was easy to get lost. Every damn skyscraper looked the same. This wasn't Seattle, there was no Space Needle to help figure out where you were relative to the rest of the city.

But he swore that they were on the right path to the library, and kept them on this path. But Riku quickly pointed out "I think we've gone more than a couple blocks" around the tenth block crossed.

Joe Dark spun around and insisted, "I know where we're going!"

He looked at Alura and Maria and noticed their eyes were in a trance. Sensory overload. Too much to take in at once.

"...Lets take a break here." He muttered with a groan. He sat on a bench with Maria and Alura at his sides while Riku tried to find a map in one of the nearby stores and Lunis walked around trying to get someone's aide.

"Hello?" She waved to a passerby, who gave her a wide-eyed glance and then hastened along.

"Ummm, excuse me!" She exclaimed to a group of young trendy females, whose chirps of gossip drowned out her voice.

So she went a little more aggressive towards the next passerby by putting herself in their path and exclaiming, "Sir! A moment of your time please?"

The man rammed face-first into her chest and rebound a couple steps back, resulting in him staring at her with a wide-eyed gawk. She leaned in with a smile and said, "Can you tell us how to get to-"

Blushing and fully flustered the man raised a finger with a ring on it and stuttered "I-I'm married...!" before dashing around her.

"W-Wait!" She tried but failed to call him back.

"Mmmrrrr..." Joe Dark glared on uncomfortably.

Alura and Maria patted their chests and sighed.

Riku came out of the nearby store a moment later with a map, "Fortunately they were free..."

"Alright how close are we?" Joe Dark said, rising to look over the map with him.

"Just a couple blocks off to the East." Riku pointed at the pink space on the map.

"Tsk, so that's what was wrong. I took us to the wrong alley." Joe Dark rubbed the back of his head and Riku, bless him, patted him on the back.

"Alright lets get going." Riku tucked the map away and Alura and Maria got off the bench.

"Hmmm?" Lunis suddenly looked behind her and the others did the same.

"What?" Joe Dark asked.

"I...coulda sworn someone's following us."

"There's always a few creeps in the city..." He groaned and brushed back towards where they'd walked, "Ignore them and move on."

Lunis slowly turned forward and they made their way two blocks East, finally arriving at their destination. The local library was three stories tall and looked about the shape of a government office.

"Oh my goodness!" Gasped Lunis, "This whole building's got books in it?!"

"Yes, but..." As Joe Dark prepared to give advice Lunis was already trotting up the stairs like a bunny in spring.

"Mrrr...Riku, keep an eye on your girlfriend..." He groaned.

"She's not..." Riku gasped and then sighed, trailing after her with a reluctant remark of, "I probably should stick with her."

A moment after the rest of them met up with the two at the front doors, where Lunis was being introduced to the concept of automatic doors.

"Whoa! You step on this panel and the door opens for you!" She waited for the door to shut, hopped off, then hopped right back on so it'd open again.

The few people exiting stared at her like she was loopy. After testing a couple more times, Lunis swung through the door and wandered inside. Maria hopped on the panel once but went inside right after.

Once they had all gotten through the entrance they got a good long look at the library's inner workings. Lunis was awestruck at the three tiers of flooring flooded with shelves upon shelves of books.

"WOW!" She exclaimed, making Joe Dark grimace like a bomb had dropped.

"Don't yell...!" He muttered through gritted teeth too little too late, for the people in the foyer were looking at them funny.

Now thoroughly embarrassed and wanting to die, he rolled up to Lunis' face and told her bluntly, "You need to be **quiet** in a library, got that?"

"Ooooh, sorry..." She sheepishly poked a finger over her mouth and hushed herself. Joe Dark pulled back with a sigh and brushed her off.

"Well...I'm going to go look around!" Lunis murmured and then took right off like a kid unleashed upon an unlucky new candy store.

"I'm going to check out the science section, what about you Joe?" Riku said next.

"I want to catch up on what I've missed over the last few years. Maybe if I scrounge up a few newspapers to start off with..."

"Good luck with that then. Any time we should meet up...?"

"Nah who cares. Maybe if we get hungry..." Joe Dark rolled his hand around and muttered, "Try not to get lost."

Riku tapped the side of his head, "Just exert a little power if we need to meet up."

"Ah, right. Later then." With that Riku was off, leaving Joe Dark to tend to the needs of the wandering eyed duo.

"Alright you two, you're sticking with me. What're looking for?"

Maria gave the first response, "Do they have stories about space cowboys here?"

"You can find plenty about space, and plenty about cowboys...Might be hard to find one with them combined," Joe Dark suggested, "There IS a catalog you can look this stuff up in. I'll show you how to use it."

"Ok Uncle Joe." She said with a nod and smile.

He felt the hands of time clawing wrinkles into his face, _"I'm too damn young to be called that, goddamn it Mew..."_

He huffed a sigh while looking at Alura, "And you?"

"I...don't know." Was about what he expected.

"_Nothing I can do about that..." _Joe Dark rolled his hand around and gave the best suggestion he could think of, "Just look around and see what catches your interest. But stick close to us, or some creep might try something."

"I'll punch any bad men in the face!" Hollered Maria, boxing against the air.

"Heh, that'd be funny to watch..." He murmured.

The three of them headed down the stairs and into the first floor, where all the computers lied. Fortunately there were plenty open for them to use. He sat on one and had Maria join him at the other. She made a big leap onto the chair and caused it to spin around.

"Alright so to use a catalog..." He hovered over the keyboard when he saw Maria spinning on the chair from out the corner of his eye. She went clockwise, then counterclockwise twice. Then she hit the ground with her feet and spun around quite a few times clockwise.

He glared at her and as the chair slowed down, she hung her head and pouted.

"...Anyways." He focused back on the computer.

Alura found her interests wandering away from the computers and towards a metal shelf containing a bunch of different thin books. They all had pictures and a bunch of words all over them. "65 tips to a thinner waist!", "How to grow your plants even in the winter!", "7 secrets to making your man purr!", "World-Renowned Actor Caroline Bismuth might be dying?!"

She felt dizzy looking at them all...

"Joe Dark..." She plucked the last one she saw off the shelf and faced him, holding it before her face, "This person's dying, we should go help them."

He looked over the chair with a gaping look of shock on his face, "Ooooh, you found the magazine section."

"Maga...zine?"

"They're like...mmm, I guess you can call them books, except these are published once a month and tend to focus on a single thing," He waved his hand out and then turned back to the computer, "Don't read National Inquirer though, they lie about everything."

Alura flipped the magazine around and stared at all the dire sounding words on the front page, "But this sounds urgent...'Asteroid set to hit the moon in two months...'"

"That's a lie Alura. Magazines print lies sometimes." He said in a dry tone.

"I see..." She stared at the magazine some more, "People spend five dollars just to read lies?"

"Its an easy business when your customers are suckers..."

"That doesn't sound nice."

"Welcome to news Alura." After that Joe Dark seemed more focused on helping Maria.

Alura placed the lying magazine back where she found it and tried looking for a more honest one. She wandered along to the end of the shelf and there a peculiar magazine caught her eye.

It was called "Black Rose Essence", and on the front cover was a woman leaning back atop a floor covered in rose petals. But she was almost naked, like how most of the girls were at the beach. Yet, there was something different about her swimsuit...It was black, and had frills like on her old dress. She had a hand over the center of her underwear, and another arm resting behind her head. Her chest spheres, while not as big as Lunis', still seemed to protrude quite far. Her lips were a shiny purple shade, and there was black on her eyelids, and a light shade of red on her cheeks. Most of her hair also covered her right eye.

"Become the sexiest you you can be." It said at the bottom.

"Sexy...?" Alura picked the magazine off and hovered it before her face. She stared all over this woman's body and felt her heart race, while her breathing got heavier.

"Mmmm..." She clutched the magazine to her chest and ran back over to Joe Dark.

"J-Joe Dark." She called out, feeling a little tired now.

"What now?" He turned his chair around.

"What does it mean to be...sexy?"

His eyes began to change and then widened all the way when she pointed the front cover at him. He spun right around and clasped his right hand on the arm of the chair.

"Jesus...! Alura where did..." He grit his teeth and swung the back of his hand at her, "G-Go put that back where you found it...!"

"Huh?" She murmured and stared down at the cover some more. Why did Joe Dark react like that? Is this...a bad thing to be looking at? Is it bad to be sexy?

"...I need to learn more." She clasped the magazine to her chest and wandered around a bit. There were no open computers...Which was bad. That was her only plan of learning what "sexy" means.

"Mmmm..." She wandered around some more, ending up close to where she started.

"Excuse me," A voice called out to her, from a man with a small beard standing behind a thick piece of wood, "Are you lost?"

"Lost." Alura repeated quietly, remembering what Joe Dark had told her. That word could mean not knowing where you're going, or having trouble figuring something out.

She looked the man in the eyes and said, "Yes. I'm lost. Can you help?"

"Sure. What's the name of your parents?" He asked, reaching for the phone.

"Dracula and...ummm..." Her mother's name was a blank in her mind.

Yet it didn't matter, the man stared down at her with one of those blank expressions and said, "If you want my help finding your parents, I need a serious answer."

"...Oh!" Alura perked up after a long pause, and realized what the man meant, "I know where I'm going, but I'm having trouble figuring something out."

"Aaah I see. Well don't worry," The man kindly gestured up to the sign above him that said 'Customer Service', "I'm here to answer all questions."

Alura laid the magazine down in front of the man and remarked, "What does it mean to be sexy?"

The man's face turned pale and he coughed into his fist. He laid a hand over the magazine, leaned in and murmured, "I...I don't think you're old enough to be reading this."

"16 is too young?" Alura said, tilting her head.

"...You're 16." The man said.

"Yes." Alura stated plainly.

"...A-Am I being pranked?" He rose and looked around with a chuckle, "Is this part of a show? Are your parents nearby filming me?"

He laughed some more as Alura slid the magazine back into her possession, and wandered away from the man getting louder.

"Come on, show yourselves! I won't be part of another one of these prank shows! You hear me?! JED?!"

Alura stared at the magazine and felt...empty inside. She hadn't found out what being "sexy" means, besides the word making people uncomfortable.

Yet, when she looks at this woman, she feels warm, and fuzzy...and odd, like with Lunis. This black-haired woman's body held an incredible power over men and women.

I need to learn more about the power of sexiness... She wandered back to the magazines, where the one she had became part of a slowly growing stack.

Meanwhile, Riku was combing the science section top-to-bottom.

"Chemicals, astrology..." His eyes perked up with interest, "Here we go, the nature books."

He pulled out a book titled "Green Thumbers: How to Become One with your Plants" and flipped it open, scanning the first few pages and nodding approvingly.

"Perfect. This'll help with my training..." He tucked that under his arm pit and backed up to the astrology section, "Now lets see what they got on Suns..."

"Riku...!" He heard whispered from the left. A quick turn saw him looking at Lunis peeking out from around the corner.

She pulled herself around with a book squeezed tightly under her chest and a big grin on her face, "I found this really great book!"

"What is it?" Riku watched the slow, antsy unveiling with growing interest...and then was taken completely aback when it was revealed to be none other than "The Very Hungry Catepillar" a children's classic.

He went stiff with silence as she flipped the book around and held it out in both arms, "I read through it a couple times already and love it!"

She squeezed the book up to her chest. Riku's jaw dropped but he shut it right back up, and looked her in the eyes, "W-What do you like about it?"

Well, She closed her eyes and smiled big, "Its a story about a character who worked hard to achieve what he wanted out of life, and when he did...He was happy. Satisfied. Its a reeeeeally inspiring story Riku!"

Riku's eyes widened in a vacant stare and he dropped one hand on his hip, _"E__veryone interprets things differently. I guess...even grown-ups can look at childrens' book and find a deeper meaning to them."_

"So do you plan on getting it?" He asked.

"Yeah! I want to read it some more!" And I'm going to find some more books in that section. "See you later Riku!" She skipped off, missing the smile plastered on Riku's face.

He flinched and turned towards the books with his smile wobbling, "L-Lets see...'The Light of our Stars: The Sun and Its Effect on Us'..."

Back with Joe Dark, he's been forced to follow Maria on her search for cowboy tales. And sadly, his hunt for newspapers has proven fruitless.

_"Guess I'll have to look elsewhere...If only Mew didn't hog the TV all the time..." _He watched as Maria bent down in the current aisle and seemed to have found something she liked.

"...I guess I could find something to read myself." He turned to the books and thumbs through them individually. Maybe something fictional would do. Something...a _little_ more grounded than his usual dealings with the unknown.

He pulled back on one of the books and saw someone peering through on the other side. They had a _certain_ spiky brown hairstyle, and a _certain_ black shirt with flame on it. But they wore sunglasses, and a clip-on mustache.

"..."

"..."

The person wiggled their nose and slowly raised a single issue comic book in front of their face.

"..." Joe Dark grabbed the book and decided he'd read it.

"Hmmm...! Hmmmmmmm!" Maria hummed an obvious cry of help and he bent down to see what he could do.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know what to choose..."

He saw a line of books she was pointing at, all of them dealing with Westerns.

_"Well I don't fucking know either!" _He briefly widened his eyes.

"PSSSSSST!" Came a hiss from the other side of the shelf. As he looked he saw a book getting nudged out of the shelf and went to pick it out.

There was an obvious female cowboy lasso'ing aliens while riding a metallic rocket horse on the cover. "Captain Clementine in: Rodeo at Ranger Nebula." It was, by some miracle, **exactly** what Maria was looking for.

"...Here." He handed it over to her and her eyes lit up.

She took it in her hands and nodded her approval, "Thank you Uncle Dark!"

He quickly tried to peek through the shelves and the "mystery" man gave a thumbs-up.

Sometime later the group decided to meet up at the foyer. Joe Dark had the one book he found. Lunis had about a dozen children's books and young adult novels. Maria got a couple more cowboy stories and two movies. Riku got one big book for each element, and then one for the sun. Alura, however, had an impressively tall stack of books and magazines that covered her face and looked close to burying her alive.

"Haaa, Alura..." Joe Dark put his book on the stack and then carried half of it himself, allowing her eyes to look over.

"Joe Dark, I found a lot to read." She said with some mild pride in her expression.

I can see that, He stared at all the books and thought, _"W__ill she even be able to read them all?"_

"Alura you got so many books," Lunis was in awe, "Will you be able to afford them all?"

Joe Dark eyed her funny and muttered, "You don't buy books. You're borrowing this for a period of time. You can get as many as you want too."

"YOU CAN?!" She exclaimed like a restraint had been lifted off her morals.

"SHHHH!" Went a librarian, causing Lunis to squirm downward.

She smiled and murmured, "I should go get more books then...!"

"No!" He remarked, "This place is open every day 9-5. You'll always be able to come back."

"You sound pretty tired Joe." Riku remarked.

"I had a very..._draining_ encounter in the fictional section."

"Then we should get some ice cream, so you can feel better!" Maria suggested.

"I did say we'd get that..." Joe Dark then realized, "Oh crap...!"

"What?" Riku noted the distress on his face.

"We can't leave with these books without a library card."

"Oh." Riku seemed to know what he was worried about.

"What's the problem?" Asked Lunis.

"A library card lets you check out as many books as you want," Joe Dark stifled Lunis' excitement by telling her, "But it requires you to put your name on it. First...AND last."

"That won't be a problem for me and Maria anyways. But you..." Riku looked at Joe Dark.

_"I'm supposed to be a dead man." _Joe Dark closed his eyes and thought of an idea, "We can make this work, follow me."

They went to the checkout and explained their need for library cards. Riku and Maria got theirs first, then Lunis did hers, but got a couple odd glares for her last name. Then Joe Dark stepped up and tried to remain calm.

"What is your name sir?" The front lady asked.

"Joseph Whiter," He said, swallowing all sense of hesitation inside him as he placed down the stack of literary he got off Alura, "I'll be getting all these..."

He looked back and gestured to Alura, _"T__hen we don't have to worry about her name."_

"Joseph...Whiter," The woman tapped on her keyboard and a card popped out of the printer a few seconds later, "Here you go, enjoy your card."

He took the card in hand and let the lady scan all the books, putting them in a convenient, easy to hold bag. With everything settled it was time to depart. Then, as promised, Maria got her ice cream cone.

All that was left was to sneak into another alley, and use a dark rift to return home. A short trip, maybe, but it felt like a very important step forward for all of them.

Joe Dark knocked on the front door and heard some stumbling behind it. Then Mew rushed over and swung it open, a bit of hair stuck on his upper lip.

"H-Hey guys, back so soon?" He said with a smile.

"Mmm hmm!" Maria took the lead and showed off all the stuff she got.

"I see you're satisfied Maria." Mew remarked.

"Yep! I want to go back some time," Maria then waved her hand up and giggled, "Papa you got something funny on your face."

Mew swiped the hair off his lip and hastily remarked, "I tripped and fell on the carpet. No big deal."

He bent down and tickled her bottom lip, "Look at you, you got ice cream on your face."

Once he cleaned that off she merrily dashed into her room to drop the books off and Mew looked to Riku and Lunis, "Hey stay a while, I'm making some hard-boiled eggs for lunch."

"Wish we could but Solaris'll get grumpy if we're gone too long." Said Riku.

"You know how he is..." Lunis sighed.

"Fair. See you later you two, thanks for dropping by." He waved them off and Lunis used her powers to send them back to the moon.

Meanwhile Alura helped carry the two bags of magazines in, catching Mew's eye immediately, 'You two got a lot of books...Sheesh, am I gonna have to worry about a bill from the library?"

"Those are all Alura's." Joe Dark answered.

"Ah I see..." Mew crossed his arms and then nudged his head at him to whisper, "Hey, I know I said some things but seriously...Thanks for taking Maria out today."

"As her 'Uncle', I suppose I had to..."

"Oh shit she called you that?" Mew said, forcing a snicker in, "I have GOT to hear that for myself..."

"By the way," Joe Dark turned to him with a wily smile, "You ought to know that some mysterious 'stranger' was watching us in the library. He had sunglasses and a...very weird mustache."

Mew rubbed his chin and shrugged, "I'm sure he was a harmless...handsome fellow."

"...So", Joe Dark looked him straight in the eyes and whispered, "Captain Clementine eh...?"

Mew waved his hand out from his face and murmured, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right..." Joe Dark smiled slightly.

Mew's eyes jerked his way with a mischievous touch to them, "Heheh...So, Joseph Whiter eh?"

Joe Dark closed his eyes and squirmed, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Awwww...come here brother." Mew tried to go for a hug and Joe Dark shoved him with all the weight of a feather.

"Hehehe...!" Mew laid his hands behind his head and turned around, where Maria ran up to them carrying a sole DVD.

"Papa I got this movie for us to watch together."

"You...you did?" He took the DVD, it was a copy of "Manic Martian Invasion" Probably wouldn't be very good. Reeks of B-tier cheese. Didn't matter. It was the thought that counted.

She flashed him a smile, and he patted her on the head. He then stood up and said, "Joe, movie night?"

"Yeah I suppose," Joe Dark gave a shrug and then wandered towards his room, "I'll tell Alura. Make sure we have some popcorn."

"Right!" Mew smacked his palm and did a 180 out the door, "I'll go grow some corn right now! Come on Maria I'll show you how its done."

"Ok!" She eagerly sprinted out the door.

And thus, a comfy night was secured for them in front of the old TV. All thanks to the power of the library, and a little less stubbornness on Mew's part...

_Next Time: Welcome to the Z-Z-Zoo!_


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: A Family Day Out**

For the first time since summer started it was partially cloudy out, and Mew and Maria were outside their house working on the garden. Though this was just a time waster. They were waiting for someone's arrival.

Maria patted the dirt down until the surface was nice and smooth. Then she stood up, right into Mew's hand on her shoulder.

"Alright the seeds are planted, now watch this..." Mew extended his other hand out and from the ground grew tiny green sprouts that quickly blossomed into grape vines.

Mew stuck a wooden stake in so the grapes would wrap around them, and soon would give them a ripe bounty of green ones. The two of them plucked one off each and took a bite.

"Mmm!" Went Maria, "Juicy!"

"A-yep! Now obviously when you plant your own someday this'll take a few months," Mew bit his grape with a smile and said in a muffled tone, "But for now just enjoy the shortcuts!"

They snacked on grapes for a bit until Mew flinched and turned his head back around, "Ah there she is!"

Kairi dropped out of the sky in loose fabric shorts and a sleeveless green shirt, huffing and puffing with exhaustion upon landing, "S-Sorry I'm late...You wouldn't **believe** how hard it was to get away from Shina..."

"Aye you made it undetected, good job!" Mew clapped his hands twice and Maria aped him quietly.

Kairi wiped the sweat off her brow and raised her head high, "Y-Yeah well...the clouds helped."

Mew and her stared at each other for a few moments before blinking. With a slight blush on their parts Mew rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "S-So should I...?"

"N-No I should..."

The two paused to take a deep breath and let their thoughts out together.

"Sorry for being a massive, lying horndog." "I'm sorry that we all stampeded over your back when you feel face-first into the sand."

Mew glanced aside and muttered, "Yeah that was a dick move."

The moment she went "Huh?" Mew's face lit up and he chuckled, "A-Apology accepted!"

"I guess I accept yours too then..." Kairi said, her blush only getting darker.

"Right! So!" Mew hammered his open palm with a fist and turned to Maria, "Tell 'mama' where you wanted to go today Maria."

"The Zoo!" She replied, her eyes all aglow.

"T-The Zoo?" Kairi's own eyes got this faint glow to them and as Mew began to smirk, she stroked the back of her hair and remarked, "I...heard about them once. That's all."

"Ah huh," Mew said dully before snapping his fingers upside his shoulder, "Well I know just the place to go. Come on! A day of fun awaits!"

After he surrounded them in a cloud and camouflaged into the sky they made their way due west, to a city whose most prominent landmark is a giant dome where comedians perform, hockey is played, and people tend to just go and relax. The city sits next to a massive sea that eventually connects to Seattle, and is also surrounded in hills.

They weren't going to the city itself though, but rather further north, atop one of those hills. There they'd find a place called the "Point Defiance Zoo". After assessing the large groups of people taking advantage of the nice weather Mew found the perfect spot for them to land among the trees, and then they casually waltzed out towards the entrance.

"Whoo, nice and bright up here!" Mew said, shading the gleam of the sun with his hand.

"Good thing I wore light clothes today..." Kairi let out a heavy breath. Between them, Maria was looking a little sweaty already.

Mew reached into his back pocket and pulled out a rolled up straw hat, patting it onto her head and saying, "Here I snagged this out of Alura's closet to keep you cool."

Maria grabbed the sides of the hat down and beamed a smile his way.

"Joe and Alura didn't want to come with?" Kairi remarked.

"Oh," Mew shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, they had other things to do."

_Meanwhile back at the house..._

Joe Dark and Alura dragged themselves down the stairs and into the living room. After he smacked his lips to wake up he turned his glazed eyes to the clock and muttered, "Noon already...?"

Alura stretched her arms up with a mighty yawn and part of her shirt slumped off her shoulder, "Joe Dark...I want food."

"So do I..." As his eyes got into focus he noticed a certain...emptiness in the house, "Mew."

He looked around some more and exclaimed "MEW!" as he wandered around, happening upon a note on the table. He took a long look at it.

"_Hey lazy bones, me and Maria are going out with Kairi today. Feel free to eat what you want, but don't break my stove again :). Your loving brother, Mew."_

He crumpled the note between his fingers and muttered, "Goddamn it Mew."

_Back with Mew..._

Mew cracked a wobbly grin and Kairi glanced him to say, "Meeeeeeew..."

"I-It should just be the three of us anyways!" He replied hastily.

"I guess you're right..." As Kairi settled her hands into her pockets she turned her head, slowly then quickly, as she _just_ noticed Maria running ahead of them to the entrance.

"Maria! Wait up!" She sprinted after her and Mew followed suit at a brisk pace, chuckling all the while.

They got to the entrance and Mew bought their tickets in after a bit of a wait. Once inside Maria was allowed to go ahead a short distance and take her first look at just how diverse the animal kingdom can be.

And her first move was to run up the end of the plaza and hop atop the stone perch overlooking the rest of the zoo.

"Eeek!" Kairi flinched and her attempt to go to her resulted in Mew clamping her down by the shoulder.

"Relax she'll be fine."

"But-" Kairi turned back with a frightened look in her eyes and Mew could only smile at that.

"We didn't come here to have a panic attack. Let her explore a bit. Stretch her legs."

"I just don't want her jumping into an animal's den..."

"Hahaha, I think most of the animals here should worry about **her**, not the other way around." Mew let go when her tension settled down a bit.

Maria ran back over to them and pulled out a fold-up map they got at the entrance. She scanned it over thoroughly a few times while Mew bent down beside her to help.

"Do you know where you want to go?"

Kairi bent down on the other side and noted, "It looks like there's only one route."

"Yeah starting out, but then you can go left or right," He said, pointing at the map, "Eventually making a complete loop back to start!"

"Then, can we go here first?" Maria pointed to the area marked "Kids' Zone" left of where they were.

"Sure! And remember, if you need to know anything about animals..." Mew stood up and proudly pointed a thumb at his chest, "I'm your guy!"

"Oh god..." Kairi muttered in a horrified tone.

They made their way to the first location and saw a rocky habitat where a bunch of small furry, sand-colored creatures scurried about. Maria tried to peek over the railing but instead Mew got her up on his shoulders.

"These are Merekats. They're normally found in Africa."

"Aff-ric-ka?" Maria tried to repeat.

"Its another continent like North America," Mew jostled her a bit playfully and said, "See that's the cool thing about Zoos, they allow people to see animals they normally wouldn't be able to."

A few Merekats went up to the rock closest to the railing and stood on their tiny hind legs, peeking at the gathered crowd of kids and parents with their little eyes.

"Hahaha, they look like a bunch of furry hot dogs." Maria said.

"You know why they do that?" Mew asked, and she shook her head.

"That's what they do when they're on alert, or are curious. Merekat tend to be cautious creatures and will dig dozens of tunnels underground to escape their predators."

Kairi smiled and slowly nodded her head.

Mew threw his pointer fingers up and remarked, "But if they are cornered, a dozen of them can connect head-to-foot into a giant wheel and roll their enemies over!"

"Oh wow!" As Maria's eyes lit up, Kairi's expression crashed into a gawking form.

When they got to the goat pen...

"Goat horns can fire off like boomerangs to collect fruit off of tall trees!"

Then the wallabie one...

"Much like their older brothers, the Kangaroos, Wallabies can fire off miniature clones of themselves from their pouches!"

And then to the lizards building...

"So you see how those chameleons change colors?" Mew pointed at the brown pivoted eye creature on the tree, "That signifies what kind of elements they can shoot from their eyes!"

"Ok that's it!" Kairi exclaimed, drawing the attention of the people nearby but more importantly, making Mew shut up.

"Eyes lasers? Deployable clones? Horn boomerangs?! Fake fake fake all of it fake!" Kairi crossed then swung her arms out, dropping to her knees next to Maria and taking her by the back.

"You see those chameleons?" She said in a more calm tone, "They change color to blend into the environment and avoid detection from predators."

"Really?" Asked Maria, turning her head towards Mew, while Kairi glared at him.

Mew turned his head aside with his hands held behind it and muttered, "Yeah its true..."

He puckered his lips and muttered even quieter, "But it'd be so much cool with eye lasers..."

Maria's eyes lit up cowards the caged lizards and she proclaimed, "Camouflage is much cooler than eye lasers!"

And it was like an arrow to Mew's heart, "GCKK!"

Alas, he'd been defeated by facts and logic. It was fun while it lasted though...

He shut his mouth the rest of the way through the reptilian section as Kairi filled Maria's brain with not as fun or interesting facts. Once they were outside though Mew grabbed Maria by the hand and looked her in the eyes to say, "Alright I know I messed up but I do know of **some** legitimately cool animals."

As they began to wander off Maria pointed forward. There was this glossy looking blue bird with a bunch of long feathers attached to its tail just...strutting its stuff on the trail.

"Oh hey, speaking of cool animals!" Mew stopped them there to watch and observe the docile bird turn its head on a pivot. A couple kids tried to approach it but it hastened its strut into the grass.

"What is that?" Asked Maria.

"One of the prettiest birds alive, the peacock!"

"Shouldn't...it like, be in a cage?" Kairi wondered.

"Nah its fine," Mew waved his hand out towards it, "Its a harmless bird."

When another kid tried to approach the peacock, its shining tail feathers went up like a fan. Maria jumped and went wide-eyed with glee.

"That's so cool! Its like a rainbow!"

"Show-offs..." Mew chuckled.

The peacock was left to its own devices and they moved on to the next area: The African Exhibit.

There weren't as many people around and Maria boldly took a couple steps ahead, "Papa mama can I look around?"

"Sure!" Mew said right away, and as she ran off Kairi cupped her mouth and exclaimed, "B-But not too far...!"

The two slowly follow her around while taking this opportunity to enjoy the sights on their own. They passed by the massive elephant pen and one of those ivory-tusked beasts raised their trunk and did their powerful cry.

"Eep!" Kairi was spooked.

"Hehe." Mew laughed as she laid a hand on her chest to catch her breath.

"Mrrrr...!" She puffed her cheeks at him.

"You're still so tense Kairi."

"With you and Shina around its hard not to..." She grumbled.

"Oh yeah, how she's handling the you-know-what?"

"Its the same as always with her..."

"You should get out on your own more." Mew suggested, gesturing his hand out with a smile.

"I know I should but like..." Kairi pulled her head back and her jaw slacked for her sigh, "I'm not used to crowds...And people recognize me more after I beat Gravitus...And-"

"Sounds like a bunch of excuses." Mew said bluntly.

"What?" She stared at him with growing anger.

"You remember what I told you before right?"

"...I shouldn't care what they think?" Kairi vaguely committed to.

"Exactly. Just be yourself and you'll be fine," Mew smiled with his eyes shut, "You're not having any trouble right now yeah?"

"Because its stressful enough with you!" She said, jokingly nudging him in the gut with her elbow.

As she backed away she looked to the right and her eyes went from happy to frightened in a snap, "Maria no!"

Mew swung to the left and saw their little girl trying to pull herself up onto the railings overlooking the lion's den. With a bit of "cheating" from her flight she was able to stand on top of it and balance herself with ease.

Mew and Kairi ran over and Kairi shoved a couple people aside to get behind Maria, "Young lady you get down from there right now!"

"Mama you should come up here with me!" Said Maria, playfully twirling on one foot.

Kairi's eyes widened and her face turned pale, then she pumped her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Don't make me do that! You're not gonna like what happens next!"

Mew crossed his arms and chuckled, "Gotta admit she's got a good balance, maybe we should see about her becoming a gymnast?"

"This isn't the time Mew!"

The crowd's cries were a mix of awe, fear and worry at Maria's performance. Mew grit his teeth and sighed "Alright" before jumping straight onto the railing himself.

He put one foot before the other and held his arms out, wobbling around at the knees, "W-Whoa! Easy there..."

Maria held her arms out and mimicked his movements with a hearty giggle.

"W-Well I'm glad you're having fun honey but you really ought to get down from there..."

Maria started dipping her legs down _towards_ the den. Mew's eyes widened and he lunged his arm out, only for his footing to slip towards the den.

"_Ruh roh..." _And sent him tumbling off the rail with a hard "Thud!" on the ground.

"Mew!" Kairi exclaimed as she immediately vaulted over the railing, her eyes frozen all wide-eyed as her descent began, "...WhatamIdoiiiiiiing?!"

As they were reunited Maria hopped off the rail in the opposite direction and lifted her head over it, joined by the crowd of worried people.

"Papa! Mama! Are you ok?!" She screamed.

"Its this girl's parents!" "They look so young!" "Oh no, this is terrible!" Were some of the crowd's cries of concern.

Mew and Kairi got up with little fuss and Mew dusted his shirt off, "Well this is a fine predicament I've gotten us into this time..."

Kairi turned to him and rammed into his face, "You THINK?!"

"Grrr..."

The two slowly turned towards the caves, where two young, hungry lionesses crawled down from their rocks, as a thick-maned male lion watched on.

Mew and Kairi pinned their backs to the wall as the beasts approached their location and hunched down, scratching at the dusty ground.

"Grrr..."

"...Okay Kairi, go ahead and tame them." Mew said with a weary chuckle.

"What do you mean tame them?!" Kairi swung her head at him and hollered.

Mew brushed his hand out and looked her way, "You know what I mean, your Drive, use the experience!"

"It doesn't work like that you idiot!" She yelled until her face was red.

Mew lurched his head back and grinned up at Maria, "Heeeeey honey, we're doing just fine...!"

The lionesses stood their ground in a crouched position, their eyes unmoving. Mew's laughter cracked as he looked back at them.

"Hehehe you know Maria? W-When it comes to lions, its actually the females who hunt, while the males-"

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR THAT!" When Kairi screamed the lionesses stirred, extending their claws with the intent to pounce.

"Hhhrrrr...!" Kairi retracted into a slouch against the wall and all color was flushed from her face.

"Should I gas them mama?" Maria suggested.

"N-No honey, we're fine I'm serious!" Mew exclaimed.

Maria pulled herself over the railing and shook her fist out, "You hear that you mean kitties?! My papa's gonna kick your butts!"

The lionesses roared like tearing thunder, and Mew found his fingertips getting dug into the rock behind him, "N-Not helping dear!"

"_Aw man. Can't fight can't fly...Am I seriously going to die to lions?!" _His frustration was mixing with his panic very quickly.

"...Wait a second," Then he got an idea and pulled his head back dramatically, "Ah! If only these beasts were blinded with dust, then we could try and make our escape! HINT! HINT!"

Maria perked up and firmly nodded her head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The dust in the ground flew up into the lionesses' faces and threw them off.

And right at that moment the employees only door swung up and a valiant hero exclaimed, "Quick! Run to me!"

"Thank god!" Mew grabbed the frozen Kairi by the wrist and dragged her towards the door.

One of the lionesses shook the dust from their eyes and lunged through the air towards them. The employee shut the door but before it got there Mew whipped around and socked the beast in the nose to drop them immediately.

_A short time later..._

Mew, Kairi and Maria sit at an outdoor table eating burgers and fries. They're all staring out emptily.

Mew's cough broke the scene of silence and he took a sip of his milkshake, "...So what did we learn today?"

Kairi took her curly fry into a sloppily of ketchip and stirred it around, "Zoos need higher fences?"

"Papa and mama don't have any balance?" Maria commented.

"I was gonna say 'lions are ass-'" He clamped his mouth shut and glanced at Maria, "Mean...They're very very mean."

After a bit of nibbling Mew pointed a french fry at Maria and said, "I know this is early, but is there anywhere else you want to go after this?"

Maria leaned her head back and hummed deep in thought.

"Maybe we could go to a movie?" Kairi suggested.

"I bet there'd be a baseball game up in Seattle later tonight." Mew followed.

"I want to go someplace 'unique'..." Maria murmured, then nodded her head, "Yeah!"

"Unique eh?" Piqued Mew's interest.

"Guess I gotta defer to you Mew..." Sighed Kairi.

He snapped his fingers and proclaimed confidently, "Actually I got the perfect place, and its not far from here!"

A couple more wonderful, trouble-less hours at the zoo later, the three of them took a bus down into the city and headed across a bridge towards a large building shaped like a slanted glass cone.

"This is the Museum of Glass." Said Mew, rousing up a sense of wonder and excitement that Kairi wasn't buying.

"Glass?" She squinted, "They made a museum. For glass."

"Hey she wanted someplace unique. Up to her to decide if its something she likes." Mew shrugged it off and Kairi shook her head.

"I just don't see it."

They head inside and as usual, Mew's seemingly bottomless wallet got them in. This place wasn't as big or hardly as busy as the zoo, which didn't inspire much hope to Kairi.

They went straight right to the main museum, displaying a bunch of unique and varied glassworks. Maria wandered around with some guidance on Kairi's part. She was explicitly told by Mew not to touch anything.

Maria moved towards a giant glass rose on display in the back of the room and craned her head back towards the top of it.

Her agape mouth said it all.

"Figures you'd like this one," Laughed Mew, patting her on the back, "But do know how they make stuff like this?"

She shook her head a lot.

"Well...Have I got a treat for you!"

They doubled back to the entrance and went left through a short hall, arriving in a spacious room with weather metal stands overlooking a big, burning furnace. A man with thick gloves and protective overalls used metal clamps to pull hot red liquid metal from the furnace and place it atop an anvil.

The three of them sat down in the middle row and Mew localized a chill breeze to counteract the heat without arousing suspicion.

The man of the forge used the glass to make a bowl as a simple display of how the profession works. The process was delicate and required lots of patience, but it resulted in something beautiful in its own way.

It didn't leave any room for questions until after the presentation though. Mew filled in the gaps of knowledge to the best of his ability as they left the room and headed over to the gift shop.

Maria was all smiles and nods. As silly of an idea as it was on paper, Mew let this hyperenergtic child loose in the gift store to pick out a souvenir.

And in her brief absence Kairi slumped her shoulders with a sigh, "I can't believe she enjoyed something so...so..."

"Old-fashioned?" Mew said with a chuckle.

She looked aside at him and shook her head, "You too. Its not...what I expected from you."

"Eh, gaming it up all the time gets dull." Mew shrugged.

Kairi raised her head and her expression started to look a little sad, "People...make glass."

"Huh?" He looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"We always got everything handed to us cause of Gravitus and never got to know how it was made. Even the dish I ate breakfast off of this morning must have taken a lot of time to create."

"Want to become a glassworker?" Mew joked.

"HELL no!" Kairi laughed, "I couldn't stand the heat!"

"I'm back!" Shouted Maria, carrying a hand the size of her bag and a lovely rose pin stuck on her vest.

"Heeeey look at that. That looks great on you!" Said Mew.

She blushed and grinned, then raised her bag towards them, "I got something for you two."

Kairi raised her hand and Maria pulled it back to her hip, wagging her finger up, "Ah ah. Close your eyes mama. You too papa."

The two played along and extended their hands out until they felt something cold between them, "Ok, open them!"

The two saw a teal glass heart resting between their palms, and Maria gently closed their hands around it, "It represents the love you share."

Kairi's face turned red, but Mew's soon followed. They pulled back and Kairi wound up with the heart.

"U-Ummm..."

"Maria I-I..."

The two were stumbling on their words and avoiding one another's eyes. Maria stood there and giggled with a wily smirk.

Mew then snapped his fingers and hastily tried to deter the conversation, "S-Say Maria, since you love flowers so much...I know one more place for us to go!"

With the subject of love quickly tossed into the trash they left the Museum and wasted a bit of time exploring the city. Mew wanted time to pass a bit but didn't say why.

Unfortunately the tremors in Maria's stomach forced them to go grab a bite to eat. Maria made them get a pizza by dancing and cheering...Not that Mew complained.

An extra large with meat and cheese slathered on, and a bit of grease up top. The perfect Italian nightmare, but the grand American dream, all wrapped up in a single square box.

They headed on up to the same hill the zoo was at, but landed closer to the waterside. There was no humans. No roads. No buildings. Just a nice comfy slant, and a rainbow assortment of flowers.

"Here we are!"

When they went down Maria bent to look and sniff the flowers. They were still in their prime, fresh as the day they first bloomed.

Mew found a nice empty patch of grass and patted it down, opening the pizza up in the center, "Alright dinner's served!"

The three of them sat down, Mew and Maria towards the water, and Kairi towards the pizza.

"You'll want to look out Kairi." Mew suggested softly.

She gazed out towards where he pointed. The sun was beginning to set, and the orange-purple hue of the sky changed the water's surface. They could see all of the city, the hill on the other side, and even further beyond that.

Mew glided Maria's attention across the city, "That's the sports dome, where they play sports. Over there is the industrial distract...There's a casino...And if you look up the freeway you can juuuuust make out the local water park..."

"..." Kairi stared out into the city and a gentle breeze swayed her hair back, _"This one city's barely any bigger than Sancturia. But its just one city, in one state...one part of a greater whole."_

She laid her fingers in her hair and closed her eyes, _"Shina and I wanted to see the whole world? We were silly kids, weren't we? I've been to space but...seeing the city like this really makes me feel like an ant on this planet." _

"Haaaa..." She sighed, and Mew and Maria pulled their attention away for a moment.

"You ok mama?"

"I'm fine," She replied, picking up a slice of pizza, "I was just thinking about stuff..."

Mew and Maria took their first bites of pizza too. Mew smiled, and Kairi made a passing notice to the glimmer coming down his cheek.

"Mew...you're..."

Mew raised his head back and moaned delightfully, "This pizza's sooooo good!"

Maria craned her head into his chest and paddled her feet in the air, "Yummy!"

He then looked Kairi's way, "What was that Kairi?"

"N-Nothing..." She continued nibbling her pizza and didn't believe Mew. That wasn't a cry spared for a pizza.

Mew looked at Kairi, then down at Maria on his lap, and closed his eyes with half a smile, _"I'm so blessed to have you guys in my life..."_

When the pizza was done it only took a few more minutes for Maria to stretch her mouth and yawn.

"Tired?" Mew got a weak nod from her, "Well that's later than last time anyways. Come on, I'll carry you home."

One cloud camouflage and flight back home later, the sun was thoroughly behind the mountains and the sky was navy blue.

"That seemed like such a long day..." Kairi murmured.

"You had fun though yeah?" Asked Mew.

"Yes I did..." Kairi murmured hesitantly.

Maria stirred in Mew's arms, her eyes shut tight, and her breathing regular. Mew looked at Kairi with a smile and said, "We should probably not talk too much."

"Right..." Kairi peered down at Maria's face and gently stroked her bangs back, then bent down and gave her a light kiss on the forehead, "Good night Maria."

The girl smiled with a giggle. Kairi pulled away, her hand being the last to return. And she looked to Mew and said, "M-Maybe next time...she could stay at my place?"

Mew's eyes perked up and he said, "Sure, she'd love that."

Kairi smiled and whispered to herself, "Maybe we..."

She shook her head and chuckled, "Never mind. See you later Mew."

She turned and flew off back off home, leaving Mew to carry Maria inside the house. When he got in he saw Joe Dark and Alura on the couch, asleep with the TV watching them, and a bunch of popcorn kernels strewn over their bodies.

Mew shook his head and carried Maria off to bed for a good night's rest, after a good day out...

_Next Time: Solaris Vs. Proper Manners_


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43: The Angel of the Bar**

_Late in the day, up on the moon..._

In the comfort of her lunar palace Lunis laid back in a soft white chair and thumbed through a book about two-hundred pages thick. Her emotions went from smiling to shocked at the turn of the page. There was a gripping narrative unfolding before her squinted eyes.

An explosion of light white went off in front of her and she briefly heard her rowdy brother yell "SHIT!"

Then came a red explosion, whipping fire through the air as shockwaves. "Hmph!" grunted Riku, who retaliated with a few blasts of his own.

The wind from their impact made Lunis pressed her thumb down on the page but nary a twitch of her eye went away from the book.

The roar of a flame pillar went off in the distance, followed by the clean slice through the air.

"Hm hm hm...!" Lunis turned the page and let out a gasp, "Oh no! How could he?!"

Solaris collapsed onto his back and lowered his armor, his usual clothes soaked in a drying sweat. Riku dropped out of Light Form and went onto one knee, breathing with a similar weight to his sparring partner.

"I think that's...good for day." He murmured.

Solaris threw his upper body upright and weakly waved his right hand in the air, "I-I can still go a few more rounds!"

"Heh...!" Riku smirked and stood up, gliding through the air to grab Solaris' hand and pull him up, "You're doing good. We both worked up a good sweat today."

Solaris looked at his right hand and squeezed it tight. His muscle surged, making him cock a grin, "I'm feeling an improvement already...!"

"You still need to land a solid hit on me." Riku critiqued quietly.

Solaris lurched his head back and swung his hand out, "You're too fast in that form, gimme a break!"

"That's for you to figure out. For now, lets rest." Riku patted him on the shoulder and walked towards Lunis.

Solaris pouted and muttered "That's for you to figure out" then grunted like a bull and said, "Thinking's a pain..."

He made his pace faster than Riku's and grabbed a chair next to his sister. Beside him was a glass of hot water as big as his head and below that, the card he got from that strange girl on the beach.

He glugged down all the water while eyeing the card, then slowly picked it up when he was done. He stared at it, flipped it over, flipped it back, then stared at it some more.

"What's that?" Said Lunis as she snatched the card right out of his hand.

"Hey!" He leaned out and nearly fell out of the chair trying to get it back. Lunis held it up a couple inches from her face and began to get one of those annoying, assuming smiles.

"Samantha...J.?" She turned to him and said, "Brother, did you find a girl...?"

"AH!" Solaris lunged out, grabbed the card, and dragged the chair down by his feet. He then quickly got back up and stuffed the card behind his hip.

"Don't go making shit up Lunis! I got a score to settle with that annoying woman, that's all!"

"Its been a few weeks since the beach, why haven't you?" Inquired Riku.

"B-Because...!" Solaris' boastful attitude couldn't withstand the judgmental gazes of his peers for long, "Oh fine! I don't know how to get to this 'Bar'...Whatever the hell one of those even is!"

Solaris gestured his hand out and said, "You've had your head stuck in these books for weeks Lunis, tell me about bars!"

"Ummm well," Lunis bookmarked her current read and then frantically flipped through the stack of books beside her, "It might be a rod made of metal used to support buildings?"

"Bah that's bullshit." Solaris wagged a hand up and tapped his foot on the ground.

"I don't know what a 'Bar' is either but it sounds mature. Maybe...ask Auris?"

Riku's suggestion made a lightbulb go off in Solaris' head and he snapped his fingers, "Yeah. Yeah...Now that you mention it your dumb brother said something similar back then. Fine you know what? I'll go there right now! She'll never see it coming!"

"I'm sure she will..." Murmured Lunis as she resumed reading.

"Well I'll go and grab-" Before Riku finished his sentence Solaris had wrapped himself in fire and headed of, "Her..."

He lowered into the chair with a sigh, "Well hopefully his presence in Sancturia doesn't cause a riot."

_Down in Sancturia..._

Solaris hunted down Auris' house via instinct and pounded loudly on the side of the door, "Hey Auris, come here!"

He turned aside and saw a bunch of Aurians eyeing him funny from behind their houses. He crossed his arms and wondered, "What's with them?"

He heard the cloth door move and turned to see Auris poking her head out in surprise, "Solaris...? What are you doing here?"

"I ain't got time for questions when I need answers!" He forced himself into the house and sat right onto her couch, "You're apparently an expert on 'Bars' so come on!"

He snapped his fingers up twice and proclaimed, "Hop to it! Tell me all you know!"

He suddenly felt a tight grip on his fingers as Auris dragged herself in closer and was projecting a terrifying aura around her closed-eye smile.

"You can't just come here unannounced you idiot, did you forget that you set this whole city on fire not even two months ago? I ought to take out my shield and smack the stupid out of your head do you understand me boy?"

"Y-Yes mommy..." Whimpered Solaris.

"Good," She let him go and sat across the couch from him, "So...what's this about a 'Bar'?"

After a very, very brief rundown of events...

"Snkkk...!" Auris hunched over and snickered.

"What's so fun-"

"Hahahah!" Her mouth burst open with laughter and she slapped her knees twice.

Solaris grumpily crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch. Auris stopped. Eventually. Then she wiped her eyes dry and said, "Oh my sweet naive child..."

"What what what?" Solaris barked for answers.

"Oh never mind," Auris smiled wide, "You've still got a lot of growing up to do."

She sat more upright and laid her hands over her legs, "A bar...yes. That's where people of a certain age go to gather and drink themselves silly into the night. But its also a place of recreation, and relaxation."

"Sounds dull." Solaris groaned.

"Maybe it is...at first. But have a few drinks and-"

"Lady Auris, please don't turn the living sun into a drunkard." Came the familiar gruff of one Gabriel at the door.

He walked inside and Solaris looked at him over shoulder, "Drunkard? The hell's that?"

"Bars primarily serve alcoholic beverages, which is why you have to be an adult before you can go in."

"...And alcohol is?"

"..." Gabriel huffed one of his big sighs and waddled over to take a seat next to Solaris, "Alcohol is a kind of...drug. Simply put, consuming it can dull your senses, impair your judgment, and damage your body."

"Oh, so its a liquid that can put up a fight eh?" Solaris began to grin, "Ok, ok...You got my attention."

"Haaaa, the true purpose of alcohol isn't to get drunk, but to enrich the flavor of certain drinks. It should be taken in moderation according to a person's body and-"

"Yeah yeah I get it," Solaris stood up and crossed his arms tight, "I know everything I need to know now! All I have to do is go to this bar and show her up!"

As he rounded the couch he heard a creak coming from it and Gabriel grabbed him firmly on the left shoulder, "I will be coming with you."

Solaris swatted his arm off and said, "No way! I don't need the Big Green Buzzkill anchoring me down!"

"I'm just in the mood for a drink. And besides..." Gabriel raised a smirk, "You don't know how to get there."

"Bah, you got a point," Solaris grunted, "But you keep out of my business. I'm going to defeat this woman in a final arm wrestling contest and that's that!"

"Of course. You won't hear a peep from me," Gabriel turned him around and gently shoved him out the door, "But first we're going to get you into some more normal looking clothes."

"Oh yeah, cause the man 2,000 years out of time has fashion sense..." Solaris' rough response made Gabriel stand there and cough.

He then turned back and gave a gentle shrug towards Auris, who laughed it off and waved him a fond farewell, mouthing "Good luck" for good measure.

One trip to the Big and Tall store and a favor call to the noisy purple-haired girl later, the two took a portal close to where the bar's address was.

Solaris was decked out in a tye-dye shirt resembling a solar flare with a black vest over it, along with some brown pants that somehow managed to fit his legs.

Gabriel meanwhile went for a simple, tuxedo approach with green tie and combed back his usually messy hair.

They walked out of the alleyway and the portal shut behind them. Solaris then whipped out his card and remarked, "So its supposed to be around here...?"

He looked up and saw tons of flashing lights and distracting signs posted up everywhere, "Well how the hell am I supposed to figure it out with all this unnecessary clutter in the way?!"

"Ahem...!" Gabriel coughed, and gestured to the left.

Solaris looked up to the left and saw a flashing sign that looked exactly like the icon on his card. It was attached to a building with a rustic European design. Not that Solaris knew about or could appreciate that kind of aesthetic.

"Finally...!" He grit his teeth and dropped the card in his pocket, making his way towards the fateful rematch with that strange woman.

He planted his hand on the door and shoved it open, a loud "Ring!" coming from a bell above. Once he walked inside he saw that everything was dimly lit. There were a few tables around, with a big rectangular one with eight corner pockets in the back corner. There were some bright machines lined up on the wall, a couple TVs hung from the ceiling whose size would make Mew green with envy, and a bunch of people dressed up in leather jackets, sports uniforms, etc that were now staring straight at him.

"...What?" Solaris looked at them funny and shrugged.

"AAAAAAAYYY!" The people raised their mugs in cheer, "Fresh meat!"

They then dropped their spilled mugs onto their tables and resumed chatting with one another.

"Fresh meat?" Murmured Solaris.

"Oh boy..." Whispered Gabriel behind him.

"What?" He tried to ask, only for the samurai to shrug and walk past him.

"What? WHAT?" Solaris followed him past the first few tables towards a counter where rounded seated chairs rested just below it. On the wall behind the counter were rows and rows of different bottles and a couple machines that might have something to do with them.

Gabriel took a seat and Solaris waited a bit before doing so himself. He then leaned in and pounded his fist onto the counter.

"Hey! You there!" He yelled towards an orange haired person wearing a ruffled white shirt, with a big roaring dragon inked on the back and the words "Hell's Angels" written in a wild, flaming font within its mouth, "I'm looking for some crazy woman by the name of 'Samantha J.' Where is she?"

"Oh ho ho! I recognize that scrotum sucking growl anywhere!" The person boasted in an aggravatingly familiar tone as they flipped around and flashed their ferocious smile his way, "Took you long enough to come crawling back to me, flame head!"

"You!" Solaris' eyes lit up. The woman may have hidden herself well behind that buttoned-up suit shirt and strapping charcoal overalls but the moment her eyes met his triggered his memories, "I finally found you!"

"Not like I left complicated directions," Samantha leaned against the counter with her elbows and hovered an inch away from his face, "What'd, you get lost in your muscles for three whole weeks?"

"Heh, you'll drop the cocky attitude once I finally beat you in arm wrestling!" Solaris dropped his elbow hard on the counter and grit his teeth, "Now put 'em up...!"

Samantha leaned back with a wry smirk and said, "Love to. Can't."

She rolled her hand around and then whipped it out beside her head, "I'm on the job. Maybe later."

"Wha-"

"Yo! Black Frost!" She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered to a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a dark gray business suit with frosted gray cornrows and shades covering his eyes, "Toss me two Bombastic Specials for the fresh meat!"

The man's arms moved with the speed of an arrow and the grace of a bird, pulling two mugs down under in one hand, while pulling a silver bottle off the shelf behind him in the other. The mugs slid out of his fingers onto the counter and an equal serving of liquid poured from the bottle as they glided over them. Not a single drop was wasted. He then caught the bottle in the over hand, put it back, then pulled out another one, masterfully popping the cork off with his thumb.

The cork stayed suspended in the air as he poured a few drops into the mugs, and whisked them with a spoon he had grabbed at some point during all this. He then held the bottle upright and the cork popped right back on. Then he tapped the mugs with the bottom of the bottle, sending them sliding into Samantha's hands.

"Toughen 'em up, Fire Fist." He said in a suave, baritone voice.

She slapped the mugs down in front of her new guests and smiled, "These bad boys'll have you feeling like you've been sipping hot magma from Satan's bathtub after he rubbed his taint over it. Go on, enjoy!"

Gabriel sat there with wide eyes and could be heard muttering to himself, "This girl's tongue could give Noel a run for her money..."

He then reached for the glass and raised it to his chin. Solaris stared at it, then up at Samantha, who laid her elbows down and fiddled her fingers on the sides of her face.

"C'mon. Take a sip. Live a little."

"_Ha, she thinks I'm going to back down from a challenge?" _Solaris grit his teeth, gripped the mug tight in his hand, and then threw all of it contents down his throat in one massive gulp.

"Whoa ho ho! Hell yeah! Look at this one go!" Samantha backed away clapping her hands loudly, then pumped her fist in the air, "Chug chug chug!"

Solaris slapped his mug back down on the counter and made sure his tongue licked every last drop from his lips. There was a slight burning sensation in his throat, but it felt **amazing**.

"That all you got?" He grunted.

"Niiice, you passed the test!" Samantha crossed her arms, "But you're the first I've seen down the whole thing in one gulp!"

Meanwhile Gabriel slowly went through his drink and ended it with a pleasant gasp, "Ahh...that's good."

He gently set the mug down and looked Samantha in the eyes, "I sensed a delicate smoky flavor. Hint of lime too. Custom brew?"

"You got it gruffy beard! We're home to the most unique beer brews on the entire West Coast!" She bent down and picked out a couple laminated menus to slap down in front of them, "But I ain't gonna bore you by listing them all. Explore to your heart, stomach and liver's content!"

"Gladly!" Proclaimed Solaris as he snagged the menu and opened it up, "Beer's some good shit!"

"Oh? Are you popping your beer cherry today with dear ol' dad here to watch you?" Said Samantha, resting her hand against her cheek with a taunting smile.

"What? Him?" Solaris gestured his thumb at Gabriel, "This guy's just a fly that followed me here."

"You can consider me his...'Damage Control'." Said Gabriel with a dry cough.

"Iiiii getcha," Nodded Samantha in turn, "But still, you're this old without having a beer? What, you been in a cage most of your adult life?"

"Yeah actually." Solaris said without looking away from the menu.

Samantha gestured a hand out with a side glance towards the black man, "This guy. THIS guy!"

She then threw a curious gaze towards Gabriel and said, "So then who's the tag-a-long?"

"Ah my apologies," Gabriel extended his hand out, "Gabriel. Its a pleasure to meet you."

She shook his hand hard and said, "Call me Sam. Pleasure's mine too!"

When she let go Gabriel's arm twitched and he stared down at his hand for a while. Solaris peeked over his menu and murmured, "What's with all the names? Samantha. Sam. Fire Fist? You tryin' to confuse us here?"

"People can have names and titles," Samantha remarked and nudged her shoulder to the left, "Black Frost over there? Real name Zeke."

The man tipped his shades to the two, "Honor's mine."

She then crossed her arms and glanced at Gabriel, "And I bet you got a title to go with that worn-down face of yours Gabriel!"

"A tale for another time perhaps," Gabriel picked up his menu with a smile, "Today is a night to drink and relax."

"Mad respect there. Pick your poison, we got beer for days!" She pinched and rubbed her fingers together, "But you better be ready to empty your pockets for me!"

"Yo Sam! Can we get a refill here?!" Proclaimed one from a rowdy group of three in the north part of the bar.

"On it!" She turned away and looked over her shoulder, "Decide by the time I'm back! And don't pussy out!"

"She's a feisty one." Gabriel said, while Solaris remained face deep in the menu.

"Yeah she's strange," He hastily brushed the conversation off without a care and laid the menu down, "So what the hell's the best drink they got here old man?"

Gabriel looked at his menu and murmured, "Can't say I'm familiar with a menu like this..."

Yes. Instead of sorting the drinks by categories, they are described by the tier with fierce words like "Grenade", "Missile, "Nuclear" and "Atomic". The "Bombastic Special" they had was a mid-tier "Missile" drink.

"Just tell me what the toughest thing on the menu is." Solaris demanded.

"Judging by the words used I'd say your best bet would be something under the 'Nuclear' category. But for your first-time-"

"Nuclear! Got it!" He picked up the menu and flipped to that page.

"I would sincerely advise against it."

"Seriously. Buzzkill. Cut it out. My body's made for this sorta shit."

He resumed looking over the menu while Gabriel muttered something about a "horse" and "water".

"_The Solar Slum Slam?" _A cheeky grin grew over his face, _"Perfect! That's a drink made for ME!"_

He banged his fist on the counter twice and proclaimed, "Hey! I'm ready for the next round!"

Samantha ran up to them and said, "No shit?"

She then waved her arms out with a smirk, "So, what Hell have you chosen to venture into?"

"Hit me with the Solar Slum Slam! I'm going to empty you of your strongest drinks before the night's done!" Boasted the god.

"Then you choose the path of Nuclear Flames eh?" Samantha's chest huffed with laughter and she slapped the edge of the counter, hitting him with a glare, "You better not burn, Icarus."

Whoever this "Icarus" was must've been a wimp to lose to nuclear flames.

"So how about you?" Samantha turned her head to Gabriel.

"Hmmm..." Gabriel laid his menu down flat, "Give me your best recommendation from the Atomic tier. And I feel like trying out your 'Nasty Nacho Fries'."

She turned around and shouted around the corner, "Chefs! One magma flow over logs, heartburn style!"

"And I'll go get your drinks." She turned aside and clicked her thumbs off her pointer fingers at them as she walked off.

She returned two minutes later with a mug in hand and her spirits looking pumped. She slapped them down before the two and then, a second later, was given a tray carrying Gabriel's appetizer.

The tray was exuding smoke and Solaris watched Gabriel's eyes water. But he lifted his head, took a whiff, and remarked with a tint of nostalgia in his voice, "Ah, this reminds me of an active volcano. I haven't had food this spicy in a long, long time."

"You been to a volcano?" Samantha remarked.

"Yes. A few of them actually." Gabriel gave as a humble brag.

"Neat! You'll fit right in here then!"

Solaris lifted his drink and gulped the whole thing down in a second, then slammed it on the counter. He grit his teeth confidently and his vision wobbled for a bit.

"There you go...! A-Another!"

Samantha whistled loudly, "Whoa! Not bad! But take a breather, these drinks take time to make anyways."

"N-Nah...I can take another right now!" He slapped the mug down a couple times and Samantha threw her hands up.

"Alright alright chill, flame hair. I'll get you your fix." She turned around to the many bottles and got to work.

Gabriel whet his appetite with the fries and alternated between that and the beer. As he did he glanced over his shoulder and made an odd comment, "This bar...there's a certain wildness to it but at the same time it feels...comfortable."

"You got it!" Hollered Samantha, looking over her shoulder while working, "We're here to serve while people just come to lie back, relax, and enjoy themselves as themselves. No masks. No fake personas."

She spun back with Solaris' next drink in hand and held up two...three fingers?

"There's just a couple rules to follow. No cussing each other out, and-"

"You cheatin' sack of shit!" Roared a gravelly voice from the upper right corner of the bar.

"Hold on." Samantha paused and her glare had Solaris and Gabriel looking where the voice came from.

Two big, burly men in biker outfits with bushy mustaches and goggles were tossing around a guy at the table with pockets.

"Thinkin' you could sneak that ball into the POCKET?!" The blonde man of the two shoved their victim into the protruding belly of his black-haired friend.

"Punk ass BITCH!" That man grabbed a stick and smashed it over the guy's head, causing them to collapse onto the ground.

The two men then slapped their stomachs and threw their hands towards the ground, one of them even spitting on him.

Gabriel's hand tensed up on the counter and he began to rise. Samantha slapped her hand down on his and remarked in a firm tone, "Nah. This ain't your job, sir."

She then vaulted over the counter. The moment she landed everyone but the violent two got out of their chairs and dragged them and the tables away, leaving a straight line between Samantha and them.

"Huh huh? What's going on 'ere?" The blonde man wondered.

"Hehehe..." Hummed Zeke behind Gabriel and Solaris, "A free beer and a show from the Fire Fist herself. You are two lucky mother fuckers."

Solaris' vision blurred as he took a sip of his next drink and he smirked, "Pfft, s-she can't beat those two. She's gonna be flattened."

"You might want to reserve your judgment there young Solaris." From Gabriel's point-of-view, he saw the woman strut with her head held high and her muscles pulsing her clothes. Yet, the most important detail was in how she kept her arms in close.

"She's not showing any openings..." He murmured.

"Hey boys I got a question to ask you." She said, flexing her fingers into her palm.

"Hehe funny that," The black-haired man flicked his hand out towards her, "So do I. How'd you like to come home and cuddle up with a real man, little girl?"

The two dopes smacked their lips mockingly. Samantha paused at the middle of the room and turned her head with a smile, "Cute. Do you believe in angels?"

"Pffft, who believes in that fairy tale nonsense?" The blonde-haired man chuckled.

"Damn, that sucks," Samantha whipped her head to the left then the right, her bones letting out a big, resounding crack. She fired up a big ol' grin and murmured ferociously to her company, "I'm the One God's Servant without Mercy, so you better start believin'...! Cause for the next two minutes, the only thing that's gonna be make-believe is the concept of gravity on your fat asses!"

The blonde guy looked to the black-haired guy and chuckled, "The cheek on this girl. Shall we set her straight?"

"Go right ahead." The man gestured out.

"Heh!" The blonde guy leaped off the pool table perch and the bar shook on landing. He stood a whole half a foot over Samantha and smirked, "I could use you like a toothp-"

She threw a punch right into his gut and he fell over atop her shoulder, exhausting all his hot air in a single massive huff.

"GGHHH...!"

She pulled right off and swept his legs to knock him onto his face, then planted a foot on his butt and slid him three feet along the floor.

"Ahh...!" Solaris' mouth gawked open and he felt an unknown warmth growing down between his legs.

Samantha rolled her head around as the other man lunged at her from behind. She pulled her head back with a smile and then slid behind him, letting him crash upon the ground so his fat wobbled up to his four chins.

"You ain't shit." Samantha gestured towards herself as that man stood up.

"You...!" The man grit his teeth and threw a punch straight at her head. She swerved aside, grabbed his wrist, pulled him in, and hammered his gut. Then, while stunned, she grabbed him by his fat and hauled him overhead, giving his face another meeting with the ground.

"Hraaah!" The other man had gotten up and tried to force their arms around her. She yawned and introduced his nose to a backhanded knuckle sandwich. Then she flipped around, grabbed both sides of his head, and brought it down to her knee.

Blood sprayed onto her overalls and chest and she smacked her lips tiredly. The guy behind her rose, blinded by rage, and made the tackling leap. The other man rose, and she used his shoulders to backflip behind the first, making the two combine into a fat heap on the floor.

"Interesting..." Murmured Gabriel.

The two men were allowed to stand and they threw their hands at each other in anger. Then the blonde one pulled a retractable knife and gave a sinister grin. The other man ran at Samantha and threw terribly aimed punches as she bobbed and weaved around them.

Meanwhile the other man ran at her from the side and plunged his knife towards her left hip. It punctured the overall and wedged itself into her leg.

"Take THAT you dumb bitch!" He proclaimed triumphantly.

"Heh heh!" Samantha grinned, letting it set in to the man's expression that there was, as a matter-of-fact, no blood leaking from her leg.

"W-What?" Was the last cry the man got edgewise, as Samantha stomped her foot on the ground and forced his hands off the knife.

She then swept that man into the gut of the other man and sent them stumbling away. She then pulled her arms back and lunged forward, pummeling the two violent customers all over with a flurry of fists.

"Is this girl even human?" Gawked Gabriel, watching as her fists blurred faster than human's could perceive.

"She's an angel of Hell," Uttered Zeke, "They say her fists move so fast, they blaze like comets in the sky."

Three-hundred punches later, when the two aggressors were suspended in the air, Samantha pulled away and leaped at them with a single kick.

The two man gagged as they were sent hurtling out the door, opened with perfect timing by Zeke, where from there they crashed into their motorcycles and broke them apart.

Zeke closed the door and clapped off his hands. Samantha, meanwhile, plucked the knife from her leg and flicked it back into the center of the dart board.

"Well?" She waved her hands out to the silent crowd, "Whaddya say we get back to the fun?!"

As she walked off everyone reassembled the room in an orderly fashion. She met with Zeke and the two exchanged a one-handed clap without breaking their stride.

"Smooth as always Fire Fist." He said.

"Killer timing there Black Frost." She replied.

The two returned to behind the counter and Samantha leaned in towards Solaris and Gabriel with her fists on her hips, "So! Need anymore drinks?"

Solaris' mouth was halfway open and a bit of slobber was coming out. His eyes began to glaze as he muttered, "H-Holy shit you're cuh-cuh-cuh..."

His face fell flat on the counter and spilled his mug over.

Samantha sighed and shook her head, gesturing towards Gabriel with a smile, "First timer's, mirite?'

"He is a work in progress..." Gabriel took one last bite from his fries then stood up, hoisting the unconscious Solaris over his right shoulder.

He then turned and bowed to their host, "Thank you for the food and drink. Here..."

He reached into his pocket and gave her more than sufficient pay for the meal, "Use the change to buy a new pool stick."

Samantha tucked the greens under her overall strap and said, "Gee thanks. You two don't be strangers now!"

"Oh! But wait!" She snapped her fingers and hopped over the counter, reaching into her overalls to slip a small book titled "Beer Drinking for Dummies" into Solaris' pocket.

"Make sure he reads that."

"Ha ha...I'll have someone get right on that." And on that note, he took the overachiever out of the bar.

Samantha returned behind the counter and smiled.

"So, this one eh?" Muttered Zeke with a wily smile. She nudged him in the side with her elbow.

_The next morning..._

"Mrrrghh..." Solaris creaked his eyes open and was assaulted by a seething flash of light.

"Aauughh..." He groaned in pain. His head felt like it was being pounded at by the Phoenix of Destruction again.

He turned his head to the right and thinks he might be in his bed? His brain was fried. What was the last few hours even like?

His vision tried to steady, and the first thing he recognized was his sister sitting in a chair beside him. She was flipping through yet another book, one he did not recognize.

"Hmmm...Lets see here...A hangover happens when you drink too much alcohol, and your body struggles to recover from it. Side effects include drowsiness, nausea, headaches..."

She poked her head up with a somewhat wicked smile, "Did you hear that Solaris? When you **drink **too much **alcohol**, it gives you a **head-ache**."

"Mmmmmmrrrrr..." He grumbled, tossing his body onto its other side and pulled himself deeper under the sheets.

"Oh brother..." She looked back at the book and continued thumbing through the pages, "Its ok. We'll learn a lot together while you're resting, and you'll get her next time."

He clutched his sheets tightly and muttered, "Samantha J...Ugh, that damn woman's going to be the death of me..."

_Next Time: The Fragmented Unconscious_


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44: Separation Anxiety**

A nice and perfectly sunny day in Sancturia meant only one thing for the Aurora Sisters:

"C'mon sis! Lets burn those calories right off!" Shina pumped her fists in the air on a brisk jog through the streets, donned in a lovely light-blue sports bra and loose fit gym shorts.

Behind her was Kairi, forced into a green sports bra and similarly designed shorts, but unlike Shina chose to wrap her hair in a tie. Kairi was lagging behind a few feet and drenched in sweat.

Shina spun around with fists tucked at her hips and jogged in place. The sweat glistening on her skin felt like lingering drops from a nice warm shower.

"I-I...am gonna die..." Gasped Kairi.

"Nonsense, you're doing great!" Shina raised her fist skyward and rallied her sister's spirits with something she just this second made up, "Work those calves! Run those feet! Exercise, can't be beat! Goooooo, SIS!"

Kairi raised a finger and gasped some more, "J-Just let me get a drink first...!"

Shina clicked her tongue twice and shook her head, "This wouldn't happen if you cut back on the late night salt crackers."

"Howdoyouknowaboutthat?!" Yelled Kairi with a cute little frazzled look.

"Heh heh!" Shina smiled, watching her sis drop to her butt and pop the cap of her water bottle.

Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared behind her and right as she turned around, Saturn was there with a hand on her arm and the other nudging her glasses up.

"I'm taking your sister bye!" She shouted to Kairi.

"Pbbbbbblllltttt...!" Kairi spat up her water and got to her feet.

"W-Wait a sec, wha-" Shina felt herself being dragged away by Saturn's warp technology, the sudden shift from solid, to molecular matter, to solid again leaving her brain feeling like it was just out of a blender.

"-t?!" She stumbled back and her arms briefly flailed out in front of her, "Whoooooaaa..."

"Ah, sorry about that!" Proclaimed Saturn...somewhere in front of her. As her vision readjusted she saw they were on one of the little brainiac's ships. Might be the same one she was on before? What was it called again? Something Something Space Related?

"-and you never know when you need to pick up and go!" Saturn said with her fists proudly on her hips.

"_Oops! I think I missed something important..." _Shina chuckled and itched the side of her embarrassed face.

But given that maaaaaaay have clued her in on why she's been sis-napped from Kairi, "Ummm...you mind telling me why I'm here again?"

"Oh right I totally forgot!" Saturn crossed her arms and _delicately_ explained the situation as quick as she could, "I have need of your Cosmos Drive again!"

"Again...?" Shina turned her head aside briefly and was struck with inspiration, "Oh so we're heading to Macros' place!"

"Unfortunately..." Said Saturn with her head in a sag.

"_Macros is an odd bug, but I don't think its worth that kinda hostility..." _Shina left her to rant for a bit and looked around. There, she saw a couple capsules tucked away in the corner.

"Hmmm?" She wandered over on her tip-toes and poked her head above them. They were covered in frost save for their faces. On the left was a guy with orange-ish skin and red hot pepper hair, on the right was a sweet little girl with a pixie-like face and snow colored skin.

"_Oh hello there cutie patootie!" _Shina's eyes glowed with luster as she leaned towards the little girl and saw her smile even while unconscious, _"Gosh you're even cuter than little Maria. I'd like to put some gumdrops in your hair and just eat you up!" _

"Ah ah AH!" Saturn suddenly ran over and applied a hand directly to her face to shove her up, "No sweating on the pods!"

Shina looked down and realized that she's still in her drenched work-out skivvies, baring even more skin than on the beach, including that nice baby holding lump on her stomach.

"_Ack! Right!" _After the initial shock she laughed it off, _"Oh well, its about a 100 light years too late to change out..." _

She then tucked her hands back and fiddled her fingers around, "Sooooo, who are these two?"

"You don't know?" Saturn said like that should be common knowledge, "These are two of my teammates! Mercury's on the left, and Uranus is on the right!"

Shina could feel her lips contract inward to stop a snicker. Saturn wagged her finger out and said, "There's a time and place for that missy!"

"S-Sorry..." She replied with a smirk, "So what's up with them? If yer needing my Cosmos Drive again..."

"Ah yes! Of course!" Saturn crossed her arms and slipped a nudge up at her glasses during that, "To abridge a long, boring story...Mercury's deal is that he's actually two guys stuck in one body. One of those guys is the big brother of Uranus, who was hit with an eeeeeeeeeeevil curse that inverted her conscious and subconscious state of minds."

"So like, Uranus sees reality as a dream, and dreams as reality?"

"A-yep!" Saturn gave a hard nod.

"That's...horrible?"

"It is when she uses her magic to turn inanimate objects into desserts!"

"...Ya know that doesn't sound _too_ ba-"

"AND her Drive can freeze people in absolute zero temperatures, making THEM inanimate objects!"

"Oh," And then it struck like an icicle to the heart and she let out a gasp, "Oh my goodness that's horrible! She's eating-"

"No no no NO! She ain't a cannibal!" Saturn persistently proclaimed.

"Still..."

"I know I know. But we're gonna put a wrap on that nonsense today!" Saturn then leaned down at her watch and murmured, "Juuuuust as soon as we make one other stop."

Just like that she snapped her fingers and the ship came to a complete, jerking stop, and Shina tumbled onto her hands and knees.

She got right up and looked out the window, squinting her eyes against a merciless attack of golden glitz and glamor.

"What in the universe?"

"Yeah we've arrived, come on in!" Saturn said somewhere else in the ship. And just as soon as they had arrived at this seizure inducing strobe festival they were off trailblazing through space once more.

And the only mention of what the heckin' heck was going on came from a familiarly suave, womanly voice, "Thank you for being punctual Catherine."

Shina dried her eyes off with both hands and turned around, finding Saturn speaking to a fair, purple-skinned lady in a fancy suit decorated with some blatantly telling gambling motifs. But were it not for the voice the money green hair would've given it away.

"Oh hey, you're that one girl from the beach uhhh..." Shina stalled for time snapping her fingers, "Neptune! Yeah!"

The pretty gambling lady turned with a subtle smile and remarked, "Ah Ms. Shina. Pleasure to make your acquaintance again. Priscilla sends her regards for the lovely food eating contest."

"I wasn't even trying to compete, I was just really hungry that day." Shina gave an embarrassed grin.

"Hmmm," Neptune closed her eyes momentarily and then turned to Saturn, "Catherine, we're set to be on schedule right?"

"Yeah, you should be back at the casino before closing time."

"Excellent." Neptune's pleased smile was intriguing.

"Oooooh, got some plans for the evening?" And Shina was gonna try and pry 'em out of her cold, luscious lips.

Neptune extended a pool stick from her hand and poked her on the nose, "You're too young darling."

"_Young? Lady I'm growin' a baby in my belly!" _She pouted and felt a bit like her sis.

Neptune retracted her stick and that led to another point, "So whaddya need her help with? Shouldn't my Cosmos Drive be enough?"

"Our powers aren't that unsimilar. But a matter like this requires a little more," Neptune pinched two fingers and as she pulled them apart, a card appeared between them, "Finesse."

She then flicked the card over to Shina, who fiddled it around in the air before clapping it between her hands. She then looked and saw the young Uranus on it, representing the "7" card.

"You wouldn't send a novice doctor to brain surgery, no?" Said Neptune with a playful wink.

One relatively eventless flight later the ship arrived at their destination. Shina hardly believed she'd be back at this odd planet, nor that it'd look exactly the same given its owner's eccentricities.

Neptune was left to levitating the pods out of the ship while her and Saturn stepped out to meet up with the man of the hour. And unsurprisingly, he was right there waiting for them.

"Ah, this time you're the one who is late Catherine." Said Macros with a gleaming smile.

"Yeah yeah, you better not have skimped out on preparations just to win one over on me." Replied Saturn as she walked up and rammed her finger towards his nose.

He pulled back with little attention drawn to said finger and replied, "Of course. Tell your lovely stage assistant to bring the patients to the usual spot."

Shina could _feel _the cold shooting out from Neptune's eyes as she passed by with the pods in tow. She then felt Macros' glare locked onto her and turned his way.

"I see the pregnancy is coming along nicely." He stated with a casual weight in his tone.

"O-Oh, yeah...Roughly two months in now!" She came up as a response, eventually.

He closed his eyes and whispered, "A shame about the father. Alex Whiter will be missed..."

He then raised his head with a minor frown and said, "You have my sympathies."

It was a pair of comments so odd that it wrapped around to being normal at such a breakneck pace that Shina was left staring at him a good five seconds after he turned around and followed the others.

"_...H-How did he...?" _She kept that blank look as she tucked her hands back and followed them along, _"Wow, they don't call 'em the best biologist for nothing!"_

Nothing really to note on the way to the lab. They got inside, and Neptune loaded the pods up next to Macros' latest arrangement of creepy machinery. It was a little similar to what they used to help Maria, just bigger.

A metallic claw carefully opened Mercury's pod and lifted him into one of the machines. When that was done Macros turned to Shina and asked, "So, do you know what we're doing here?"

"I'm guessin' pretty much the same thing we did with lil' ol' Maria?" She replied with partial confidence.

"Yes roughly, but there'll be a slight complication this time," Macros turned and glided his hand over the machine Mercury was in, "This man has two minds inside of him. You're going to have to carefully pull out the memories that belong to him alone."

He turned with a wry shrug and smiled, "Its only two-thousand years to rustle through, you should be fine!"

"R-Right, nothin' to fret over at all!" Shina forced a grin even when Macros no longer cared about it.

"So what about Uranus? We gonna do the same thing to fix her mind problem?"

The answer for that came from Neptune. First by poking her in the back of the skull, then by verbalizing it a little more nicely, "Focus on Mercury, leave the young one to me."

"Alright alright don't gotta be so rough..." Shina rubbed the back of her head and strutted over to the space between machines. Some answers would've been nice right about now...

Everything was arranged as it was before. Hands went in the gloves. A lotta concentration was required. The Cosmos Drive was gonna get a better work-out than she was getting a while ago.

"_Huh, I wonder how sis is doing right about now..."_ Shina shook her head and squeezed her eyes further shut, _"Focus Shina! This is a delicate process..." _

This is such a boring time sink. Can't even spend a second thinking about the juicy steak waiting at home tonight. There's like two geniuses in the room and neither of them came up with a way to let her mind wander a bit? Come on!

Hour one...maybe the bones were done by now? She wasn't allowed to peek. Something about it being distracting. So what? Her eyes get to be caked over in that icky brown stuff instead? Does nobody have an ear dropper here?!

Hour two...sounded like the muscle and skin was being worked on now. Her legs felt like goddamn wooden stilts. All that time pumping her thighs is gonna go to waste if she had to stand around any longer than this!

Hour three...Oh good grief can this end already?! How many memories can this one guy have? And what's up with all the shots of a pale-skinned spiky haired gremlin anyways? Snow Miser looking mother fu-

"Ding!" Went an egg timer.

"Alright, we're done." And Macros' signal allowed Shina to huff out a lively gasp of air and throw her eyes open to the bright world around her once more.

"Whew thank god!" She slid her hands out of the gloves and clapped the sweat off her palms.

For all that hard work she deserved to sneak a quick peek at the results. She leaped right in front of the newly furbished machine and stared at the glass...

Only for Macros to slap his hand against her face and push her away gently.

"Honestly, why are humans so attached to the naked form?" He muttered in a humored tone, snapping his fingers so that his knitting machines may clothe the naked Mercury.

Shina pouted her lips and backed off in a huff, _"I get dragged halfway across the universe just to stand around for three hours and not even get to see my work finished! Guess this must be how fans feel commissioning art at Anime Conventions..." _

The clothes work wasn't gonna take long fortunately. She was allowed to poke her head around the other machine, but now another face occupied it. It was that gremlin looking guy from Mercury's memories, the second mind that had occupied the body.

Even unconscious he looked certifiably insane. But at least that ain't their problem right now.

Saturn and Neptune had spent all this time playing various card games, of which Neptune seemed to be thoroughly dominating the ever-growing frustrated little scientist.

"Aaah! How do you keep doing this?! I ran dozens of equations in my head to get the right cards!" Saturn tugged at her hair while Neptune smoothly shuffled the deck with a wry smirk.

"Maybe you should run the numbers again?" She replied, her honeyed words sweet enough to attract a horde of bees.

Saturn plopped back down, clapped her knees and exclaimed, "Darn tootin'! Science and Math can beat your luck and I'm gonna prove it!"

"_Maybe I oughta try my hand at that..." _Shina tried to take one step towards them but Neptune's shift in gaze suddenly made a lion roar in her head, and she backed away slowly, _"N-Never mind..." _

"Aaaaaand done!" Proclaimed Macros, backing away from Mercury's machine, which began to open.

…

…

"_Mrrrr...where...where am I? I was doing a favor for Catherine when I suddenly felt really, really tired...and cold. Really cold. My body's...stiff. Have I been asleep for a while? Ughhh, what a pain...And I just know __**he's**__ gonna complain about it too when he gets up..." _

His eyes open to embrace the outside before him, in a place unfamiliar yet welcoming. There was a strange blue-haired man looking down on him, and this bubbly blonde haired beauty leaning in a few feet away.

"_What a weird dream..." _Was what he initially thought until, with a rock, the machine began to rise and the force upon his body felt real. Too real.

And how that wasn't enough to wake up that jerk Raphael clued him in to something else bizarre, _"Wait. My mind...I can...think on my own now?" _

Secrecy. Sanity. Safety. It was easy to take these things for granted until you shared head-space with a lunatic for two-thousand years. But now his thoughts had clarity. They weren't getting jumbled up in that gremlin's unhinged white noise.

He immediately clasped his hands onto the sides of his head and gasped, "I'm free...!"

And with a spring in his step he launched out of the machine and threw his hands in the air, "I'm free! Yahoo!"

He pranced about in place, his heels clicking together like a writer madly typing up a novel. His body built up a massive natural sweat in seconds but he didn't care. This was the happiest he'd ever been in his life.

He turned to the right and the strange blue-haired man was also dancing.

"..." He slowed his pace down and stared the man in the eyes until he too stopped dancing.

He then looked at the blonde-haired girl and between them noticed Saturn and Neptune. His heart was running laps in his chest as he smiled and remarked, "Sorry...what's going on?"

The blue-haired man put his hands behind his chest and remarked, "Call me the warden who freed you from the prison of your own mind. I am Commandant Macros, master biologist and friend to your ally Saturn."

"Uhh you forgot to cut the 'r' in 'friend' there ya scoundrel!" Proclaimed Saturn.

"Let her be," Macros waved back and looked Michael in the eyes, "So, how does your new body feel?"

"_New body?" _He looked down. Same clothes. Same skin. Same feelings. What was "new" about it?

He had a feeling deep down that he should check the other machine, and when he ran to it he saw none other than Raphael resting unconscious inside of it.

"This helpful young girl here transferred everything that belonged to you into this new body," Macros' comment made him turn around and pay attention to the blonde-haired girl, "So...do you feel funny at all? No mistakes were made I assume."

There was no questioning it. He felt fit as a fiddle and his mind was in working order.

"I don't know who you are, or how you did it miss but..." He couldn't tell if he was crying or this was just more sweat piling onto his face, "Thank you, I owe you a life debt."

"Awww think nothing of it!" The girl waved her hand down with a cute little blush. Then with a light gasp she proclaimed, "Oh silly me! I haven't introduced myself!"

She ran up, grabbed his hand with a surprisingly tough grip and shook it up and down, "I'm Shina! Shina Aurora!"

"...Aurora?" Before the familiarity could be answered Neptune stepped beside them and coughed.

"Feel free to get to know each other later," With a forceful parting of their hand she laid hers on top of his with a cold touch and looked into his eyes with sincerity, "This may be sudden but...are you prepared to save your sister?"

"Vivi...?"

Neptune nudged to the left and Michael went running towards a nearby pod. He laid his hands over the pane of glass separating him from his peacefully slumbering little sister.

"Oooo so now's the time for you to take center stage!" Went Shina, clapping her hands in excitement, "So what's the plan?"

Neptune wandered over to the pod and drew her pool stick wand behind her. Her eyes rested between Michael and Shina as she explained in careful detail, "The key to saving his sister is to send his mind into hers, and reawaken the dormant consciousness."

Michael slowly stood and pointed at his chest, "Send...me inside her mind?"

"Yes," Neptune graced him with a nod, "An unfamiliar presence will send her into a state of irreparable shock."

Michael felt his determination swelling, even as Neptune remarked, "But there is a risk. If you cannot convince her that you're real, you'll be lost inside her mind-"

"I don't care," He clenched his fists and swung one up before his chest, "For the first time in my life I'm feeling motivated. Send me in. To hell with the risks! My sister won't suffer a life of dreams a minute longer!"

"The may luck, nay, your will guide you." Neptune took a couple steps back and gestured her wand towards the ground, summoning a gylph to her feet while inciting a spell in a completely foreign language to him.

She glided two fingers around in the air then thrust them at his head, striking him with a bolt of violet magic. He felt the weight of his body fleeting, becoming lighter than air, as he escaped the physical plain of reality and was plunged into his sister's head at a breakneck speed.

Then came darkness. A silent, ethereal void where only the winter's chill existed. He felt his body crawl through the crinkling depths of hardened snow, until it grew deeper, and thus softer further in.

"Vivi!" He shouted, receiving an echo in return, "Answer me! Vivi!"

The black skies parted, making way for a wintery land where monsters made of sweets roamed the arctic wastes, guarding a castle of ice that stretched up to the starry night sky above.

The cold was killer on even his warm body. Sweat hardened to frost and broke off with every move his muscles made. He trenched through the snow, daring the gaze of the quiet beasts to take even a peek at the castle up high.

"VIVI!" He screamed until his throat was coarse, "ITS ME, YOUR BROTHER!"

He saw a glimpse of dark blue on the outcrop near the very, very top of the castle's highest tower. Unmistakably his sister, dressed in a child-like gown of snow.

His voice narrowly reached, and the response was naught but hostile, "Who comes to see me, trapped in this winter castle?"

Her immature voice couldn't hide the harsh, nipping bite in her tone. He could just barely see her hand be waved in his direction, dismissing his welcoming presence entirely.

"Are you another kidnapper, come to take me away? Begone! I don't want to see my prison be exchanged for another!"

"W-What...Vivi! What are you saying ITS ME, MICHAEL!" He shouted one more time.

"Do not deceive me you lowly knave! You are scum, the rot of the planet, crawling to corrupt my purity with your filth...!"

She was being ridiculously overdramatic, but in this realm of the mind her word carried the power of the law. The monsters, stirring quietly in the snow, now aggressively turned themselves at him.

"My guardians will make quick work of you! So says I, Princess of the Ice!"

And attack quickly the monsters did. He fleet footed his way out from them collapsing on top of him and drew his fists to pummel the few that didn't fall victim to their aggression.

They swiped away at his body with sharp peppermint claws and chocolate coated pretzel legs. The pain in his body was as real as it could get, and their strength felt beyond anything he had ever faced.

Speed and quick blows held the beast's at bay just a little. Targeting their weak joints delayed the inevitable, as they reforged their brittle bones in seconds.

In a move even he considered dumb he jumped onto the monster's backs and made a dash for the castle. One of the monsters rose from the snow and smashed him down under claw.

"_This is bad...I can't make a break for it there's too many of them!" _

The atmosphere trembled, cracks forming in his vision. He grit his teeth and turned up the heat, putting just enough pressure on the beast to give him freedom. He then dashed again between the beast's legs and stretched his arm out towards the castle yonder.

"VIVI! HOLD ON! I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU!"

"You're no savior! You're just another liar in fancy clothes!" She spurned his advances, and the atmosphere continued to tremble, cracking under the winter's chill.

He stayed his ground, face fraught with devastation, _"She's not listening to me...she's treating this like..." _

His jaw began to drop, "A...Fairy...Tale."

The shadows of many monsters drowned his body. Silently he squeezed his fists and raised his voice towards the sky, "The Princess cried, but it did not deter the Prince! For he was a gallant soul who boldly charged towards the castle riding a chariot of fire, pulled by mares as large as houses!"

He could feel a change in his sister's expression from ruthless to tender. And at that moment, flames erupted beneath his feet, and out emerged the chariot and horses he described.

He grabbed them by the reins and lashed them forward, barreling through the surrounding monsters and galloping onward towards the castle.

"It was not out of duty to his kingdom, or a want for a reward...The Prince braved these winter lands, battered by the cold and snow to reunite with his sister, whom he thought had been lost forever!" He peppered his words with a bombastic tone befitting a grand epic.

Vivi ran to the edge of the outcrop and began to scream more childishly down below, "A-And though he was alone, he was not afraid! He...he..."

"Had a heart of fire to melt the ice in his path, clearing out monsters and dark magic alike! He was an unstoppable force of nature powered by the greatest element of all: Love!"

The monsters were knocked down like bowling pins, stamped into the ground as dust beneath the gallant steeds hooves.

"His destination was set! His eyes saw nothing else in his way! He...he was going to reach the top of this highest peak! He would climb the tallest tower!" Her eyes began to water, and the distortions in the atmosphere caused her appearance to take on what was visible outside her mind.

"And at the end he'd claim his greatest prize, to be a family once more!" He narrowed his eyes as the ground caved in beneath him, and a mighty golem rose to heights as grand as the castle itself.

"But a m-mi...but a mi-mi..."

"But a mighty golem stood in his path! Yet he did NOT back down! Defying gravity and the weight of the world beneath him, the Prince's chariot shot forth into the sky like a blazing comet, and tore through the golem in one swift strike!"

And rise did his chariot, propelled by the blue flames at his steeds' feet. In seconds he was nearing the golem's chest, as it prepared to crunch him between its palms.

"BIG BRO WATCH OUT!" Uranus screamed tearfully.

"RAAAAAAAHHH!" His roar deafened the golem's cry, and the chariot fulfilled the tale's needs not a second after. Ripping through the beast's chest, he leaped forth from the chariot and thrust his hand towards the outcrop, his fingertips sliding off the edge.

Vivi dove forward and grabbed onto his hand, but her little arms hadn't the strength to hold on. As the chariot rammed through the castle and it began to crumble, the two were sent tumbling off into a gaping abyss.

"A-Ah...!" She cried.

He pulled her against the warmth of his chest and held her tight, "Its ok Vivi. Everything is going to be ok."

She cuddled him and her tears ran warm down his chest, "Its really you big bro. I-I didn't know what to do. Its been cold. Dark. I was scared..."

"Its alright Vivi. Forget about it. You're safe now," He closed his eyes, patted her on the head, and held her gently, "I'm here. Your big brother is here..."

The drop into the abyss ended with a sharp jolt to his back, and he found himself awakened to the sight of Macros' laboratory. Immediately he found his sister on his chest, squeezing him extra tight and making it hard to breathe.

"V-Vivi...!" He strained out. And she pulled away slowly...after a solid minute.

They stood up, and he patted her on the head some more. Neptune was beside them, the sweat doing nothing to ruin her cool demeanor.

"Well...all's well that ends well, wouldn't you agree?" She said, looking to Shina.

"Yeah, another family reunited and it feels so good!"

"Yes...what a _d-d-disgustingly _happy ending!" Right as that voice spoke Michael turned and found the tip of a sheer icy lance thrust into his face. He coddled Vivi against his stomach and stared beyond the lance to find Raphael up and at 'em, looking no worse for the wear.

"Raphael!" He screamed.

"Oh dear, was I supposed to be watching him?" Macros said nonchalantly.

"Dangnabbit Macros!" Saturn quickly turned to Raphael and motioned for her watch.

"D-D-DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE...!" He pointed his lance at her, then beyond Michael towards Neptune, "And if I even h-h-hear a syllable uttered, you're dead!"

"Shoot...!" Saturn uttered in frustration.

Raphael cackled and pointed the lance back at Michael, grinning his black frosted teeth extra wide, "Hehehe...! What luck! I-I-I'm finally f-f-free...! Our battle can continue at long last, you c-c-coward!"

"Big bro!" Said Vivi in a panic, making Michael hold on tighter.

"Our people are dead Raphael! Are you really going to continue that pointless battle?!"

"I don't give a damn about those d-d-dead wimps! This is my choice! MY BATTLE!" He gripped his lance tighter and a foul, icy stench erupted from his pores, "Without you holding me back, I am f-f-free to rip and tear through whoever gets in my w-w-way! My journey of pleasure shall never end!"

"That's insane!"

"You're the only insane one here! And I will not listen to your pacifistic babbling any l-l-longer!" Raphael reared his lance back. Macros grimaced and began to raise a hand towards his head. The atmosphere was tense and the stench of blood seemed inevitable.

"HOLD IT!" Shina suddenly ran between the two's spat and shoved her hands at Raphael's face.

Raphael flinched and grit his teeth in confusion, "Who the FUCK is this stripped down hoe?!"

"Hi! Shina, Shina Aurora!" Shina propped herself upright and forcibly shook Raphael's hand, "Say, you want to have fun killing a bunch of stuff? I got JUST the solution for ya!"

_A couple awkward hours later, back at the Aurora household..._

"HAHAHAHA! This is incredible!" Raphael sat hunched over the living room couch, staring deep towards the TV. He was playing a video game that involved killing a bunch of demons on Mars using a variety of guns, a chainsaw, and a series of bloody executions.

"Yeah yeah! Tear 'em up! Rip 'em up! Eat shit demons!" Raphael was having the time of his life, to the sympathy of the poor couch for having to deal with it all.

Michael, Vivi, Shina, and Kairi were standing off by the door looking varying levels of flabbergasted.

"This...this is all it took...? One video game and he's satisfied?" Michael's voice was deflated of all strength. He hung his head and sighed, "All those years wasted..."

Vivi patted him on the back. Kairi meanwhile turned to her sister and muttered, "Shina you have a weird way of resolving things..."

"But it worked right?"

"I AM YOUR GOD, NOW BOW! SPLAT!" Screamed Raphael.

"Define 'worked'." Kairi muttered.

Michael sighed louder and turned to face Shina, "I'll buy him his own console and keep an eye on him. If trouble arises can I trust you two to help?"

Kairi rubbed down the front of her face and waved her hand out, "Sure. Whatever..."

"Moooore importantly..." Shina bent down and picked Vivi up by the waist, then turned around and pointed her at her sis, "Can I keep her?"

"What?" Went Michael

"WHAT?!" Shouted Kairi.

"Awww c'mon, she giggles when you poke her belly!" Shina did just that and sent the little pixie into a fit of laughter, "Hehehe! That's way cuter than anything Maria's done!"

"Please give me back my sister." Michael politely begged.

Shina spun around and stated plainly, "You said you owe me a life debt, so can't I keep her?"

"No way! My sister's worth WAY more than my life!"

"BUT-!"

Kairi karate chopped her on the back of the head and Vivi gently dropped onto her feet. Kairi then squeezed her fist and muttered, "Ignore her. She's child crazy lately..."

"Meanie..." Shina murmured.

"Seven months Shina. Seven months. PLEASE don't escalate this to orphanage robbery."

"Hahaha," Michael laughed and took Vivi by the hand, "Anyways can you watch Raphael a bit longer while I look into getting a house for us?"

"Sure!" Shina said right away.

"Not like he can do anything to us." Kairi said, drained of her vigor.

"Thanks. C'mon Vivi." He turned and headed out the door with her at his side.

"Hey Big Bro!" She happily trotted beside him.

"What is it?"

She pulled away and stopped in place, "Can I show you a magic trick? Pleeeease?"

"Hehehe, alright." Now that she was free from the curse, there was nothing wrong with a little playful ma-

"TA-DA!" She threw her hands up and flames spread over her body, quickly shifting out her winter robe for a small flaming trench coat. Her hair became dark-orange with little lanterns at the ends of her braids replacing the woolly snowcap. Her skin gained a dark tan, and the staff in her hand now had a cup of hot chocolate on top.

Michael felt his eyes bulging from their sockets while his mind could only utter one thing:

"_What the HELL?!"_

_Next Time: The Dangerous World of Elementary School_


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: First Day Blues**

"C'mon Kairi! Think of what you're doing! You can't go through with this!"

"M-Mama, I'm scared..."

"She's GOING Mew, no ifs ands or buts about it!"

Kairi firmly crossed her arms as she stood in front of South Sancturia Academy, her school. As she began impatiently tapping her foot and staring Mew felt his resistance dwindling.

"Haaaa..." Mew hung his shoulders and then bent down next to Maria, patting her on the shoulder and leaning in with a whisper, "Don't worry Maria, I'll keep this vixen from dragging you to Hell."

"Wanna repeat that, Mr. Whiter?" Kairi demanded with the guttural growl of a demon.

A chill nicked his spine. He stood right up and gestured to her kindly, "Seriously this isn't necessary, I'm teaching her plenty at home."

"Joe Dark's telling me otherwise."

Mew grumbled out the side of his mouth, "Rat bastard, always lazing about unless he can screw me over..."

She stamped her foot down and leaned in with her fists on her hips, "She's GOING and that's FINAL! She needs to be around kids her age and get an education!"

Mew felt slighted by these _ridiculous_ ideas, "I'M teaching her-"

"Video games are NOT a form of a education Mew." And no surprise she fought back...

"Tell that to Freddie Fish you cold-hearted..."

"Mmmrrrr...!" She puffed her cheeks set ready to burst with anger.

Mew nervously tucked his hands behind his head and laughed. Kairi settled upright with a blush and remarked, "Mom already got her signed up anyways."

Mew glanced aside at Maria. Her eyes were growing big and wobbling, and she gave this tiny, lower lipped pout. Mew's heart sank, a word of disagreement rising to the tip of his tongue. He gestured a finger at Kairi, met by a glare that wasn't as strong in the face of seeing their daughter's expression.

Yet, Mew relented.

He bent down and patted the pouted out of Maria's head, ruffling her hair playfully as he told her, "Its ok Maria. Seven hours'll pass before you know it."

"Ok..." She murmured.

"Heh. Can I tell you a secret?" Mew smiled and leaned in closer, whispering something in her ear with a slightly mischievous look on his face.

He then pulled away and her spirits were lifted in an instant, "Now go get 'em honey!"

"Ok papa!" She pulled up the small flowery backpack behind her and rolled on up to her mama. She took her by the hand and walked her towards the school.

She looked back to find Mew waving her off. She frowned one last time and Mew relaxed his arms and muttered, "Class is back in session. Where does the time go?"

Her first foray into school...He can only hope it all goes well.

…

…

She went inside with her mama and was greeted by a buncha other students. Bigger students, like mama. There was a lot of running around blocking the way forward.

She squeezed her mama's hand and was guided through the crowd. Mama got frustrated when one of the students nearly trampled over her feet..

Eventually they found an opening to run through the halls. It was so long. Like how those skyscrapers in the city would be if laid down. A lotta gray blurred together, over and over with the occasional door in-between.

"Fifth grade, fifth grade...Its been a long time since I came down here," Murmured mama, "There it is...!"

She made a sudden turn to the left. There was no more crowds to worry about. Just one big, tall, wide door that towered over them, shoving the nearby lockers out of the way.

Maria felt dizzy, and trembled.

"This is Ms. Marigold's class. You'll like her. Trust me." Mama started to let go, and Maria grabbed hold of her wrist and refused to let go.

"I'm worried mama..." She pulled in to her mama's hip for a hug.

Mama bent down and stared her in the eyes. Her face didn't look like an ogre's anymore either.

"I know. Its tough the first day..." She put both hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "Just...be yourself and it'll all work out."

"What if it doesn't...?"

"Then..." Mama paused for a few seconds and then sighed, "Don't take your stress out on your classmates."

"Ok..." Maria sighed.

A sharp ringing came from above and mama sprung to her feet, "S-Sorry Maria I gotta get to class! Later!"

She turned and ran away. Maria tapped her pant leg with a dangled hand, then pulled it back towards her beating chest.

She slowly turned to the monstrous door beside her and reached out towards the handle. Opening it up caused a vicious tidal wave of light to come flushing out and blind her. Then, there was laughter.

She opened her eyes as the light faded. Compacted into this big square-size room were almost thirty other kids her age. Some were the same size as her, others bigger, others smaller. They had lotsa hairstyles and hair colors. Some had weird bumps on their face.

They were playing. Having fun. Their energy reminded her a lot of how Papa acted. But there was a whole room of them! Maybe this won't be so bad after-

"Settle down!" Came a shrill, feminine voice from the right. And the kids obeyed like a group of soldiers.

Maria saw a woman standing behind a desk. She was as big as mama in height, but not in length or width. She had frizzy curled brown hair, a black dot to the left of her mouth, a sweater vest, saggy shirt, and loose pants.

It was like how Alura conducted herself. What did papa call that kinda person again? Oh yeah, a slob!

She tapped a white piece of rock twice against the desk and started to swivel towards a big green board behind her, "Now then students, I know its been a wild summer vacation with all the monster attacks and..."

She paused a stared directly at Maria. Maria saw her eyes light up bright red, and her voice turning a little sinister, "Well hello there..."

"Gulp...!" She shivered at her knees.

The woman's hair began to move on their own, hissing with fanged mouths, "You must be the new student. Come in, introduce yourself to the class..."

Maria paced herself over beside the desk, where the woman placed her cold hand onto the back of her head and nudged her closer towards the other students.

All the light in the room was fading. The students' faces were draped in shadow as all of them stared with bright white eyes and toothless smiles.

"H-Hello..." Maria pushed out, lowering her chin to her chest, "I'm...Maria Whiter."

"Anything ELSE you want to say to the class?" The woman urged with a sinister chuckle.

"I...I'm the Planetary Aurian of Venus?" Maria found herself saying without realizing it.

Many of the students burst into laughter. Their pointing fingers acting like pins and needles on her body. It became a madhouse. And the students' words became barbed with venom.

"Stupid! Stupid!"

"Planetary Aurians are heroes! You're just a little girl!"

"Ha ha hahaha!"

Maria gripped the straps of the backpack tight and felt dizzy again. As if to rub it in, the woman groaned and moaned loudly, "Oh goodie, another joker..."

With a sigh that could crack wood the woman gestured her clawed hand towards the tables and said, "Take your seat in the back Maria..."

When the laughter continued though the woman stamped her hand down and her voice, now softer in tone, proclaimed, "And the rest of you, pipe down and get your books out!"

The students settled back down. Again. But their eyes didn't stop looking down on her from atop their rising desks and seats.

A long trip down between the desks led her to her own, which was perfectly sized for her. She quietly laid her backpack down beside it and pulled herself onto the seat.

"**Splat!" **

An icky, squishy noise came from her butt. But it couldn't have been her doing. Could it? No way.

As she started to pull her skirt inward a couple students close by were chuckling. The one sitting to her right, the tallest girl in the class with lumpy brunette pigtails and a somewhat portly body, was flashing a very big grin.

Maria found, underneath her butt, a wadded up piece of paper covered in some sort of gooey, bubbly liquid. She hesitated to pick it up.

Then "Smack!", a wet impact was felt on her cheek, making her drop the wad. She plucked a second wad off her cheek and stared at it. The grinning girl from before lowered a straw from her mouth, then raised her fingers as an "L" before her forehead for...some reason.

"_Eww, spit...?" _Maria flicked the wad back to the girl's cheek and they let out a gasp.

Then they stood up and raised their hand to shout, "Ms. Marigold! The new kid threw a spitwad at me!"

"_What?" _Maria stared dumbfounded at the girl trying to lie in front of an adu-

"Maria, don't start any trouble on your first day. This is your first warning." The teacher remarked, sounding rather tired throughout.

The girl sat right down with a proud smile on her face and flashed a look at Maria, who wondered aloud, "B-But I didn't start..."

"Now, since this is just the first day we're only going to go over the basics of what you'll be learning over the course of this year."

Maria clammed up and felt distressed upon peeling her school manual open. She had heard teachers were supposed to be smart, but this one seemed worthless. And apparently, classrooms were a battleground.

But as the little angel of mama said upon her shoulder, "Don't start a fight Maria. Be good."

So she'd just stay quiet, for now, and hope this was just a one-time thing.

The teacher first did something called "attendance" which resulted in everyone but Maria calling out their names. Then the teacher opened her own manual and began writing on the big green board.

"Fifth grade is an important time in Aurian education. This is when you are expected to experiment more with your Drives. Compared to fourth grade the classes are mostly the same: Math, Reading Comprehension, Science, Biology...But now you'll be tackling two new subjects."

She tapped her white stone on the bottom half of the board a couple times, "Blacksmithing and combat. Now..."

She leaned back and sighed loudly, "We were SUPPOSED to cut these classes after our leader was outed as a massive megalomaniac, as you know...BUT thanks to those recent monster attacks our faculty decided at the _very last minute without telling me_ to reinstate them."

"I know about those monster attacks. I helped fight them off with my friends!" Maria spoke up.

The rest of the class chuckled and the teacher's face sagged like twenty years of age had been slapped onto it, "Are you wanting to spend your first afterschool session in detention Maria? Second warning, don't make it three."

Maria sunk into her school manual with a frown.

The mean teacher started discussing the subjects in slightly more detail and after a while Maria realized...She didn't understand a darn tootin' thing about any of them except combat! Math involves a buncha numbers, reading involves a buncha words, and science and biology involves a buncha numbers AND words.

There came that dizziness again, centered entirely in her head.

"_Maybe papa was right, school is terrifying...!" _Beside her right shoulder, a tiny papa in angelic clothing nodded his head, receiving a stab to the forehead from a flung trident by the now devilish mama on her left shoulder.

She shook her head and raised the manual closer to her face, _"I can do it! Mama made it through this, so can I!"_

She just had to be herself. Be herself...Be herself...

An hour into class out of seven for the day the students were forced out of their seats and followed the teacher out into the looooong, cold halls. She had them all chained up by their wrists and ankles, standing in a single file line behind her.

They traveled throughout the building to see what the other facilities had to offer. She got to take a sneak peek at the gymnasium, the library, the cafeteria, and something called a principal's office. The latter was introduced with a strict warning from the teacher that this is the last place they want to go, especially herself...

"_The teacher seems to hate everyone, even herself." _Maria jotted down in her head for later.

They were also allowed to ask questions! But only one per student, per facility. Something about wanting to keep a schedule.

So for every spot they went to, Maria asked a question. Though it all boiled down to "What's this place for?"

The teacher seemed tired but not as mean as usual answering every question.

"This is where you'll play sports and do combat exercises."

"This is where you can borrow books and videos pertaining to your education."

"This is where you eat and can talk with your fellow classmates for an hour."

"This is the worst place ever. If you're dragged into here expect your life to be over...I-I mean, not your life just...Ugh, lets move on."

As the teacher took them back to their classroom Maria was feeling a little better about school. It seemed there was a lot more to do than just sit in an uncomfortable wooden chair for hours on end staring at books as thick as grandmama's hips.

Suddenly Maria felt a prick on the back of her head and looked back to find a small paper airplane falling to the ground. She picked it up before it fell too far and noticed a bit of writing in the center crease.

"Teacher's pet!" It proclaimed to her.

She heard some familiar chuckling and looked up to see the spit loving girl from earlier planting her pig fingers before her lips.

Then she laid them sideways and whispered "Bark! Bark!" How weird.

Maria crumpled the paper up a bit and then turned back to say, "Teacher, why is one of the students barking like a dog?"

The teacher turned around with a groan and stared straight out to the perpetrator immediately, "Kris, this is a quiet walk, please keep it down."

The meanie's eyes lit up in shock but Maria didn't know why. She pulled the same move on her earlier. Did...did she not think that'd happen to her too?

"_School is weird..." _Maria threw the paper into a trash can they passed by and it chomped it right up in its fanged mouth, then they returned to class.

A couple more hours passed doing a whole lot of nothing really. The teacher had a very powerful mouth to talk for that long.

But then came something everyone in the class was excited for: Lunch time!

According to the teacher, every student gets free lunches at the cafeteria if they want it. There were rumors though that said lunches were "ugly", "muddy", "disgusting". It didn't sound very digestible.

Papa's meals were all very, very good. Joe Dark described them as "decent", "goes down well", while Alura would say "decent", and "goes down well" too. Very positive sounding words.

She got to the cafeteria, and waited in line with all the rest of the students. The cafeteria was split based on grades. There were "Elementary" students here, "Middle Schoolers" to the left, and "High Schoolers" even more to the left. Mama, and papa if he was here, were considered "High Schoolers", so she wasn't allowed to mingle with her.

It was a silly rule but apparently trouble arose sometimes.

Maria tapped her fingers together impatiently as most of her lunchtime was getting wasted waiting in this never-ending, never-moving line.

It kinda snuck up on her when she finally arrived to the actual food. She caught a whiff of steam rising to her nose, and stared down at a buncha vats of bubbling liquids. One brown, one white, another some kinda brown-ish gold.

A towering presence rose behind the vats, mouth obscured in a triangular, goopy object. It raised a ladle in a threatening manner and dunked it into one of the vats, which began to boil over. Then it took the goop out and slapped it down upon Maria's tray.

Maria flinched and stared the faceless monster where their eyes should be, "I-Is there anything else to eat...Like hot dogs?"

Suddenly a glint of red appeared twice on their face and they moaned angrily, "Eat what you're served."

Maria gulped and carried her bubbling tray to a table. She gravitated towards an empty table and sat down. There was a lotta chatter from the other students of all grades. She didn't catch anyone from her class though. Not that she seemed to have made a good first impression. Or even that she wanted to hang out with meanies.

She slowly picked up a fork and looked at her tray of slop. Of the three steaming piles, the golden-brown one seemed the _least_ bad.

Her brain hesitated, but her poor stomach objected. She couldn't go the rest of the day without food, that'd be torture!

"_H-Here I go..." _She dipped her fork into the boiling pile and quickly shoved a bit of it into her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut.

The food melted in her mouth with a sweet and somewhat tart punch. It was like...eating an apple! Just mushier, and easier on the teeth.

Her eyes sprang open and she dug right back into the "slop". The veil lifted, revealing a pork chop, mashed potatoes, and applesauce cup on her tray.

This was really good. Not as good as papa's, but a good second place. She finished her cup in seconds and went straight for the pork chop...

"Ooops!" Spoke a familiarly rude voice as she felt herself getting bumped in the back, her face nearly kissing the potatoes.

Maria stood up immediately and turned around to find that mean pig-faced girl named Kris, joined at the hip by two other girls of smaller size in all directions.

Kris looked smug when she put her fingertips on her lips and snickered, "Oh I'M SORRY, I didn't see you there. You're just so tiny."

Standing face-to-face there was at least five inches of height separating the two. For Maria, it was the difference between fighting a goblin or an ogre.

The two girls behind Kris laughed like hyenas, and Kris herself crossed her arms and leaned in dangerously close, "Hey. That pork chop. Give it to me."

Maria glanced back at her tray and then to the girl, "Don't you have one already?"

"So? I want yours too." Kris said firmly.

What was this girl's problem? Was all those extra inches on her waist filled with mean energy?

"T-This is my meal. Get your own." Maria muttered back.

"What was that?" Kris smirked and used her bigger hands to shove Maria in her chest, "I couldn't hear you!"

Maria grabbed onto the edge of the table and didn't fall all the way down. All three girls kept on laughing. Maria's heart felt like it was pumping like crazy. She stared the girl blank in the eyes and said, "T-Then maybe you need a hearing aid."

Kris widened her eyes while the other two let out a long gasp of "Oooooooo".

Kris grit her teeth and then shoved Maria again, "Got a mouth on ya squirt? I ain't gonna say it again. Gimme your pork chop!"

Maria grimaced as she was shoved again. Her blood was boiling. She stared the girl in the face and listened to her insults, "C'mon retard! Get moving!"

Maria's eyes flared open and a bit of gas started to form beside her. Then she felt a tug on her hair, and saw her angelic mama begging her, "No! Don't resort to violence! Be a good girl. Be yourself."

A rough cough came from the other side. Her papa, in angelic clothing, closed his eyes and echoed something his real self said much earlier, "Other kids are going to say mean things. They're just words. But if someone decides to get physical..."

His outfit shifted to a devil's red and he gained a big, greedy smirk, "Show them your strength and lay their ass out flat!"

Maria hung her head, silencing the bully's voice so that only her thoughts could be heard, _"Be myself...be myself...I don't wanna get in trouble, but darn it all...! My first mama and papa didn't raise no weakling! I ain't gotta take this from some mean ol' rowdy pig in human clothing!" _

She forced herself to stand upright so hard it pushed the table back, causing Kris and a few of the surrounding students to pause and take notice.

Maria then raised her head with a bright, closed-eye smile and said, "I'm sorry. Do you want my pork?"

"Looks like you finally get it connect-the-dots." Kris smirked.

Maria turned around, grabbed the tray, and pulled a quick 180 to slam it into Kris' face mashed potatoes first.

"GACK!" Came a satisfying scream of terror from the meanie before she started to fall towards the ground.

Her two friends caught her, but she rose right back up and threw the tray to the ground. Her face was bright red and scowling.

"_Uh oh." _Maria's lips sealed shut and she watched as Kris picked up the discarded pork chop and prepared to throw it.

Maria ducked right for underneath the table and the pork chop went flying into the back of a students' head, causing their face to dunk right into their meal.

Another student stood atop their table and proclaimed two very powerful words in this environment: "FOOD FIIIIIIIIGHT!"

The next few minutes were like a blur. Food was being flung everywhere into everyone. Students of all ages went down covered in mashed potatoes, applesauce and the occasional juice bottle. The older students tried to quell the madness, but they couldn't combat the overwhelming power of youth.

Maria tucked her legs up against her chest underneath the table and stared silently into the void. Her heart raced and she couldn't stop smiling.

Suddenly another student, a young boy currently covered in ketchup and bits of salty chips, dove under the table screaming overdramatically.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" His eyes slowly panned towards her, and after a few brief moments he scurried onto his knees and said, "S-Sorry I thought this was empty!"

"...Ummm..." Maria looked him over. He seemed to be her age. His hair might normally be black, and he had some freckles too. His clothes were a mess, he'd gotten the worst of the food fight so far.

He stretched his hand out and said, "Hi! I'm Nikolas the Great!"

"The...Great?" Maria said, slowly shaking his hand in return.

"Yep! Cause someday I'm gonna be a great hero, and that'll be my title!" The kid enthusiastically pumped his fists up and banged the bottom of the table, "Ow ow!"

"Heheh!" Maria giggled.

As Nikolas shook his fists he said, "And what's your name?"

"Oh umm...Maria."

"Maria...?" Nikolas stared deep into her eyes and then gasped, "You're the new kid! Hey, what a coinky dink! We're in the same class!"

"We are...?"

"I probably didn't stand out much with Ms. Donutdozer blotting out all the light in the room. That's fine. I get it," Nikolas looked around and smiled, "This is so fun! Whoever started this is a genius!"

"I-I think I started this..." Maria murmured.

Nikolas spun around and his eyes couldn't have possibly bulged any farther if he tried, "YOU?! Really?!"

Maria shook her head and said, "N-No never mind..."

Nikolas leaned in with eyes lit up and said, "Are you kidding?! That's totally awesome!"

"...It is?"

"Yeah! I wouldn't expect nuthin' less from one of the Planetary Aurians!"

"H-Huh?" Maria shook her head a lot more, "Oh oh I didn't actually mean what I said..."

"Why're you trying to hide it?" Nikolas tilted his head momentarily, "You're a hero! If it wasn't for you my big brother wouldn't be alive right now!"

Maria had to pause and think. When she came to Sancturia to help with the monster invasion she potentially saved a lot of people by fending off that evil mummy. Was maybe...one of those three teenagers she shoo'd off Nikolas' big brother?

Nikolas grinned as Maria blushed, "Freckled cheeks, doll-like red hair...That's how my big brother described his savior. I just thought you'd be a lot older...or bigger."

He gestured his hand on an even playing field from the top of his head to hers and said, "But we're the same age! That's so cool! That means I can be a great hero right now if I wanted to!"

"But..."

"In fact! I wanna show you what I got!" Nikolas was too full of energy to compete with edgewise. He grabbed a flung apple off the ground and crawled out from under the table.

He stood amidst the chaos screaming "I'LL SHOW YOU ALL MY STRE-"

Another apple clobbered him beside the head and he went crashing to the floor. He forced out a few gasps and shook his hand towards the sky, "G-Gack...M-Maria...avenge...me...!"

Maria's eyes lit up and she suddenly pulled herself out from under the table, snagging the apple from Nikolas' hand.

"Hold on Nikolas!" She stood tall over him and threw an apple into the crowd to knock someone down instantly. She then used her gas powers to catch other flung fruits and toss them back.

"YEEHAW!" She roared, having the time of her life.

In what would come to be known as the "First Day Food Massacre", 100 students had to go to the doctor, and school was canceled early. The chaos was so great that no one, not even the teachers, were able to determine who started this or why.

Maria was able to leave the school wielding a mischievous smile, while her body remained untouched.

Waiting for her outside was good ol' papa. He stood upright with a look of surprise and walked towards her, "Well you're out early!"

He quickly shifted to concern once near her and whispered, "Everything go ok...?"

She smiled big and said, "I started a food fight so they had to stop early."

Papa's eyes lit up and he threw his hand up, "That's my girl! Gimme five!"

Maria clapped both his hands but he stood up with a couple coughs and said, "Uhhh, just gotta ask though...Does your mom know or...?"

She pinched her lips and slid her fingers across them.

"Whew," Papa smirked and said, "So how did it go otherwise...?"

"Well..."

"Maria wait up!"

Maria turned around and saw Nikolas running out of the school towards her. He still looked pretty dirty, but he somehow kept smiling.

Once he caught up he seemed spooked by something.

Papa was glaring at him, "And just who are you?"

Nikolas immediately started bowing, "I-I'm Maria's friend, s-sir!"

"Your name?"

"Nikolas! S-Sir!"

"Hehe..." Papa gestured his hand out and said, "Stand up kid."

Nikolas sprung upright and couldn't look papa in the eyes. So he turned to Maria and said, "Hey, do you want to hang out at my place?"

"Sure!" Maria proclaimed, looking to papa for his blessing.

He tucked his hands behind his head and said, "As long as you get her home by dinner."

"I will sir! Thanks!" Nikolas ran ahead of Maria and gestured his hand towards himself, "C'mon, follow me!"

She ran along after him and yelled "Later papa!" energetically.

Mew shook his head slowly and smiled. He then laid his hands down and murmured, "Sir...? Do I look THAT old?"

He felt another familiar power from the school and turned to find Kairi dragging herself out through the entrance. Her hair was covered in mashed potatoes.

"This is a bad omen for the year..." He barely heard her murmur.

She raised her head to the sight of Mew's smiling face and raised her brows, "Mew? What're you..."

She stopped a few feet away and remarked, "Were you standing out here the who-"

Mew crossed his arms against his chest and said, "So, messy first day back?"

Kairi's lips flopped and she brushed a nice chunk of mashed potatoes off her head, "Ugh. Some smartass kid started a food fight and it spiraled out of control."

"Sounds like it." Mew smiled wider.

"Did you see Maria...? I'm worried she got caught up in that mess." Kairi glanced around for a bit.

"Oh she just left with a friend she made today." He replied with a nudge back.

"She made a friend?" Kairi gasped happily and swung her head down to say, "Ohthankgod!"

She laid her hand over her chest and breathed slowly, "I was panicking all day about her you wouldn't believe it. I thought I gave her the wrong advice...I thought she'd be mocked. I must have aged like ten years in one day!"

"You still look as young as ever Kairi, geez."

"E-Easy for you to say." She said with a blush.

Mew patted her on the back and smiled, "Lets get you home in the shower before the mashed potatoes start sprouting."

"Haaaa. Yeah. That sounds nice." Kairi relaxed her guard and let Mew walk her home. Summer was over. But the real struggle began now...

**STORY 6: Summertime Shenanigans END**

**NEXT: STORY 7: Shadows in our Blood**


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46: Grandmother Clause**

It was a nice day out for sure, but in Joe Dark's honest opinion he'd rather be lounging on the couch back at home.

So why is he out, you may ask? Well, Mew's to blame, as usual. Ever since Maria started going to school he's been getting extra fidgety and agitated in very not-so-subtle ways. As in, he's directly throwing himself in Joe Dark's line of sight.

Just to keep him from going crazy he's decided to hang out with him. He's very good at indirectly manipulating people like that.

So right now instead of being in the comfort of his home, he's being bombarded by sun beams as he walks the streets of Sancturia.

"_The things I put up for him..." _He sagged his shoulders with a sigh and looked to his right. At least he had Alura by his side. She's wearing a low-cut black shirt with a snake's head dripping venom from its fangs and one sleeve hung lower than the other, and cut some of her hair back. She also decided to wear jeans with holes cut in them sort of like how he does it. She's picked up some weird habits, to the say the least.

After reaffirming her presence he looked at the back of his brother's head and gruffly remarked, "Do you even know where we're going Mew...?"

Mew gave a roll of the shoulders and clamped his hands behind his head. Great. Just what they needed.

"Mew, seriously." Joe Dark groaned.

"We'll find something to do...Eventually," Mew then spun around and walked backwards, "Hey I got it! They have their own line of clothes up here, why don't we get you into something less emo?"

Joe Dark felt his brows readying to cave in his eyes with their slant, "I happen to like these clothes, thank you very much."

"Yeah but what's wrong with changing things up?"

"I am not about to hear that from you!" Joe Dark proclaimed, as his brother's eyes widened like a cornered rat's.

"I-I'm just saying even Alura's picked up some variety!"

Joe Dark turned to Alura and she stared up into his eyes, curling a very, very tiny smile of pride.

"Feh...!" He swayed his hand down at her and then tucked them both in his pockets, "She's a girl, they just...do that."

Alura fluttered her eyelashes quite a number of times as they continued walking. Then, after a few more minutes she turned her head and remarked, "Joe Dark, what is that big building over there?"

He looked her way and saw what had to be one of the city's schools. Somehow, the topic of schools had completely evaded her up until now.

"Oh right. That's a school. They-"

"Are a prison," Mew interrupted with a overtly grim tone, "They kidnap kids and young adults, forcing them into labor and torturing them with butt cramps, vomit-inducing food and **peer pressure**!"

Joe Dark's eyes narrowed as Alura's curiosity manifested in the expected manner, "Joe Dark is he telling the truth?"

Thank god she's learned to not play along with Mew's goofiness, "No Alura he's exaggerating."

"Did you ever spend a day in school Joe?" Mew asked with pouted lips.

"N-No! But I still know enough to say you're spewing shit from your mouth Mew!"

Mew tilted his head and remarked, "Do you WANT to go back to school though...?"

Joe bit his lower lip and struck a thinking pose. As he tapped his foot on the ground he shook his head and remarked, "I don't _need_ to really, as long as I have books I can re-educate myself at my own pace."

He then flashed a mix of scowl and smirk as he raised his head, "Besides knowing my luck I'd wind up in the same class as your girlfriend."

"Ha ha ha," Mew dryly chuckled, but couldn't hide his blush. He then turned at the school and remarked, "Well if you change your mind this place will be your best bet. Cause, y'know..."

"Right..." Joe Dark hung his head a bit and sighed only to himself, _"Its been three months since I came back to Earth, and everywhere I go I'm constantly reminded of how little I can expand my horizons..."_

"_A dead man can't get an ID...But you need one for jobs, checks, driver's licenses, insurance, houses," _He then bobbed his head towards Alura and frowned slightly, _"Alura's in the same boat. We're scraping by on food, clothes and books with Mew's assistance but...can he really afford us forever?"_

A terrifying predicament with no real answer...It made him long for the days when they were stopping world ending threats.

"_I just...don't want to be a bu-"_

"Hey Joe!" Mew's sudden remark gave him a mini-heart attack.

Joe Dark's clasped his chest and growled, "Uuuuugh, _what_?"

Mew poked his finger out and seemed to be aiming over Joe Dark's shoulder, "You're losing your touch man. Look behind you."

He did so slowly and panned his gaze around the crowd. It just looked like the same old Aurians minding their own business...

"Are you pulling one over on me...?" He stared back at Mew.

"Naw I wouldn't do that...now," Mew took a few steps closer and wrapped his arm around Joe Dark's back, "Take another look. That middle-aged woman over there with the bluish hair."

Joe Dark squinted and panned his gaze once more. He immediately picked up on the woman as his brother described her as. She was just standing there beside a house, hunched over slightly with a curled smirk and a few bags under her eyes. She has a dark-blue cloth with white cotton rim hung over her shoulders, a buttoned up woolly t-shirt, and a ribbed skirt that went down to her ankles. Her hair was fading blue and all bunched up to the back of her head. She was barely taller than Alura.

"Her?" He pointed towards her.

"Yeah, she's been following us for a while now." Mew said as he pulled back.

"What? And you're just bringing this up now, _why_?"

Mew rolled his shoulders and he was just about ready to break them in retaliation.

Mew took a couple steps back and smirked, "I wonder what her deal is. Maybe she's a fan of mine? Gotta admit for an older gal, she's kinda cute."

Mew flashed a wink towards the woman and Joe Dark chopped him on the shoulder, "Don't invite her over! She's probably a crazy stalker...!"

"Stalk...er?" Alura murmured nearby.

"They're a type of person who has an unhealthy obsession towards one person and will follow their every movement." Explained Mew.

"So they're bad...?" Alura's lips tried to curl into a scowl.

"Weeeeeeeeell..." Mew purposefully stalled dissuading her until she turned towards the mysterious woman and said, "Don't worry Joe Dark, I'll handle this stalker."

She scurried over to her and Joe Dark ran in pursuit as Mew trailed with a snicker.

The woman just remained where she was, cracking an even wider smirk as Alura stopped a few feet away from her and said, "Stalker, stop stalking Joe Dark or I will start punching you."

Alura threw her fist into the woman's stomach and they just hung their head, watching the little girl throw punch after punch.

"Well well, who's the little spitfire gremlin?" She said in an aged, humored tone.

Joe Dark clasped little Ms. Kung-Fu by the back of her shirt and lifted her flailing body back, "The better question is, who the hell are you and why are you stalking us?"

"My, don't you know how to speak to your elders, red-eyes?" The woman said with a hefty dosage of mocking gruffness in her tone.

Joe Dark squinted and turned away, plopping Alura back onto the ground and waving his hand past Mew, "Come on, we got better things to do."

The woman's dry heaves could be heard behind him, "Your father used to give me that same stupid glare..."

"...!" Joe Dark gasped, as he felt his whole body go numb.

As he turned around to look at that woman one more time, all he could hear was the thundering beat of his heart against his chest.

"W-What...did you just...?"

Dizzy. He felt dizzy. His vision split and made him see two of her, and even as he grabbed his head and shook it around this feeling in his head would not subside.

"_Father...? She knew my...father?" _The last two months of peace and quiet came tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.

He had thought this to be shoved into the back of his mind. Forgotten at long last. But no, it never could be. He had wanted to. But that was impossible. The mystery of his real parents...and the painful wound from their abandonment of him, was reopened thanks to the blunt efforts of this strange woman.

He slowly felt a tug at his hip, and looked down to find Alura there. She pulled away, looking a little frightened, and it was enough to snap him back to sanity for a moment.

"...Ghh..." He raised his head and stared at the woman some more. Her impish smile was plotting something...or enjoying the hell out of his anger.

Meanwhile Mew seemed to be taking this rather calmly. He had his arms crossed and looked up with a puzzled gleam in his eyes, "You knew Joe Dark's father...? Uhhh, which one?"

"..." The woman's eyes narrowed and she snuck a peak Joe Dark's way, "Don't tell me **you** inherited the brains of the family..."

Joe Dark tucked his hands into his pockets with a rough sigh, "Unfortunately..."

Mew suddenly pulled his arms back and exclaimed like the air was violently escaping his lungs, "Holy shit...you're our grandmother?!"

"Holy shit, you finally figured it out." The woman proclaimed with a dash of sarcasm as she slapped off the side of her face.

Mew settled down and as he did, his eyes were still full of confusion, "But wait you're...an Aurian."

"Yes." The woman nodded her head.

"In Sancturia."

"Yes."

"...Our parents lived on Earth."

"This isn't twenty questions idiot, quit stalling and get your brain caught up to the present." The woman hastened him along.

"...Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me granny," Mew blasted back in her face, "**Forgive me** for being maybe a LITTLE surprised to run into our literal grandmother!"

"_How does he always take these things in stride...Ugh," _With a light groan Joe Dark did have to agree with him on one thing, "He's right. Our birth parents lived on Earth, and in case it may not be obvious we don't have those dumb bracelets on our wrists."

"I wouldn't think you would given your father's blood tainting the mix."

"What...?" Joe Dark growled.

"We don't need to draw a crowd in though," The woman turned around and glared over her shoulder, "Lets go to my place to talk some more."

Beside her, Alura had snuck up and started kicking her in the ankles. The woman smiled, and toppled Alura over with a flick to the forehead.

Joe Dark ran over and caught her as the woman walked off, saying to them both, "And the little succubi can come too. I like her."

Alura rubbed her forehead and muttered, "Joe Dark, I don't like her."

"Sorry Alura, just grin and bear it for now..." After he helped her up he looked to Mew and hesitated to ask, "What do you think? Do you trust her?"

"Well..." It was a rare to see him scratch his face and **think** about his next move, "It probably wouldn't hurt to hear her out at least."

He then cracked a smirk and couldn't help himself from saying, "Don't worry, I'll protect you from her vile knitted sweaters Joe!"

"Ha ha," Joe Dark raised his head in a "Hmph!" and remarked, "She doesn't strike me as that kind of person anyways..."

So whether it was wise or not the three of them followed the woman back to her home, which on the outside looked like any other. Inside, however, painted a picture of what this woman's interests were.

She had two swords crossed above her fireplace, each rusted with blood. On the mantle above the crackling fire were two rows of skulls shaped unlike anything seen on Earth. Some equipped with horns. There was a silver gun hung up in a picture frame labeled "Gambit" and a gold shotgun labeled "Close Impact". There was a bear skin rug with three eyes separating her two couches, and a plethora of...romcom DVDs on her shelves? But on top those shelves were multicolored glowing flasks.

Joe Dark leaned towards Mew and whispered, "Did you see this coming...?"

"Not in a million years."

From all the way in the kitchen the woman shouted, "I got some sodas! Want one?"

"Uh sure!" Mew said, the accidental raise of his hand allowing him to catch the can of Pepsi flung across the room.

"Do you have any Coca-Cola?" Joe Dark pondered.

"You're kidding right?" The woman groaned.

"...Ugh fine, I'll take a Pepsi." Joe Dark caught the can flung at him, then Alura received one of her own. Then the woman popped a can of her own and wandered over to the northside couch, propping her legs on the table.

"Well?" She glanced at them with a couple eyebrow nudges.

Mew shrugged and went to the right side of the other couch. Alura sat beside him, then Joe Dark followed suit. They took sips of their sodas while the woman guzzled hers down in seconds, crunching the can against her forehead.

"So. I haven't introduced myself have I?" She pumped her chest proudly, "Regina Carbon, Ex-Demon Hunter at your service."

"Demon Hunter?" Joe Dark murmured.

"Oh so you're the grandma from our mother's side then..." Mew's brief remark was swept under the rug as Joe Dark leaned in and said, "No go back to that Demon Hunter thing for a moment..."

"Ever heard of the supernatural incidents that cropped up in your world?" Regina smirked.

"Besides what we've dealt with? No." Mew shook his head.

"Exactly." Her smirk widened and she leaned back into the couch, while Mew and Joe Dark exchanged a brief glance of surprise. Alura sipped her drink.

Mew looked back at Regina and put his can down for the moment, "How'd you find us anyways?"

"Well you two weren't exactly being subtle a few months ago. I could smell your energies during my daily yoga practices!" She snapped her fingers out but despite the roughness of her actions her tone after was full of pride, "By the by, good job running that bastard Gravitus out of town. Any longer and I might've booted the tin can tyrant myself!"

The woman was a sagging blimp of hot air that's for sure...

"Do you want me to prove it, sonny?" Regina suddenly flashed a glare at Joe Dark, causing him to nearly choke on his drink.

The woman then slapped her knee with a laugh and said, "Anyways after I felt your energies the first time I kept my senses open for any signs of you two coming back so I could hunt you down personally."

"H-Hunt down...?" Mew repeated with a weak chuckle.

"So you were stalking us...?" Alura murmured.

"I guess so." Regina chuckled loudly.

Alura turned to Joe Dark and said aloud, "I told you she was a bad person."

Regina leaned over the table and ruffled Alura's hair, "Aren't you just the cutest little demon I've ever seen?"

Alura swatted at the woman's arm to no avail. When she got back to her seat she huffed out a sigh, "But I've lost my touch if you caught me out. Then again, you seem to have gotten your mother's perceptive eyes Mew."

"M-My mother's eyes...?" Mew said, pointing at his face with a hard smile.

"Though I reckon it'd be more fair to say Alex made sure you kept her eyes." The moment she said that Mew froze stiff for a moment.

"W-Whoa back up a moment."

Regina intercepted his inevitable question, "Of course I know about that stupid! What. Didja think I was gonna just sit back and go 'Oh yes that's totally normal' when all of a sudden I'm feeling my grandson's energy three times over in the same day?!"

She smacked her hand towards the air and said in a huff of rage, "Why I stormed over to Auris' house that day after and made her spill the beans immediately!"

She then took a few gasps of air and leaned back into her couch, "Honestly...this family...Bad enough that man had to defile my daughter, but then one of my grandsons clones himself twice while the other becomes a Hot Topic reject!"

"Enough!" Joe Dark slammed his soda can onto the table and lifted himself towards the woman with a scowl, "If you're going to bad mouth my father fine, but I deserve to know about him first and foremost! And my mother too!"

"Joe Dark..." Whispered Alura.

"Joe, you..." Mew didn't get much out before Regina sighed heavily and shook her head.

"You must have a lot of questions burning you up from the inside Joseph..." Regina softened her tone and gave him a wink, "But answering those questions is part of the reason I was looking for you both. So sit down, and let an old lady spin a yarn for a bit..."

Joe Dark slowly slumped back into the couch and raised his heels onto the table, his arms crossed in tense anticipation.

Regina sat upright and cricked her shoulders a bit, then flashed the biggest smile they'd seen from her yet, "Oh my darling daughter Lumina was the most adorable thing you'd ever seen. She loved to roleplay as kaijus and stampede over dolls and action figures. Sometimes she took my swords out in public and flailed them around. Other times she'd wrestle her classmates to the ground or affectionately dropkick them as a greeting..."

Mew and Joe Dark bulged their eyes and Mew started pumping his fist into his coughing mouth, "I-I'm sorry are you pulling our leg here grandma?"

"No I'm not pulling your leg! Look!" She whipped out a leather wallet and when it unfurled, a trail of perfectly preserved photographs fell to the ground and then some.

Mew and Joe Dark leaned across the table and saw a very petite young woman with violently long azure hair doing exactly the things Regina described. And they both winced upon seeing the poor soul who got dropkicked in the spine.

"Jesus christ our mother was merciless..." Mew muttered.

"_This is the woman who cradled us to sleep?!" _Fear crept up Joe Dark's spine as he pulled back into the couch.

Mew leaned in further and squinted at the photo album, the lower half in particular, "Are these all from her younger years?"

"Oh heaven's no a lot of these are from her high school days," Regina proudly folded the pictures back into the wallet and smiled, "I know, Lumina was quite the runt. Never made it past that five foot mark in all her life."

"Gave her quite the nickname though...The Ferocious Azure Lion. Why whenever she got riled up her hair would flare up like a lion's mane and there was word that her eyes hollowed out with the glow of a nuke about to go off..."

She slapped her knee and chuckled, "But she was a smart one. Top marks in all her classes. Some say that just made her more dangerous though..."

Mew dryly scratched the side of his face and muttered, "Guess crazy just runs in the family eh...?"

"Want to repeat that?" Joe Dark and Regina said together.

"Oh no I didn't say anything." Mew whispered through puckered lips.

Joe Dark then faced Regina and said, "And what about my father?"

"Hmph," Regina scoffed and settled into a hunched over pose, "That man soiled my daughter..."

She ruffled her scowl and strained to say the name without a hint of malice, "Abraham Whiter..."

Joe Dark froze still and squeezed his hands together on his lap as the story took a harsher turn in tone.

"Tall. Lanky. Quiet, but a massive kiss-ass...Always wandered around with the scent of a demon on him," Regina smirked and raised her head in contempt, "He did a good job playing human, I suppose."

Joe Dark growled, tightening the bridge between his hands.

"But he married your daughter didn't he?" Mew remarked.

"Pfft, ever heard of eloping boy?!" Regina barked in turn, taking an invisible swing at Mew's head.

"Yeah but he couldn't have been **that **bad could he?"

"Let me give you a history lesson Mew," Regina folded her fingers together below her chin, "Ever heard of the Nine Elemental Tribes?"

"They had something to do with the planet Genestasia right...?"

"Each tribe represented a different element. For this story though we will focus on the Clan of Shadows, ruled by the former Dark King."

"In the absence of the Elemental Overlord and the Dark King, the tribes began to tear each other asunder."

"The planet was in a terrible state when we went there a while ago." Mew remarked.

"I can only imagine. But it did not end in the curtain call for all tribes. The Clan of Shadows survived, just barely, clinging to that desolate rock like cockroaches. Left with little power of their own and no leader to guide them, they sought to reclaim their old king..."

"But one clan, the Whiters, had different ideas. Selfishly pursuing power, they crafted the Diavolo Manifesto, a tome of considerable demonic filth, and drained the rest of the Clan of Shadows dry of darkness. Then, scavenging parts from the fallen Electric Tribe, they headed off to space to seek the return of their king."

"But their obstacles proved harsh. Ill demons and the like plagued them at every turn, seeking to claim the tome for themselves. The numbers of the Whiter clan were thin, and they could barely keep those numbers growing even with intercourse amongst themselves."

"So the leader came up with an idea. They would feed their knowledge and darkness into the tome, and fuse it into a newborn child. That child would be able to access incredible power, and whenever they would have a child, they would gain that power too. Thus, the Clan of Shadows would last forever, until the day their king would return."

"But in reality this was a selfish goal. The leader wanted all the power consolidated into her bloodline alone, so that history would remember her and her ancestors as they one that allowed the Dark King to usher in a new age of darkness."

"The rest of the Whiter clan was dissolved, bone and all, and absorbed into the tome. Then the leader fed the tome into her womb, where a fetus was slowly growing within it. Then, following a trail of breadcrumbs left behind in the stars, she found the Earth where Sancturia had landed."

"Over the next couple millenia child after child was born carrying the power of the Diavolo Manifesto within them. They were indoctrinated towards the will of their Clan. Men and women alike were forced to servitude to foster the next generation. Until one day, a man named Abraham was born. He was not as weak-willed as his predecessors. The burden of knowledge and power made him question his purpose, and in time turn against his own parents out of a declaration of independence."

"He unleashed his great power upon his home, burying his vile parents alive in dark flames. But in doing so, he had made the first of many, many mistakes. He had attracted the eye of a power-hungry man named Judas Jeremiah."

"Judas...Jeremiah?" Mew said in stunned silence, while Joe Dark's face felt cold.

"Abraham turned to the only place he knew he could hide at. A lone city in the sky that his mother once whispered about."

"There he pleaded his circumstances to Auris and was allowed sanctuary in the city. Her clairvoyance proved a necessity in keeping him hidden from Gravitus' prying eye...Though in the same accursed manner, its how that vile man ever got within ten-miles of my darling Lumina...!"

Regina took a break to scowl her gritted teeth and pretend like she was strangling Abraham right now. Then she stopped with a single huff of breath.

She scratched the back of her head and slowed down her pace, "Their fated meeting seems like it was just yesterday. Lumina was coming home from school when she happened upon a stranger in the wild. She tried to dropkick him but he turned around and dangled her in the air by the leg. As she tried to take some swings at his back they exchanged greetings, all the while he had a smile on his face."

"...They became glued to the hip there-after. It was love at first sight and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Then the next thing I knew a couple years had passed, and my daughter offered up a wedding ring to that man...And he accepted. She was no longer Lumina Carbon, but Lumina Whiter, his bride..."

"I argued with my daughter for a full day, trying to get her to see reason...And in her one act of defiance, she eloped with Abraham down to Earth, built a house of their own, where she gave birth to two kids...Alexander and Joseph Whiter."

Regina twisted her head aside and her eyelids slumped, "And I never saw her again."

Silence filled the room, broken abruptly by Joe Dark standing up and exclaiming, "That can't be the end."

Regina turned her head and remarked bluntly, "You can't always expect a happy ending Joseph. Sometimes tragedy strikes, and the survivors are left with regrets unfulfilled."

"That's not what I mean...!" Joe Dark grit his teeth and steeled his nerves for what he was unequipped to ask, "My parents died...how? Why?!"

And as quick as it was asked of her, Regina answered softly, "I was told it was a quick death. A comet struck them down."

Joe Dark found his fist pounding down upon the table, splitting cracks into the surface, "You expect me to believe that load of crap...?!"

Regina rose and grabbed Joe Dark by the shirt and pulled him in, "I outlived my daughter and didn't even get a burial for her, and you dare call me a liar?!"

"Ghhh...!" Joe Dark trembled, gritting his teeth as tears went into his eyes, "Why **should **I believe you? You're so blind to your daughter's actions that you didn't even know that she abandoned me, HER OWN SON!"

The sound of a whip cracking took to Joe Dark's face in an instant, and the moment after he found himself on his knees beside the couch. Regina's palm was bright red, and her face utterly livid.

She scowled her teeth and muttered, "She was a rebel and ferocious but she loved you more than anything in the whole damn world...!"

Regina reached into her shirt and tossed a stack of letters on top of Joe Dark's body, "I may not have seen her again but she still sent plenty of letters talking about you two. Every. Word. She wrote was full of love. Even if she 'abandoned' you, I'm sure she had her reasons you ungrateful brat...!"

Joe Dark's heart was racing and the letters dug into his skin like paper cuts. Heaving heavy breaths he scrambled to his feet, throwing the letters to the ground as he rushed out the door.

"Joe Dark...!" Gasped Alura behind him, who was sure to catch up.

Mew lagged behind, wanting to give chase. But maybe...he needed some space right now.

He picked up one of the random letters and opened it up.

"_Hey Mom!_

_Ooof! These two little bags of energy are growing up fast! Can't believe its already been a year since I shoved them out. Hahaha. Abraham and I are managing just fine, don't worry. I mean yeah we're on the run from what's-his-name, but if he tries anything funny he's gonna be facing the wrath of an angry mother! _

_I...really wish I could bring the kids up to see you. Joseph's a bit of a crier but I'll work that outta him eventually. Alex though, I feel a spark in him. He's a fighter for sure! I'm gonna raise these kids, me and Abraham, and do a good job like you did me mom! Anyways, I'll send you another letter next month...Love ya!"_

As Mew felt the weight of the writing on his soul, he heard Regina droop with a sigh behind him.

She sank into the couch and began muttering, not necessarily towards him, "Abraham would send those letters to me via a dark rift every month until they died. I hated every fiber of his being but he stayed loyal to my daughter to the end..."

She grabbed the side of her face and it began to show its age as her frown sagged, "Did I become a demon?"

Mew snuck the letter into his right pocket and faced her with his own quiet statement, "You should go apologize to Joe."

"Heh, maybe..." Regina shook her head and brushed the back of her hand out towards him, "But that's not going to help him. Go on. Be a good big brother."

"...Alright," Mew hesitated to smile and waved his hand out towards her, "Do you mind if I pop in sometime? I'd like to hear more stories...about our parents."

"..." Regina shook her head some more and muttered, "You're always welcome here."

"Sure. Later." Mew left quietly and trailed his brother's energy to just a few yards away.

He was leaned up against a building sobbing into his arm. Alura stood by, staring up with a soft disheartened moan.

"Joe..." Mew tried to reach out and his brother swung his arm at him immediately. Then he grit his teeth in a scowl, tears drenching the sides of his mouth.

"I just want to know why...?" His scowl tightened wider as a scream ripped free from his heart, "Is that too much to ask?!"

This would be his life unless he found closure. An endless cycle of misery and confusion. Mew could remain strong, or he could actually solve this problem once and for all. Personally, there was no other choice...

"We're going to find the answers Joe," Mew raised his head high and planted a hand on his brother's shoulder, "There's one figure that ties everything together. Our parents' deaths, Alex's torment, and your family's demise..."

"...Judas Jeremiah." Joe Dark growled in disgust.

"Bad news is he's dead," Mew crossed his arms but then got a mischievous grin on his face, "Buuuut the good news is I bet that leaves his former base of operations completely vulnerable. And fortunately, I know a certain someone who'd probably help us find it and expose its secrets."

"..." Joe Dark's expression relaxed with a gasp.

Mew winked at him and said confidently, "Heh, bet you weren't expecting to deal with a secret government operation today were you?"

_Next Time: The Truth of Blood_


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: Intertwining Threads**

After a brief detour for lunch to help Joe Dark settle down a little, Mew sought out Gabriel and had him make a call to one of his allies, asking to meet them outside the Pyramid.

Mew, Joe Dark and Alura went there and waited outside the entrance with bated breath. Joe Dark wondered, "Are you sure they'll be willing to help?"

"Positive! I know how to work them by now." Mew said with a confident smirk, eyeing the entrance as a shadowy figure rushed out into the light.

It was Saturn. Of course it was. What? Expecting Jupiter?

The moment she popped out of the Pyramid she crossed her arms and proclaimed overdramatically, "When justice calls, I answer! Now! Who needs my-"

She bit her tongue staring wide-eyed out towards Mew, who waved his hand up. She swiftly 180'd and tried to dash back into the Pyramid, only for Mew to snag her by the collar and hoist her into the air.

She flailed her limbs around and proclaimed, "Let me go! You can't apprehend a heroine like this, miscreant!"

"Will you settle down and hear us out first?"

She looked over her shoulder and said, "Depends! Have you done away with your perverted schemes?!"

"Y-Yes?" Mew said with a blatantly fake smile.

"Hmmmmmmm...!" Saturn followed up on that by trying to thrust her heel into Mew's waist, but he nimbly sucked his stomach in.

Joe Dark then came by and grabbed Mew by the wrist to help put Saturn down, "Enough of these shenanigans!"

Mew pouted as he hesitantly let the little ball of fury go. As Saturn turned around Joe Dark crossed his arms and looked her dead in the eyes.

"So apparently you're a technological genius, is that correct?"

Saturn propped up her glasses and said following a huff of pride, "That maaaaaay be an understatement!"

"Can you track down _any _person on the planet?"

"It'd be as easy as finding a Combubee in a solar flare!" Saturn boasted with a smirk.

"Including where they've been?"

"Does it look like I'm worried?" She said with her fists propped on her hips.

"Even if they've been part of a secret government conspiracy?"

"I eat those for breakfast!"

"Then-"

Saturn put her fingertips on Joe Dark's lips and proclaimed, "Is this leading to an actual challenge or are ya gonna let me get to work?"

She then quickly whipped out a portable tablet with hard light screen and her fingers tapped away like heavy raindrops, "So! Who you looking for?"

"Judas Jeremiah." Said Joe Dark with determination.

"Judas...Jeremiah..." Saturn muttered as her fingertips blitzed the screen so fast it'd be damaged if it was glass. She then cracked a smirk and said, "Heh, amateurs. They think they can just wipe out their data from the internet...Fools! Data leaves a footprint behind no matter what! And if I just follow the footprints back to their origins...!"

"Bam!" She slapped the pad with an open hand and then turned, thrusting it up towards Joe Dark's face, "Here's everything the internet tried to hide about your man!"

Mew leaned in to take a look. There were a lot of obvious things like biographies, interviews, news stories. He WAS the Secretary of Defense for America after all. But then it starts to get a little more interesting further down. Gossip. Reports of secret labs. The data for these articles weren't fully recompiled but painted a clear picture that there was something being hidden from the world. No big surprise.

Joe Dark stared but it was clear he held little interest, "Mmmm this is a start, but we need the location of his top-secret base."

"Oh!" Saturn pulled the tablet back, "Why didn't you say so!"

Joe Dark propped a hand on his hip and sighed.

"_Now you know my pain..." _Thought Mew with a chuckle.

"Single out all the locations in the articles...Narrow it down to the one mentioned the most..." As she got to work Mew poked his head up and saw that she had pulled up a map of America, specifically zooming in on Arizona.

"Hmmm, lets run a scan for heavy electronic activity..." A piercing sound came form her tablet as a red light ran over the state, going "Ding ding ding!" as it stamped a glowing red light in the southwest part.

"Haha!" She turned and rubbed the tablet in Mew's face, "Once again my talents have put you to shame, nemesis!"

"W-We're we even challenging each other...?" Mew muttered as she pulled the tablet back and put it at a more comfortable length before Joe Dark's face.

"So that's where it is..." Joe Dark's fingertips dug into his arms to the point his bones cracked.

"So what's up with this guy anyways?" Saturn inquired.

"None of your business." Joe Dark barked back.

"Hmph! Well if that's how you're gonna act..." Saturn started motioning for the "delete" button.

Mew raised his hand towards Joe Dark and told him, "Ease up, we need her help."

With her finger atoms away from the button Mew said, "Our family's kinda had a long history of problems with the guy. Now that he's dead we thought now'd be the good time to raid his base and get some answers as to why."

Saturn pulled back immediately and tucked the tablet into her pocket, "Really? Well from a brief look at things this guy had his fingers in a lot of pies, if you know what I'm saying."

Joe Dark leaned to the side and muttered bluntly, "No. I don't."

Saturn threw her hands up in a shrug and spoke slower, "He's a shady man with shady dealings. I can't believe he managed to escape my sights for THIS long!"

She crossed her arms hard against her chest and proclaimed, "Alright! You had my interest, now you have my curiosity! Lets go raid his base and undo his entire conspiracy! FOR JUSTICE!"

"Joe Dark...?" Alura spoke up, "I don't get it. What's going on?"

Joe Dark looked at her and replied, "Alura, this has nothing to do with you. If you want to go home and wait for us to get back..."

"But this **does** have something to do with you, Joe Dark," Alura placed a hand on her chest and frowned, "I'll come with. I...think that's ok?"

"...Ok fine," Joe Dark said with a relaxed sigh, "But don't do anything on your own. We might run into resistance."

"Ok." She gave an obedient nod.

"Gimme just oooooone moment..." Saturn looked over her trusty watch and hovered her finger around in circles above it. She then glanced above her glasses and said, "By the way, hope you haven't had any lunch!"

"Ah sh-" Mew and Joe Dark had a collective gasp as she slammed down on the button.

All four of them blinked and the next thing they knew they were being shunted through hundreds of millions of atoms at ludicrous speeds. And when they finished blinking they were now dropped off in the middle of a desert.

Mew fell on his knees and Joe Dark fought his body tooth and nail to not do the same. Alura's eyes twirled around, ending with her collapsing onto her back with a hard thud. Saturn meanwhile glanced over them and said, "Ooookay, still need a few more touches..."

Mew pulled himself up and while Joe Dark helped Alura up he took a look around. Desert sands, crags and cacti stretched out as far as the eye can see.

And naturally, this meant much hotter weather, which, given their company...

Mew immediately looked to the two shut-ins and saw their skin glistening with sweat, as their eyelids drooped.

"Good god this is insufferable..." Joe Dark muttered.

"My body feels like...ice cream..." Alura followed.

"You two..." Mew groaned and placed a hand on his hip. While he wasn't looking, Saturn had already run off a good fifty feet northbound.

"Hey! Wait up!" He ran after, and the other two lagged behind through the sand.

Saturn hunched down beside a shattered triangular rock and ran her finger through the hot sand. Mew knelt down beside her and said, "Alright super genius, what next?"

She "gently" put her hand in his face and shoo'd him off, "Let me work in peace."

By then Joe Dark wandered in and said, "In the desert of all places...He's tormenting us from beyond the grave!"

Mew snapped his fingers out and provided the two shut-ins with a little cool air. He then crossed his arms and watched as Saturn crawled on hands and knees through the sand, thoroughly digging her finger into it.

"Couldn't you just like...have hacked into the internet to find the base's direction location?" He remarked.

"What?! That's stupid! You're stupid!" Saturn barked, looking over her shoulder, "Even technological neanderthals are gonna notice something's up! And as you know, I am a **very** subtle worker!"

"Uh huh." Mew and Joe Dark muttered.

Suddenly Saturn stopped in place and patted her open palm against the sand, producing a couple clunky, metallic sounds.

"Theeeeere we go, the front door!" She stood up and threw the sand off her lab coat with a gesture, then spun around and slowly strutted her way back. Along the way she whipped out her tablet and aimed a scanning ray at the ground.

"So there should be a circuit box or secret entrance button nearby..." She stopped in front of the broken rock, rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Pleeeeeease..." A few taps on the tablet later and some energy wires popped out of her tablet, feeding themselves into the cracks to provide one quick, mighty electrical surge.

"I know your planet's behind the times, but its insulting how easy this is." Most of Saturn's boasting was drowned out by a shrill creak coming behind her.

The sand was thrown aside by a thick rising plate of metal, slanting, unattached to any joints. A long staircase into cold, hostile darkness awaited them.

Mew stepped onto the first step and said, "Alright lets take this nice and slow, we-"

Joe Dark walked down the stairs with his body tensed up with a glare, Alura at his back. Saturn trotted down like this was a garden stroll. Mew crossed his arms, shrugged, and followed them down.

The only sound was their footsteps, echoing in the hollow corridors. Saturn used her body's aura as a makeshift light when the darkness got too thick.

Deeper, deeper they went. 50, 100, 150 feet into the Earth. The heat of the desert was an afterthought. So far, not a single alarm was going off.

Announcing that as such was just asking for fate to intervene.

Saturn started moving towards the walls and glided her hand across it. Her curious hums got Mew's attention.

"The material on these walls aren't made from Earth compounds..." She said.

"They aren't?" Mew thought about it for a moment. True, he hadn't sensed this place on the way here. But...not from Earth?

"You don't think we've stumbled onto Area 51 do you?" He couldn't help but run his mouth a little.

As Joe Dark groaned Saturn turned her head and looked insulted, "Area 51, are you for real?"

She slapped the wall and the sound reverberated throughout the corridor, "If aliens came to your world now it'd be obvious! Most invaders aren't subtle!"

"I'm just saying..." Mew softly responded.

"...Though, It IS weird that this kind of metal is here." Saturn remarked, peeling away from the wall.

200, 250, and finally 300 feet into the Earth they finally saw something new. Well, "saw" in quotations there. It was still dark as hell but the space they walked in began to widen at least. And widen, it most certainly did.

If his Earth senses failed him then at least by focusing on the Air Mew felt that the room they were in was as large as a football stadium. And there were a lot of desk strewn about. But they weren't traditional desks. The tops were slightly detached from large, rectangular boxes full of dormant electricity. There were also a couple corridors leading down to other rooms, which led to more corridors and more rooms. Hints of glass could be found, which is about the most normal thing he could sense.

It'd be a waste of time to try searching around this way. They needed to light this place up, and fast. But more importantly...

"This place is empty..." Joe Dark noticed the same thing he did. No humans. No robots. Not even aliens. Nothing. No one at all. But there **had** been someone here recently. The dust in the air had barely formed.

"Saturn, I think there's some computers in this room." Was all Mew had to say to get her moving.

"On it!" She hopped away from the group and wandered over to one of the nearby desks, "Hmmm, interesting. Every one of these desks IS a computer."

She whipped out her handy tablet and weaved the same energy wires between the keyboards keys, "But all I need is one to get the job done!"

"Guess we'll give her a couple minutes to hack in-"

The sounds of lights clicking on filled the room and Saturn triumphantly burst into laughter, "Ha ha ha! I'm unstoppable today!"

Mew watched as violet-blue lines of energy shot through the walls, giving the entire room a dull, otherworldly but arctic tint to it. The top of the desks whirred to life, rising up a couple inches thanks to some sort of anti-gravity field. Then they all clicked on, a warm buzz filling the room from the machinery below.

The computers stretched all the way to the other side of the room, with a raised platform at the center overlooking a large monitor. And there was a hovering chair before each of those computers.

"Eerie..." Murmured Mew.

"Your assessment might not have been far off Mew..." Followed Joe Dark.

Saturn turned around and scanned the room in a second, following up with a nudge of her glasses, "Hmm, interesting...Even given a good economy and social upbringing you shouldn't be capable of this kind of technology for another century at least!"

"Not so crazy now am I?" Said Mew as he waltzed down the steps with his brother.

"Hmph! Everyone gets one," Saturn remarked in a strained tone. She then crossed her arms and started wandering down between the desks, "So this place looks like its been abandoned completely. Think the guy's gone running?"

"He's dead." Joe Dark said coldly.

"WHAT?!" Saturn spun around and nearly fumble her glasses off her face, "So I ain't even gonna arrest anyone?! That's like, the best part of conspiracy busting!"

"Just do your job and get us into his databanks." Joe Dark remarked as he walked past her.

She propped her fists on her hips and leaned towards him, "Say the magic word."

Joe Dark froze, twitched, and clenched his fists and teeth, "**Please**."

She clapped her hands over her head louder than thunder and proclaimed, "Will do!"

She threw herself onto the closest chair and started tapping away at the keyboard. Joe Dark wandered around with Alura to his back, the both of them staring at the computers hesitantly.

Mew lagged behind and looked at Saturn's work. She was opening, closing, and opening new windows so fast that all of them melded together as a blur.

"So what's the verdict so far?"

"Well for one, these guys got crappy security walls. I'm blitzing through them like fly paper!" She said with a pleased snicker, "As a note though, I disabled all the traps, just to be safe."

"And the data?"

"Weeeeeell you guys know more about that than I do sooooo," She picked up her pace for a few more seconds and then slapped her hands down on the keyboard fully, "There we go!"

She peeled away from the computer and swung her arm out towards it, "I compiled the data and implemented a search function into each and every computer in the facility! So go nuts!"

Mew crossed his arms and smiled softly, "Sometimes your versatility impresses me."

"Hehe! A swiss army knife wishes it could do what I do!" She then hopped off the chair.

Mew cupped his hands to holler out to his brother, "You hear that Joe?! Just type in whatever you want to find!"

Joe Dark turned and then sat down at the computer in front of him. He sprawled his fingers out and hovered them over the keyboard. He rested for a few moments, then let out a tiny groan.

"Are you ok Joe Dark?" Asked Alura.

"...Whatever I find in these databanks, I know it'll be unpleasant." He settled his fingertips atop the keys and took in a very deep breath.

"_But if this will give me the answers I seek..." _His body stiffened up some more as he gazed deep into the floating computer screen.

"...How does this thing work?" He said, deflating the tension in his own body for the moment.

"Its just like any other computer!" Saturn hollered across the room, "Don't be intimidated by the fancy-shmancy coat of paint!"

"Hmmm, alright..." Joe Dark took another breath in and began typing slowly.

Mew meanwhile, sat at his own computer and started fiddling around with the search bar. The text was in a nice readable font, not too big, not too small, and not comic sans.

"Where should I start?" He knew very little about the man of the hour, so hey, that actually sounds like a good place to begin.

"Judas...Jeremiah...biography..." Those three words gave him access to a lot of entries and a very painful scratching noise from the computer itself.

"Ack!" And to make matters worse there were huge chunks of black spaces torn out of the articles.

"Oh yeah forgot to mention, a lot of the data was corrupted. Sorry, not much I can do about that!" Saturn's apology definitely sounded a little cheeky there.

"..." Mew shrugged and resumed looking at the articles to see what he could find, "Judas Jeremiah...born in Kentucky...Had a wife...Hmmm, doesn't look like they had kids though. Likes coffee...figures."

"_Seems like a bunch of generic 'I'm totally a good guy 101' masking here. Maybe if I take a look at his policies..." _There wasn't much room in his brain for interest in politics, but he occasionally dabbled. Might as well when there's no good reruns on...

"Judas Jeremiah...politics..." He typed in, getting a thinner selection of results. But of note there was one that clearly said "The Ultimate Warrior Reborn Project", even if half the letters were scrubbed out.

"Oh hang on now..." He said in a higher voice so his brother could hear, then clicked open that file.

"_The bill has been passed. Adoptions are no longer allowed. I am certain this will make it easier to obtain stray children for use in our tests." _

"What?" Joe Dark uttered disdainfully as he turned from his chair and stared across the room at him.

"There's a lot of black spaces here, hold on..." Mew scanned the article until he got something more clear and concise.

"_Subject 09874 has shown symptoms unlike the rest. The DNA bonding process might be a success with this one."_

"DNA...DNA..." Mew closed his eyes and tapped on the side of the keyboard. A vague mention of the word "DNA" cropped up in his memories of talking to Alex all those years ago. Something about being bonded with Saiyan DNA?

"...Joe, I think I found something pertaining to Alex." He stated hesitantly, hearing as his brother scrambled off his chair and ran right over, shoving him aside.

Mew dug his feet down to stop the spinning and then said, "I can tell you how to access it you know..."

"Shut up for a minute." Joe Dark whispered as he glared at the file.

But all he'd find were more black spaces covering up the more important parts, culminating in him gritting his teeth and slapping both hands down on the keyboard as he walked away.

Mew then slid back in and stared at where Joe left in, giving his brother a worrying look in the meantime.

"So what else is this hiding...?" He decided to delve just a little deeper before moving on.

"_Subject 09874 has returned at long last. I've prepared for this moment. Everything is in place. The ultimate machine Divine Tragedy Apocrypha shall capture the rogue subject and allow me to complete the Ultimate Warrior Reborn Project. Finally. Finally. FINALLY. The gods will quake in fear. My vengeance shall come in an inferno to bleed the heavens dry...! Finally. Finally. Finally. Finally. Finally. Finally..."_

Mew scrolled back up a little ways and bit his lower lip, "Weirdo...Huh?"

He stopped the scroll in the middle of the article. There was a link to another one just floating right there, inviting him to click on it.

Another window popped up with a ton of new information that was uncorrupted. The article itself was labeled "Subject 09874: Alex Whiter."

"..." Mew closed his eyes and felt his heart pounding faster as he began to scan the article.

"_Day 000: Subject Alex Whiter has been captured. Unfortunately, we had failed to apprehend his parents. But their powers should be dormant in the child. He should make for the perfect recipient to the Saiyan DNA we acquired."_

"_Day 001: Subject is convulsing after the DNA injections. Eyes have hollowed out. Skin is becoming patchy. Whatever makes him different is keeping him alive longer than the others."_

"_Day 005: Subject's convulsions have stopped. We have begun skin treatments. Now begins the next step of testing. Electrical volts set for 1 million. We must start easy, then work our way up. If we can just contain the power within..."_

"_Day 027: Subject has shown little responses when prompted. Treatments still going..."_

"_Day 039: Subject has begun moving. Volts now up to 10 million. The straps on his wrists are bending to his movements. Pressure weighing in at...XXX...It seems the bonding process is a success."_

"_Day 054: Subject has broken free of his restraints for the third time. Metal is proving inefficient now. We must go to the next level. This has proven to be greater than I could have possibly imagine."_

"_Day 055: Physical interaction has been allowed between the subject and other members of the facility. They have been cautioned to keep a safe-distance. His body is twitching. His eyes are aware like a monkey's...The DNA infusion process is a success. Now to test his strength..."_

"_Day 059: Trained soldiers are being thrown around like dolls. Even at this young age the subject's strength surpasses the average adult. We are creating a monster. My monster. My little godslayer..."_

"_Day 097: Inhibitor tune has been ingrained in the subject's consciousness. He will now obey my orders without question. In solitude, subject whistles said tune to himself with a smile. Such deranged, white teeth...If I do not take every measure possible, he could turn against me. If I create Death, then let it not be mine..."_

"_Day 142: Subject has started thrashing in his room. We have picked up traces of blood and fingernails off the ground in our attempt to restrain him. The inhibitor tune requires a stronger frequency..."_

"_Day 154: Subject...nearly killed someone today. I did not teach him that. Something is very, very wrong here..."_

"_Day 167: Subject has killed another. Our faculty is prepared to dispose of the subject if necessary. No. That will undo EVERYTHING. I shouldn't let his lust for blood go unattended...Its time to feed him his first prey."_

"_Day 200: An interesting discovery has been made. The subject's brother, whom we long thought deceased, has reappeared in the custody of the Dark family. He must be acquired immediately, for if he contains the same power as his brother, then our army will be able to grow."_

"_Day 210: We are being watched. The Dark's matriarch is growing suspicious. How MUCH does he know? No...no no no...This is exactly as I want it. Its perfect. Perfect...perfect...perfect..."_

"_Day 211: The plan will be implemented as follows...The Dark Family is gathered for their yearly reunion. Subject 09874 will be sent in to kill them all. Every last one of them. The brother will be extracted and brought in for testing. This will kill two birds with one stone."_

"_Day 212: The Dark Family has been eliminated. The target was nowhere to be found. Risk of exposure was too high to warrant a search. That's fine. The child will have nowhere to run. I'll have two agents hunt him down immediately. But our subject proved successful. He suffered no wounds from bullets. He has become what I've always wanted him to be."_

Mew felt his stomach curl and started speeding ahead through most of the article, leaping further ahead in time.

"_Day 547: Subject has taken to his old home nicely. Being granted some degree of freedom has helped his nerves. We have began extracting his DNA and using the formulas at hand, we've determined that we could start building our army of ultimate warriors. But first, I must use this DNA to help..."_

"_Day 748: Still no sign of the subject's brother. Our men are being shot down before they can capture him. How long must this subterfuge continue? All aspects of the Dark family have been wiped out. Does his ghost dare to stand in my path?! No...no...only I can deny Death's door...It...it is impossible for him to..."_

"_Day 841: I've done it...the DNA worked. She's walking again, good as new."_

"_Day 1047: STILL the subject's brother remains on the run. He is just a CHILD...how hard can it be to capture him?! I may just have to send out Alex Whiter...no...no...Don't get reckless. If the two subjects meet, their familial bond could undo everything."_

"_Day 1478: I still run the occasional tests on the subject. His strength continues to grow. Now he can fly. And bullets from gatling guns bounce off him. Its not enough...I assumed by pressuring him this much it'd awaken his own dormant power just like I was told it would. To come this far just to still see failure at the end of the road...No, I refuse to accept this result. The gods must pay...the gods must pay...the gods must pay..."_

"_Day 2038: SUBJECT HAS ESCAPED. No. No. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO."_

"_Day 2038. Part 2: ...How. Is this an act of spite? Do you fear retribution that much, oh He who rests on an ivory throne? The subject has been lost...his brother following him...A portal opened up. I have seen confirmations of higher power in my life. The existence of Saiyans in reality confirmed that which we thought was impossible. That not only are we not alone in this universe, but fiction is real. But what I saw...What I saw...Fucking SUPER MARIO hopped out of a portal and kidnapped MY WARRIOR...MY WEAPON...! No...no no no...there has to be a bright side to this. Yes. No...Yesssss...This...this is all within calculations. A new world will push him to his limits and make him even more powerful. He will return. He is loyal to me. And then, it'll all be over..."_

"_Day 2045: The subject had returned...but something had changed. He felt...stronger. No. Beyond strength. He was not here for long. He created a clone of himself, then returned through a portal to what I can only assume is the same world as before. His brother is nowhere to be found...and I cannot hope to control a clone as well as I did the original. Should I continue to watch over this? Has...my road truly come to an end? Must I continue to observe, and wait, for my chance to make the heavens fall?"_

"_Day ?: I have received a message from an unknown source. Its not the same person as our benefactor, yet one who shares the same familiarity with our subject. He expressed worry towards our subject becoming a force of destruction. I for one could only be delighted at that description...while my undying soul quaked in fear. I formed an alliance with this stranger to create a weapon that would keep Alex Whiter in line, should we return to seek vengeance. I know he will. It is only a matter of time."_

"_Day 3517: SUBJECT HAS RETURNED." _On that day, Judas Jeremiah died.

Beyond all those journal entries were video files but Mew quickly shut the window so there'd be no temptation to peek. He then slacked back into the chair, raising the fingertips of a hand to his face as he digested all that he read...

"_So Judas Jeremiah knew all about Alex and Joe's heritage, and wanted to use their power to test Saiyan DNA...In order to build a super army to fight the Gods?" _This was layered with a feeling of melancholy, and a ruffling of his nose.

He coiled his hand into a fist and pounded the arm of his chair as he turned towards the computer, _"It couldn't have just been the Dark's. How many people died for his ambitions? All this was going on and nobody did a thing to stop it...God Alex..." _

Looking at the screen anymore drained him of energy. He had to get up and gather his thoughts via a brisk walk, _"But there's something bothering me. The journal was written as if Judas Jeremiah was in league with someone. But who...?"_

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Mew's body went cold. The visceral sound of a child screaming through a high voltage screech ruptured his ears and made him turn towards Joe Dark.

He clung to the sides of the keyboard and stared deeply into the flashing computer screen. His skin was fully pale, and his whole body was in tremors.

"Shit...!" Mew clicked his tongue and ran over as fast as he could. He tried to wrench his brother's hands from the keyboard but he clung on without moving an inch.

"Joe! Cut the footage! Cut it now!" He lost control of himself and took a glimpse, watching the birth of a monster unfold before his very eyes.

Alex Whiter, no more than six years old, was electrocuted down to the bone. His screams ripped from a burning esophagus. Judas Jeremiah observed from the safety of behind glass, his expression tired, unmoving and uncaring.

The video ended and jumped to the next one without prompt. Alex stood in that same room, half his body limping as he dragged a man in a protective suit up by his neck. He laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

Then without warning, he rammed the pleading man's head into the wall, splattering it into blood, bone and gray matter.

And he laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

At only six years old, he laughed...and cried.

Mew pulled away from a thickening air of tension around Joe Dark, whose face twitched as he barely held onto a thick grimace.

He tore the keyboard from its stand and bashed it into the computer screen. Metallic parts flew through the air as sharp metal plates bore into his skin. His blood trickled out long after the keyboard and computer were considered functional, as his grunts were fueled by a bestial instinct.

"HEY HEY HEY!" Saturn hollered as she ran up from the other side, attempting to constrain Joe Dark's hands with her aura, "If you keep this up we'll lose all the data!"

Joe Dark's eyes were red and soaking wet as he ripped his mouth open wide, "WE WERE PEOPLE!"

The room went silent, as he stood there and gasped for air between his sobs, "WHERE IS ALEX'S LIFE NOW?! HE TOOK IT AWAY! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT ALL BACK!"

He broke through the restraints and smashed the remains of the computer down into the floor, cracking it. He then rested on his knees, whimpering loudly to himself.

Alura hung over him, frozen stiff unable to do anything but watch. Mew felt equally helpless, but didn't move. Didn't speak. Not until his brother got all his tears out.

"All this time...all this time...I blamed him," He shook his head and his words started to get difficult to hear, not out of volume, but from the pain in his voice, "I-I can't get that time back...he's gone...he's gone...he's gone damn it!"

He pounded the ground once, then went silent.

"Joe Dark..." Alura whispered, her hand beginning to rise, only to sink back down...

"..." Mew closed his eyes and turned away with a gruff sigh. He then nudged his head towards Saturn and the two of them walked off.

Saturn tucked her hands deep in her pockets and shivered aloud, "That sound's gonna keep me up tonight..."

"Could you show at least a _little_ tact?" Mew grunted in annoyance.

Saturn flashed a glare towards him and then adjusted her glasses back into place with a tiny pout. She then took a few steps ahead of him while remarking, "...If I had known about this man I assure you he never would've kidnapped a single child."

Her tone lacked its usual energy, but the spring in her step remained the same. She hopped back onto a computer and continued typing away.

Mew glanced over towards his brother and then lowered his hands into his pockets, _"The only thing we can do now is uncover the truth so this can't happen again."_

He settled back in front of the computer from before and silently tapped away at the keyboard for a few minutes, lingering on where to go from here.

"_Think...how far can this conspiracy have gone? He was Secretary of Defense. Did the President know? Other world leaders? I'd hate to think that but..." _Mew shook his head and sighed, _"No. This man's ambitions seemed like a single-minded focus on the Gods in particular...I doubt he'd get any world leaders to agree to that." _

"_...Still." _He decided to type the man's name and the word "God" together. His only results were what he'd already seen.

"_No dice, hmmm..." _He decided to try another target. "Allies". Nothing either.

"_...Wait a minute." _He leaned closer to the screen and backpedaled to the last entry. On the article he read before there was a link to another article that had slipped under his notice.

He clicked on it and was taking to a list of documents regarding the entire extended Dark family. All of them were crossed out with a red "Eliminated", save for Joe Dark...and another.

There was a paper detailing a middle-aged man with an unassuming, salaryman appearance, slight hint of a beard, and scruffy hair. His name was Julius Talbain. Height, weight, age, background, it was all there. He was a butler for Joe Dark's adoptive father...but according to the document, he was fired from the job a year before his master was killed. He was considered someone to be watched even then. And according to the records his last known location as the Dark Manor in Washington state...three months ago.

"_What the hell? That's super recent." _

Mew turned his chair back and said softly, "Joe, I think you'll want to see this."

Joe Dark rose to his feet like a puppet with strings on his back and wandered over, rubbing his eyes dry on the back of his hand.

"What?" His voice cracked.

"Do you recognize this man?" Mew gave him some space to look.

"..." Joe Dark hesitated, then turned his head aside. His eyes widened and with a spark of life, he murmured out, "Julius...? H-He's still alive?"

"Supposedly. He was your family butler?"

"I...vaguely recall that." Joe Dark weakly scratched the back of his head and sighed.

Mew snapped his fingers back and said, "Hey Saturn, do you think you could print out a copy of the data on Julius Talbain?"

"I could give a try." She replied.

"Mew, I-"

"I don't know, he might be worth seeking out. He knew your second dad after all." Mew leaned into the chair and crossed his legs.

"..." Joe Dark stared at the computer some more and hovered his hand over the keys.

"Joe," Mew said softly, "You read the whole journal too, didn't you?"

"..." He tensed up at the hand.

"Sorry, sorry..." Mew waved his hand in the air, "I'll drop-"

"He knew."

"Huh?"

"...He knew what we were," Joe Dark turned his head back with an unease scowl, "What our PARENTS were..."

"Yeah, but..." Mew bit his tongue to pause, "Wait..."

"..." Mew quickly leaned back into the computer and started typing rapidly into the search bar "Sancturia". Him and Joe Dark had their eyes glued to the screen as, after a long few seconds, results suddenly popped up.

"...Holy, shit." Mew gasped in shock.

Mew slowly moved the cursor to the first article and opened it. Most of the information was blacked out.

"_Apxil Xrd, 19XX."_

"_I have been approached by a mysterious benefactor today. He's come to me with talks of bringing peace to my world. I do not fully buy his words, but his offerings are...persuasive to say the least. _

_The technology he provided are leaps and bounds beyond what we're capable of now. For the first time in centuries, I can take my progress further. I asked for his name, but he said he'll provide it...only if I accustom myself to this technology."_

"_XXy 7__th__, X97X."_

"_Incredible. In just a few years time I've managed to create a new base of operations, undetectable by any man made device. The man who gave me this technology appeared right away, as if he was watching over me, and congratulated me on a job well done. _

_And then, to my surprise, he told me that he'd been watching me for a while with great interest. Somehow, he knew of my greatest secret. But he had no intent of undermining me. He wanted to work together towards the same goal: Of fixing this broken world, and freeing it from the influence of heroes, villains, and gods alike._

_He said he'd come again and tell me more about himself, and where he comes from. And also...that he had something he wanted me to do."_

"_April 10__th__, XX98."_

"_How long has it been since that day? I almost thought he'd never show his face again. This is a new life for me, the number of which I've long lost track of. I tell this to him and he laughs. His is the face of a man who has not seen a day of age upon it. _

_I wanted to know his secrets towards true immortality. He denied me, saying it would be impossible to achieve. _

_We talked for hours about his home, Sancturia, a city that's been floating dormant over the North Pole for almost two millenia. He was what was called an Aurian, a race of warriors. Still though, he was reticent about his name. _

_A city of warriors floated just above my planet. I had been wary of aliens for a long time...There were many men across many lifetimes I had assassinated in secret under the assumption they were not from our world. He confirmed that each and every one was a member of his race._

_...He said that with a straight face. He was planning something by this. He KNEW I knew of this. But he only smiled, while I could only listen. I stared into the face of pure power and realized just how small even a God could feel in its presence."_

"_July XXX, XXXX."_

"_He appeared again, reminding me of the objective he wanted me to do. _

_'Soon in time a member of my race will descend upon the planet, giving birth to two children: Alex and Joseph Whiter. If you wish to complete your mission of killing the Gods, then you will want those children.'_

_Spoken in future tense...Just how much did this man know? Rather...how FAR did his knowledge reach? _

_I became frightened, cowardly. Was this technology I had to be trusted? Should I follow his ideas, just to ultimately provide him with an army? _

_Or perhaps there was a third answer. I could turn against this man. No. It wouldn't be possible as I am now. But in time, maybe...maybe my ultimate warriors could reduce him, and his floating city to ashes..."_

"_XXXX, XXX, XX3X"_

"_Another meeting. This time, it was the shortest of them all. He bid me farewell, and wished me luck. He claimed that next we meet, it'd be in a world that'd no longer no violence or war._

_Who'd be stupid enough to believe that? That man was a living, breathing weapon, suffocating others in his false hopes and dreams. All he wanted was power for himself. A man like that is worse than any other God. _

_But that's fine. Let him stew in his arrogance. Subject 09874 will grow to surpass him one day. He will know fire like I once gave to the first age of man. _

_Gravitus, you said your name was? You have chosen your executioner, and his true name is Prometheus..."_

The journal ended there, leaving Mew's mouth agape, "G-Gravitus...was working with Judas Jeremiah all along?"

"That toothless bastard I killed twice...?!" Joe Dark said through gritted teeth.

"What are you two on about?" Saturn waltzed up to them looking miffed.

"Looks like your old boss was one of the pies Judas stuck his fingers into." Mew said in a frazzled tone.

"Ha ha funny joke." She said, barely humored.

"I'm serious, look!" As Mew threw his hands at the screen Saturn rolled her eyes and shoved him into Joe Dark, pushing them both away.

"This thing isn't made for messing around with you miscreant. Now, I better make sure you didn't mess up the..." As Saturn's eyes locked onto the screen her voice went away.

She hurried her hands onto the keyboard and scrolled through the whole article top-to-bottom, five times over. Her eyes darted around at a frantic pace, then looked in the upper right corner.

She was now typing in a jumbled mess of letters and numbers that had nothing to do with the current situation. Moving her gaze from keys to screen, her skin started to turn paler and paler. Her smile, losing its luster, sank towards a frown.

"No wonder it was so easy to access the servers..." She failed to hide herself saying.

Mew tried to poke his head in but all he caught a glimpse of were blueprints to a ship similar to one of the one's in her space station. She closed the window, laid her hands flat on the keyboard, and hung her head.

"..."

"Told you". Yeah right. What would it accomplish to tell her that now?

"Ha ha ha..." She rose with laughter and nudged her glasses back into place, "T-That's an interesting development..."

She crossed her arms and perked up with a big smile, "This warrants further investigation!"

"Saturn..." Mew tried to extend a hand towards her but she slapped one of hers down on the keyboard and exclaimed, "More importantly though!"

She fiddled on the keys for a few more seconds, "Looks like this base is holding a big, big secret!"

Mew and Joe Dark slowly rolled up to the computer and saw a map of the base. Beyond the many winding corridors appeared a room that was glowing purple, only accessible through "Admin Access".

"When did you...?"

"Oh I found that out before you interrupted me. Might not have anything to do with what you're looking for but hey! Why don't we go check it out anyways?"

"I think we should." Said Joe Dark forcefully.

"You said you disarmed all the traps right?" Mew inquired to Saturn.

"Yes, I'm positive." She replied with a hard nod.

"I don't know, I got a bad feeling about this. Do we have everything we need from the database?"

"I stored it all in MY database, so if you something else just let me know." Saturn waved her tablet around proudly.

"We need to make sure that bastard didn't leave behind a secret weapon or something else equally dangerous." Joe Dark pushed himself past Mew, took one look at the map, then vaulted over the desks towards the nearest hall.

"Right behind you!" Saturn leaped over as well.

Mew stuck to his chair for a moment until he noticed Alura walking past him. Honestly, he had forgotten she was here.

Alura stopped in-between the desks and stared at Joe Dark's back. She sighed, and looked a little bit sad.

"...How are you holding up Alura?" Mew stepped up to her side and patted her on the shoulder.

"Mew..." She tilted her head back with the same expression, "How do I help Joe Dark?"

"Oh." He replied flatly, drawing his hand away.

"_She must feel bad about not doing anything when he had that breakdown...She's still a work in progress, I'll keep it simple."_

He crossed his arms and told her, "Just show him you care."

"Show him...I care?" She turned her head the opposite direction.

"Yeah. Like, if he's ever feeling angry or sad like that again, give him a hug. That's a pretty simple but effective way of showing it."

"Hugs..." She laid a hand on her chest and closed her eyes, "Ok."

She then floated over the desks to go join up with the others. Mew shook his head with a smile and followed a few seconds after.

The trip down the halls were as silent as when they first entered the base. A time to rest. A time to think.

Blood had been spilled in these halls. But now they were empty.

Then, they rounded one last corner, and came to their destination. Dozens of barricades had pulled aside to reveal this base's greatest secret...

A capsule, standing by its lonesome in a square room with only three steps leading up to it. It could fit an adult man, and had a dry, vein-y membrane on the outside.

By that description, it rang a familiar, if not eerie jingle in Mew's head. "Have I seen this before?" He wandered closer, but Saturn was the one who fiddled with the machine first.

"What is THIS doing here?" She pondered with a hint of familiarity as well.

"Where've you seen it before?" He asked.

"...I don't know." She hesitated, but fine. If she didn't want to say, that's fine. What it did mattered more than where it came from right now.

It was otherworldly, even by the scope of this base. Whereas the rest of the tech was fresh and new, this capsule showed its age. It had been here for a long, long time.

Saturn knelt down before it and pulled her tablet, connecting the two together.

"Doesn't seem like it was worth our time," Muttered Joe Dark, "Its empty."

Mew hung over Saturn's shoulder and remarked, "Thoughts?"

"I'm just getting the same messages over and over again...'DNA Reconstruction process...Complete. Memory back-up and transfer...Complete. Organic Reassembly...Complete. Subject: Prometheus...Rebirth Protocol Achieved."

"_Prometheus?" _That was a name in Judas Jeremiah's journal...His true name, so he claimed. But all those things Saturn said made it sound like...

"A cloning chamber?" He remarked.

"More like a reincarnation chamber...Look at these." She stood and raised the tablet to Mew's face.

Does he dare another surprise today? Who cares, he supposed, he's gone through so many he's basically numb to them now.

He squinted at the tablet screen and watched it scroll through the repetitive text. The only differences were the dates beside it, starting the earliest at...

"...! 4,000 BC?!"

"What?!" Joe Dark spat up as he walked over and joined them in looking at the screen.

It went down and down, getting closer to the modern age. All the while Mew could only think, _"No way. Prometheus...Prometheus...The Greek God who brought fire to man? Is this suggesting that..." _

"_WARNING! WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED BREECH IN SECURITY DETECTED IN ADMIN QUARTERS! SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED!"_

Alarms blared as the lights in the room turned deep red. The three of them turned and saw the doors slowly sealing shut.

"I thought you said you disarmed them?!"

"The capsule must've had its own security measures, bite me!" Saturn slid her tablet into her pocket and hopped into the air, "C'MON! LETS MOSEY!"

Joe Dark grabbed Alura and all of them flew straight out of the room in the nick of time. The whole base rumbled, fire and steam spewing out the vents and walls and into their faces. They made it back to the computer room, as explosions ravaged the path behind them.

A wave of fire followed them up the entrance steps, consuming all in its path. But with nothing in their way they fired right out of the entrance with plenty of time to spare.

The desert surrounding the base erupted skyward into flames with an ear-shattering explosion. Any metal not destroyed in the blast burned up on landing. Mew and Saturn worked in tandem to shield the others from the blast, and when it was over there was a lot of smoke and a lot of questions to be answered.

"Good thing I backed up all the data!" Saturn smirked and pulled out her tablet, only to then proclaim, "Oh what?! The data on the capsule erased itself! Boo! BOOOO!"

Mew collapsed onto his butt, then his back, sprawling out into the hot sand panting for air, "I-I think I'm good on conspiracies for one day thank you very much..."

He closed his eyes and gathered all his ramshackle thoughts into one place, "So to recap Joe...The one who killed our parents was a 6,000 something reincarnating man who received funding from Gravitus, wanted to kill Gods or something, and liked coffee. Is that good? That accurate?"

Joe Dark laid in the sand behind him with no energy surrounding his body. He took in a deep breath and huffed out a sigh.

"...I don't know what to make of this Mew. It feels like I'm even further away from the truth than when we started."

As he tried to sit up he shook the sand off his head, "Damn Judas Jeremiah...Damn Gravitus...Damn every last person who let them get away with this!"

He pounded the ground with his fist and his voice began to crack, "Whether I was abandoned or not my parents would've died all the same...! And yet I live...I'm always the one who lives...!"

He thrust his head down and screamed, "FOR WHAT?!"

Mew had no answer.

He stood up, grabbed his right arm, and said softly, "Lets go home Joe."

Joe Dark curled his hands in the sand and after a few seconds, stood up.

Saturn stood in front of the burning wreckage laughing her ass off like a maniac, "Hahahah! Another conspiracy busted by yours truly! That's what you get for torturing children you slimy crook! Hahahah! Justice always prevails!"

"Saturn," Mew whispered out to turn her around, "We're heading back now. Thanks again for everything."

"Huh? Done already?" Saturn peered around Mew and remarked, "But what about that document on that Julius fellow or whatever...?"

"What does it matter? He's not been a friend of the family for years..." Joe Dark muttered.

"Ugh...! I don't like that give-up attitude!" Saturn stomped over to him, pulled out her tablet, and a few bits of fiddling around later deposited a USB Drive into her palm. She then clamped that into Joe Dark's hands and held them up.

"What are you...?" He grumbled.

"Oh shut up and take it. It's got all the information you need to find that guy. As long as there's a lead you gotta keep following it, yeah?"

"..." Joe Dark's resistance weakened and he slipped the USB in his pocket.

"Great! I hope you find the answers you're looking for Joe!" Saturn hopped a couple steps back and threw her hands into her pockets, "As for me! I got someone I need to visit! If another conspiracy comes to your doorstep, just gimme a ring, free of charge!"

She was zapped by a beam of light and warped off to elsewhere.

Joe Dark pulled out the USB and his eyes sagged while he looked at it. Julius Talbain...the last link to the Dark family name besides him. Maybe...it would be worth his time to find him. He didn't know.

He just, didn't know...

_Meanwhile, halfway across the universe..._

In the comfort of his lab, Macros overlooked a flurry of documents laid out on his table. Beside him was a four-legged creature that had been bisected down the middle, but was still moving.

"Hmmm, looks like I might need to get some more ivory for this one..."

"KABOOM!" Went an explosion at his door.

He stood upright and calmly turned towards it with his hands behind his back, and a smile on his face.

Saturn came stampeding into the room shouting, "Alright you no good good for nothing menace! I knew I'd figure you out eventually!"

Macros perked upright and said, "Ah Catherine, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company today?"

She whipped out her tablet full of information she managed to salvage from the capsule and slammed it in his face, "Capsule! Earth! Prometheus! Explain! NOW!"

Macros stared at the tablet for a few seconds and then chuckled, "Oh...so that's where that one got to."

"So you DO know about it! I recognized the build immediately!" Saturn stuffed the tablet in her pocket and then pulled out a pair of cuffs, "You're under arrest buddy! So don't try and wrist-sist."

"As fun and kinky as that sounds Catherine, as usual with your accusations I have no idea what you're talking about."

Saturn lowered the cuffs for a moment and squinted her eyes, "Don't play dumb. Your capsule was helping a megalomaniac reincarnate on Mew's Earth for centuries! Do you have any idea how many people died because he lived so long?!"

"I do not but even if I did the fault doesn't lie on me," Macros closed his eyes and wagged his hand out near her face, "Before you get mad let me explain...The capsules I planted on each planet serve as back-ups, yes, but their primary purpose is to cultivate DNA samples of interest to help further my research."

"The capsule you ran across, Number 789415, wound up outside my control around the time that man started reincarnating. I suspect him poisoning the thing with his DNA mixing with mine had something to do with it. Ergo, I'm not going to take responsibility for what a glitch in the matrix and the whims of an arrogant child caused."

"Again. Do you not get how many people died cause of this?" Saturn remarked, propping her fists on her hips.

"My sincere condolences to them and their families then. Especially the young Joe Dark and Alex Whiter..." Macros took a slight bow but got firm in his voice thereafter, "But need I remind you...I'm a researcher. No paragon of justice like you, yet not a wretched hive of scum and villainy either."

"Hmph...! You're annoying, but I'll let you off with a warning this time Macros..." Saturn turned around and started making her way to the exit.

Macros closed his eyes and turned his head towards his chest, "While your here though, how is that wound doing?"

Saturn froze still and gleamed over her shoulder, "W-What wound..."

An ethereal glow surrounded the man's glasses as he muttered, "The wound on your pride that devilish man inflicted, of course."

He waved his hand out and remarked, "How can you say you truly uphold justice now...Not knowing just how deep that man's deceptions ran behind your back?"

Saturn's eyes and lips wobbled, her fists tightening in her pockets.

"_You are a strong defender of justice...And one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met. This world needs to change Catherine, and I believe with your technology we could be the ones to make that change. So? Shall we save the world?" _Echoed that man's voice in her head.

"Ghhh...!" She grunted, then stopped and raised her head high. Gently nudging her glasses up by the bridge over her nose, she bellowed out a hearty laugh.

"This doesn't change anything!" She declared, spinning around with her arms crossed before her chest, "I'm still the greatest superheroine in the universe! And a true heroine doesn't let their heart waver in the face of strife! I believe in the same cause as always! To protect the innocent and weak, and put the vile and foul in their place! I am Aurian Saturn of the Planetary Aurians! Just who the HELL do you think I am?!"

Macros' glow faded and he lowered his head with a smile, "Your resolve is one of your charming qualities I must admit."

"Darn tootin'!" With a firm nod of her head Saturn made her way out the destroyed door.

Macros, meanwhile, opened his palm and a holographic screen popped up, showing a list of dates from 6,000 BC towards its most recent entry.

"_DNA Reconstruction process...Complete. Memory back-up and transfer...Complete. Organic Reassembly...Complete. Subject: Prometheus...Rebirth Protocol Achieved. Dated: July 15__th__, 2041."_

He closed his eyes and hand and his smile turned to intrigue, "Many interesting faces and events continue to gravitate towards that planet."

He turned towards the door and remarked, "Where will it all lead in the end? I suppose only you would know...'God'."

…

…

_Next Time: Who I Am_


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: A Place to Return To**

Its been a few days since the discoveries at Judas, scratch, Prometheus' headquarters. After confirming its total destruction Joe Dark had gone home with the others with a USB from Saturn be all that remained of its existence.

He's laid on the couch, barely moving or saying a word, staring at the USB in his hand. He's eaten a couple bites off his plate, but he hardly remembers the taste.

Mew's passed off what happened as just another adventure, hardly surprising. Beyond giving him meals he's spent most of his time tending the garden or playing with Maria. But occasionally, he notices Mew staring up at the ceiling with a distant look.

Alura? She's been at his side, staring at him without saying a word...Until now.

"Joe Dark," Her sudden departure from motionlessness made him flinch, "Are you going to sit here forever now?"

He curled the USB into his hand and dropped it down to his chest with a tired huff.

"I don't know what to do..." He said to the last person who could answer.

Alura tilted her head and remarked, "I don't understand. Isn't that device supposed to help you?"

"Yes, but..." He grumbled and pushed the USB out from under thumb.

Why did his second family die? A test of power that happened to be convenient to a megalomaniac's goal...

Who was Judas Jeremiah? A deicide crazing lunatic who appeared to have reincarnated multiple times up until this point, claiming he was Prometheus, the Greek God.

Why was he targeted? Because he got his information from Gravitus.

Why did his first family abandon him? Still no answer...and it was unlikely what the USB contained would solve that.

Julius Talbain...supposedly the former butler of Joe Dark's second father. "Supposedly", because as hard as he's tried he can barely remember who that guy was. He was only six years old when he was forced to become a stray after all.

That butler was the last connection to the Dark family, and maybe his last hope to answer the remaining lingering questions in his heart.

Joe Dark clutched the USB back to his chest and sighed. He heard the door knob click and lazily stared to find Mew and Maria heading out.

"I'm taking her to school then hanging around Sancturia for a bit! If you need lunch I got a couple sandwiches in the fridge for ya. Later!" His merry-go-lucky attitude carried him out the door with a smile.

"..." Joe Dark couldn't shake the feeling that Mew was hiding the fact that he's worried about him. He was always stubbornly bad at concealing that.

"...Alura, I'm going into town for a bit." He pulled his aching legs off onto the ground and stood up, stretching his arms high.

"Can I come with, Joe Dark?" She murmured.

"If you must," He said with barely a care, "But who knows when we'll be back..."

After putting on a fresh set of clothes, with Alura being forced into a casual red t-shirt instead of the midriff exposing one she insisted on, Joe Dark used his powers to take them into the city undetected.

There they made their way to the library, where he'd be able to use the USB on a computer. They waited around until a corner one was open to avoid arousing suspicion, then he plugged it right in.

Saturn had converted the data into easily separated folders, so he went straight for Julius Talbain's stuff, specifically, his profile. It had said his last known location but he wanted to know EXACTLY where that was. Fortunately through the convenience of modern day internet searches, it proved relatively easily...And to his surprise, the address wasn't that far out of town.

He wrote it down and snuck the USB into his pocket before anyone could see. Then the two of them left the library and headed to the bus stop. He had snagged a bit of spare change off of Mew's drawers to pay the driver, who wouldn't be able to take them all the way to their destination.

It was a short ride. Didn't feel like it. His body was tense exiting the bus, and the hiss of its door shutting gave him a minor scare.

They were dropped at the top of a sharp incline overlooking a couple cities and the river that ran between them. One misstep and any normal human would tumble to their deaths. But their destination lied further ahead.

A few blocks was the distance he had to prepare himself for this final confrontation with the truth. "But what if its not?" He asked himself. He could wind up going on a goose chase. Bread crumb after bread crumb, sending him further away from where he started.

"_No." _He stamped firmly upon the doubts in his mind. No more sleepless nights. No more sorrow. No more pain. Whatever big life-changing revelation he's being guided towards, it'll be the last one. He will make sure of it.

His heart pounded and his tensed his grip on Alura's hand, causing her to grunt. He widened his eyes and pulled his hand off hers, muttering a swift "Sorry" as he put his hands in his pockets.

The woods started giving way to a line of hedge bushes so tall even he could hardly look over them. Just a few yards along the way appeared a riveted metal gate that they stopped in front of.

Joe Dark had a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut as he followed the rising, winding concrete road to the manor at the top. It was white, two stories tall but as wide as two football fields. There was a stone fountain off in a garden to the right, a presumably empty pool on the left, and a giant garage even further to the left of that. There were no lights on but the building looked to be in good shape.

"_No one's home? Odd..." _The best plan would've been to wait outside for Julius to return...If Alura wasn't the antithesis of best laid plans.

She was already floating over the gate before her mischief registered in his head. He tried to grab her by the ankles only to miss the mark entirely. When she landed on the other side he hissed through her teeth, "What are you doing get back here now!"

She turned her head with a curious tilt and remarked, "Isn't this where you wanted to go, Joe Dark?"

"Yes but...!" He grit his teeth, threw himself into a brief frenzy, then with an angered grunt he flew over the gate himself.

"Don't. Touch. Anything." He said firmly, and thankfully she nodded.

They stuck to the roadway on their way up. A growing sense of familiarity emerged for him on this path...Like he had walked it before.

"_That can't be right...We didn't live here. Did we?" _This wasn't making him feel any better. His chest tightened as the front door was almost within arms' reach.

Still, no sign anyone was home. Maybe the info was outdated? It felt weird that no one would be occupying this nice manor after all these years.

As his body's instincts raised his hand towards the door, he noticed that it was slightly ajar. He was being invited in? No, this reeked of a tr-

"Don't move."

A cold metal was applied to the back of his skull, and he heard two clicks of differing volumes behind him. A stoic assailant had gotten the drop on him.

There was a faint reflection off the glass panes beside the door. The man behind him was a few inches shorter than him, with shaved black hair and short, rectangular lens glasses. He wore a worn-down black suit with white undershirt and dark-purple bow-tie, a watch on his right cuff, another watch on his left. He was lithe, but the thickness around his chest suggested the pistol trained on his skull wasn't the only heat he was packing.

Worst of all, he had another gun to the side of Alura's head and she was taking it far too calmly.

Joe Dark began to raise his hand only for the gun's barrel to be pushed in further, "I said don't move."

"_Can't believe he snuck up on me...! What I wouldn't give to have Mew's powers right about now..." _Even for his level of power a bullet at point-blank would probably damage his brain, if not kill him.

The assailant was too steady. He'd kill Alura in an instant if Joe Dark tried to resist. She wasn't prepared for this kind of encounter.

"How did you get in without tripping the alarms?"

"There were alarms? Then how did you know...?"

"Motion sensors buried in the road," The man clicked his gun some more, "Next question. Who sent you? One of the remnants of Judas Jeremiah's forces?"

"_That name again...? Wait, could it be...?" _

"Julius? Julius Talbain?" Joe Dark got silence in response, which may as well have been an answer.

"_Are you kidding...The family butler packs heat?! Why can't there be any normal people in my families?!" _

"Joe Dark?" Alura suddenly muttered dryly, "Should I be worried about this cold metal in my face?"

"...!" The assailant gasped and his gun shook. Then, Joe Dark found two barrels of death glued to the back of his skull.

"What did she call you...?"

"_Damn it Alura...!" _Joe Dark grit his teeth in a hiss and the moment he tried to let it out the man's trigger fingers itched.

"Don't give me a reason to splatter your brains onto perfectly good stone," Even the man's breaths were calm, "Who are you? Acceptable answers extend your clock by ten more seconds."

"I...I am Joe Dark..." Joe Dark replied firmly.

Another click came from the triggers, "Ten seconds gone. Twenty remain."

In a desperate move Joe Dark tried to turn his head so his eyes were visible, "Look at me! Do you know anyone else with red eyes?!"

"A good feint, but easily seen through. Fine, if you insist on saying who you are, then what's my middle name?"

"I-I don't know that...!" Joe Dark sputtered immediately.

"Of course not. If you did I'd have to kill you. Then again...maybe you were just trained that well," The man's strain on the triggers was beginning to fail, "But its not enough."

"_Crap! Crap! Crap! Think think! What do I remember about this guy?!" _It must have been the stress of the moment because his mind was starting to force important information to the surface.

"Y-You made my father chocolate milk every morning...!" No dice.

"You never used a broom in your life...!" The bullet might as well be licking his scalp right now.

"Joe Dark...?" Alura was worrying behind him.

His heart was pumping. He was going to die to normal guns? Mew would laugh at his funeral if that happened...

"W-WHENEVER I THREW A TANTRUM YOU'D TEASE ME AND CALL ME BLACKBERRY!" Joe Dark screamed that so suddenly it threw him by surprise, and left his cheeks rosy red.

Slowly, he felt the barrels slide off his head.

"I...I called you that once as a jest..." The assailant was speaking like he was seeing a ghost.

"Ungh...!" He collapsed onto his knees, flattening the guns against the ground by the time Joe Dark turned to look at him.

There he clearly saw the man's age on his skin. Wrinkles around the shadows below his eyes, and dark spots forming on the back of his hands.

"I thought I had lost you forever...That I never would've been able to meet your father eye-to-eye in the afterlife again..." He raised his head, and the cold in his eyes melted to tears, "But you're alive...the young master is alive...!"

"Julius, I..." Joe Dark's own heart began to warm as well, and he felt a trickle down his cheeks as he knelt down before him. Seeing this man's face brought back faint memories of him making warm cookies when he was feeling bad, helping tuck him into bed when his father was out of town. Memories lost, now returned.

"Its me...I'm here..."

Julius cried for a few more seconds in silence. Then the two of them stood, and he put his guns away in his suit. Alura tilted her head and remarked, "Joe Dark, is everything ok?"

"Yes Alura. This is the guy we were looking for. We can trust him."

"Oh," She returned plainly, "So why did he have those things pointed at us?"

"Ummm..." Joe Dark gave a casual look at the former butler and said, "Why ARE you carrying guns Julius."

Julius' gave a smile of shaking confidence and chuckled, "There's a lot you never knew about me Master Joseph."

"But we can discuss that inside. Follow me, there's tea on the stove." Julius wandered past them to the front door and they decided to follow.

The inside of the manor was like a swift kick of nostalgia to the brain. There was a curved staircase to the second floor on the left, the entrance to the pool beside it. Below the second floor were doors to the kitchen, lounge, and dining room. A three-tier crystal chandelier hung from a windowed dome on the ceiling, the sun's rays making it sparkle. On the right was the living room. Three couches, a fireplace, two tables, and a giant TV...Nowadays it didn't feel as big though.

The whole manor was bright enough in its natural color palette that it didn't need lights right now. Joe Dark almost hadn't noticed the smile on his face.

He touched it from the side and stared at Julius wandering towards the kitchen, "I...don't remember living in this state before...But this place feels like home."

"It might as well be. Your father had each manor built the same so that no matter where he went, he'd always feel at home."

Once he was in the kitchen Joe Dark walked at a snail's pace through the foyer. The room smelled like a fresh coat of paint with a hint of lavender. His body was wanting to melt away, becoming one with the scent.

Alura had her first encounter with a "rug" by shuffling her feet along it.

In the long span it took him to get to the living room, Julius emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with three glasses.

"I imagine your tastes have matured Master Joseph but I couldn't help but prepare a glass of warm chocolate milk for you and the young lady."

He set the tray delicately upon the table and picked up his tea cup in a single motion, setting upon the couch opposite of him.

"No this is...fine." Joe Dark picked up the warm glass and could already feel the creamy treat trickling down his throat.

Alura came to join him on the couch, her hair now frizzing up everywhere. She calmly reached for her cup and her whole body flinched a couple times in her attempt to drink from it.

"...Joe Dark, something's wrong with this cup." She muttered.

"Its just your imagination..." He said, hiding a snicker.

They took a moment to drink from their cup. Liquid perfection going right into his stomach...

"I know you've just returned but I'm afraid I must get straight to the point Master Joseph..." Julius laid his cup on a coaster and looked him in the eyes, "Just where have you been all this time?"

Joe Dark closed his eyes and said, "Funny I was going to ask you the same thing..."

"Well its...complicated." Julius said, adjusting his tie.

"I took the complicated route to get here, trust me," Joe Dark waved his hand out and remarked, "And now I know the truth about why my family was killed a decade ago."

Julius' face stiffened into a minor look of surprise, upon which he dropped the grip on his tie and whispered, "I see...that'll help simplify things."

"You mentioned Judas Jeremiah. How much do you know?"

"I imagine our knowledge is about equal if you've gotten that far."

"What do you mean?" Joe Dark leaned in with his arms on his knees.

"Hrrmmm..." Julius unbuttoned his suit and laid it down beside him, guns and all, "If you need to use the restroom I'd advise doing so now."

Joe Dark shook his head.

"Very well Master Joseph..." Julius prepared himself with a rough cough and then closed his eyes, becoming upright like a statue.

"I am Ex-CIA, rank classified. Under your father's employ I performed covert operations on shady politicians and business associates. Undetectable, unreachable, my enemies only knew me as 'The Eye in the Dark'."

"How does an Ex-CIA come to work for my dad anyways...?"

"Your father saved me from torture by ISIS Remnants in the Middle Eastern Wars of the 2010s, and I decided to be in his debt ever since."

"2010s? But that was twenty years ago, that would mean father was..."

"Barely into adulthood yes. He was an upstanding American who valued the lives of his countrymen. A go-getter if I ever knew one. His life on the battlefield taught him a cold, harsh truth...The world is terrible, and something needs to change."

"When he returned from the war he devoted himself to politics and quickly rose the ranks to Senator, with the goal of one day becoming President. I quit the CIA around then and changed professions to a butler. In secret though, I observed those who wanted to see him expunged from politics...Which may or may not involved staining my hands with blood."

The thought made Joe Dark's skin crawl, but...like he had the right to complain.

"Nevertheless my escapades wound up exposing a conspiracy deep within the underbelly of our society...Judas Jeremiah, our very own Secretary of Defense, may very well have been the true ruler of America...Nay, possibly the entire world."

"Documents detailing his role in the most chaotic event on Earth, known today as the 'The Day a Bullet Rang Through the Earth', were found deep within his home. I copied whatever information I could by phone and delivered it to your father immediately."

"The death of our 2020 elected President, the disarmament of all nuclear weaponry, and the sudden massacre of one-thousand billionaires...They were all orchestrated by him alone. And there were documents to suggest that he had installed a puppet into the White House seat to help secure his place as the Secretary of Defense."

"Your father and I decided we'd keep this information to ourselves, until we could truly and utterly prove the man's guilt to the world, leaving him no shadows to crawl under..."

"But as time passed suspicions arouse between both parties. I played Judas Jeremiah's game of shadows until one day, a wild card changed everything..."

Julius raised his pointer finger forward, "You."

Joe Dark's brows slanted, and he groaned uncomfortably...

"A baby, no older than two, dropped upon our doorsteps in a blanket and basket under the rain...Your father, bless his soul, took you in without a second thought, unaware that he had signed his death warrant."

"I discovered a terrible, terrible truth...Judas Jeremiah was working on something called the 'Ultimate Warrior Reborn', and he sought two targets...One of which perfectly matched your description. Your father knew we'd be cornered eventually, but he could not risk doing anything differently to tip our opponent off..."

"For my safety, we staged an argument that led to me being 'fired'...But in reality I never stopped working for him. When the fated day arrived, and I caught wind of your father and his family's demise...I picked up my guns with tears in my eyes and went to work."

"That madman was relentless in his hunt for you, manipulating the police, military and even the FBI and CIA to hunt you down."

"My bullets ran through each of their skulls, even some of my former partners...All to keep your father's hope that you would survive alive."

"Then, one day you simply...vanished. There was no trace of your anywhere on the planet. I...I was grief-stricken. Had I failed you? Had I failed your father? These lives and their blood, covering me from head-to-toe...Was it all for nothing?"

"The guilt followed me for years. A couple times I had even considered putting a bullet through my head..." Julius shook his head, "But I endured, and I'm glad I did."

"I can't believe you did all that..." Joe Dark murmured.

"I'm not proud of it." Julius stated bluntly.

A moment of silence separated the two, giving Joe Dark time to breathe. Julius looked him in the eyes and remarked, "You barely survived the five years on the run even with my help. How'd you escape for five more years...?"

Joe Dark took another sip of his drink slowly and had to ask _"Should I tell him the truth...?" _

Doing so would expose everything. Just to one man, yes, but could he be trusted to keep his mouth shut...? Then again, he's a friend of the family that's gone this far just to keep his own truth hidden away...

"..." Joe Dark smiled and placed his cup down, humoring the butler by saying, "You might want some stronger tea for this Julius."

Julius' intrigue was piqued, and continued to grow as Joe Dark explained everything. Alex Whiter. The Elemental Overlord and Dark King, his death and rebirth, the trip through space, learning the truth about his family. Everything. Not a single stone was left unturned.

Julius leaned back into the couch and started to nod his head occasionally to confirm he was following along. His expression rarely changed.

Then, as it came to a close, Joe Dark let out a deep sigh and remarked, "And that's how I arrived here."

"I see..." Julius said with one more nod.

Joe Dark frowned and wagged his hand in a circle, "Do you actually believe me or...?"

"I believed every word of it Master Joseph," He opened his eyes and smiled, "The truth is what you see with your own two eyes. That you're here in front of me, alive and well, is proof enough of what you said."

Joe Dark raised both brows and Julius smirked, "Though I will admit that's definitely a...long yarn you spun there."

He took off his glasses and dusted off the lens, "Other worlds, gods, outer space...It makes Judas Jeremiah's conspiracy seem like small talk."

"At least that's over now." Joe Dark remarked.

"Yes," Julius put the glasses back on, "The roots he dug can never be upturned, but at least his corruption will no longer run through them."

"Mew told me that he died in a building fire of all things."

"How ironic...a man who called himself Prometheus dying in such a manner," Julius grimaced with a frown, "Yet it also feels anticlimatic...That nature's wrath delivered justice in our stead."

"..." Joe Dark hung his head.

"Is something the matter Master Joseph?"

"I say its over but...Its not," Joe Dark barely raised an eye towards the butler and said, "T-That basket I arrived in...did it come with a note?"

Julius' mouth began to sag and Joe Dark leaned forward, slamming his hands on the table, "There has to have been something they left behind explaining why they dropped me off!"

Julius shook his head. Joe Dark returned to his seat, his body left limp.

"...I'm sorry Master Joseph. You had but a blanket, and a name tag."

"_A dead end..." _Joe Dark scowled.

"But..." Julius' utterance made him spring his head up aware, "There IS something I need to show you."

He stood up and gestured towards himself, "Follow me."

Joe Dark turned to the snoring Alura, who still had her cup in hand, and jiggled her by the shoulder, "Wake up Alura."

Her eyes stuttered open and she let out a tiny moan, "We're going upstairs."

"Ok..." She stretched her arms high and yawned, then trailed behind him a few seconds after. Their destination was the first door on the right at the top of the stairs. Behind it was a relatively compact room with a few empty bookshelves and a curved wooden desk to the right. A lone miniature TV and DVD player sat atop it.

"This was your father's study." Julius remarked fondly.

Joe Dark looked at the ground and saw a very faint chocolate milk stain in the carpet.

"I can tell." He said with a smile.

Julius walked ahead of him and reached into his shirt pocket. Inside was a square case with a DVD inside devoid of a label.

"Your father wanted you to see this...In the event that Judas Jeremiah was stopped, and your life returned to normal."

Julius shrugged as he put the DVD into the player, "Half is close enough, right?"

The click of the play button was the last sound for the next few seconds. The TV whirred with the aging sound of static. Then a picture started to come into focus.

A man sat in this same desk. Comfy white business attire, lazily combed black hair, glasses, and a plaid tie. He looked like he was in a cold sweat.

"_Take 14..." _He muttered through the static.

"Dad...?" Joe Dark said, his tone regressing in age.

"_Hey son," _The video responded back, _"If you're watching this...Then I failed. Not just you, your mother...Everyone. Everyone's probably dead, so Julius had to fight off the vultures trying to snag you back to the nest."_

"_I hope you're doing well, however old you are now. Is school going ok? No bullies? Got a crush? Maybe a girlfriend? Heck, are you married? C'mon, don't be shy to your prerecorded old man!"_

"_...Cough, anyways..." _The man on the screen sat down in his chair and sighed hard, _"You probably have a lot of questions by now about your developing 'powers'..." _

Joe Dark's eyes stiffened wide open.

"_I knew something was different about you the moment I laid eyes on...well, your eyes. It scared the hell outta your mother lemme tell ya! Ha ha ha..."_

"_We had always wanted a child. Guess some magic stork was looking out for us. Sorry to tell you but...I never got to meet them."_

Joe Dark's lips curled into a frown.

"_So if you're looking for answers there, sorry...I ain't got 'em." _Senator Dark gazed away and scoffed, leaning a fist upon the side of his face.

"_I got so much I want to say and so little time..." _The flicker of a tear appeared down his cheek, _"I don't care. I just don't care..."_

He looked straight into the camera and smiled, _"You're not my flesh and blood, but I will love you forever Joseph. I...I can only hope that in our short time together I raised you proper..."_

"_Ah...! What am I saying, I don't know when this'll get to you...C'mon man, think of the stress you're putting on him!" _He paused and then stood up, slamming his hands upon the desk, _"Look, this is the best advice I can impart to you from father to son."_

"_Stand tall and stand proud. Don't be afraid to cry. Never give up on your dreams. And most importantly...If you make mistakes, that's fine. The only one you can disappoint is yourself." _

Senator Dark took a deep breath and whispered, _"I love you son. Always have, always will..." _

The TV went dark, seen through his blurring eyes.

"Hic...hic...!" Joe Dark wept, the tears falling on his shirt, or being dried off on his arm.

"D-Dad...!"

"...I'll give you some space, Master Joseph." Julius exited the room, his cheeks wet.

Joe Dark wandered over to the desk and laid his hand flat on the DVD Player. It felt hot, like it was alive. And it was, with the memory of his deceased father.

He frowned and sat on the ground, back to the desk. He pressed his chin against his chest and his arms and legs sprawled out.

He didn't know what he should feel. Happy? Sad? No. More like confused, unsure, restless...

His heart felt warm but his mind was cold, an iceberg adrift in a sea of clout.

He wanted answers, but now he realized that he didn't know **why** he wanted them. Security? Closure? Acceptance?

He was born a Whiter, but loved as a Dark. The strength in his blood allowed him to survive, the heart of those who raised him helped him cling to his humanity...

He stared at one shaking hand, and saw the vague memories of his mother's face staring back with an unsure smile. In his other hand was the clean face of his father, staring at him with a look of pride.

He felt torn between two bloodlines, two lives, two identities. And when it all boiled down to it, his past, his present, his future...Could be summed in three words.

"Who am I?" He whimpered in desperation.

Suddenly, the silent Alura threw herself onto him and wrapped him up in her arms. It was a weak hug.

"You're Joe Dark." She stated plainly.

The turmoil in his heart quieted to a whisper, and he put a hand on the back of her shoulder.

"...You're right." He said.

"You're right." Again, with confidence.

He rose to stand and carried her up with him, gently pushing her a couple feet back and looking into her puzzled red eyes.

"That was the answer all along..." His vague whispers were confusing her more than the norm.

He cracked a smirk and shook his head, "It doesn't matter who my parents were. I **know **who my family is. I **AM** Joe Dark."

He patted her on the shoulder and whispered, "Thanks Alura."

"So...you feel better now?" She murmured in response.

"Yeah...I think I do." He gave a smile that wasn't plagued with tears.

"I-I see..." She closed her eyes and a light pink shade grew in her cheeks.

Joe Dark walked past her and knocked on the door frame, "Julius, you can come back in now."

The butler had only gone a couple feet away but pretended it was farther, "Feeling better already Master Joseph?"

"Yeah I..." He rubbed the back of his head and let out a light chuckle, "I got a lot of baggage off my shoulders."

"...I hadn't heard your father's voice for a decade," Julius wiped his eyes with a tissue, "How that fumbling fool ever became a senator I'll never know."

"He sounded like he was fun to be around." Joe Dark remarked.

"Yes," Julius nodded, "Though he was terrifying at parties..."

"Ha ha ha...aaah..." Funny, he couldn't remember the last time he laughed like that.

"Master Joseph, there is one other thing your father left in my care..." Julius wandered past the two and went behind the desk, "He said there's a secret button somewhere..."

He reached under the middle shelf and a "click" was heard, "Here."

The shelf pulled back into the wall like something out of a mystery novel. Then it slid into a crevice rapidly, unveiling something bright and shimmering behind it.

"Oh my...!" Julius gasped and pulled away, allowing Joe Dark to see just what...

"What...?!" He gasped.

A silver vault, filled to the roof with thousands upon thousands of stacks of freshly kept bundles of dollar bills, lied beyond.

Joe Dark and Alura wandered into it and he picked up the closest stack he could.

"These are...?!" He was speechless. He had never even heard of 1,000 dollar bills before!

Alura picked up her own stack and rolled it around in her grasp, "Joe Dark, is this a lot of money?"

"A-A lot...?!" Joe Dark sputtered, carefully avoiding his spit on the bills, "We could buy the world with all this dough!"

"A-Ack...!" Alura was put at a loss of words too.

"The Dark family's fortune...That sly dog, hiding that under my nose this whole time," Julius looked to Joe Dark and remarked, "It seems this is all yours now, Master Joseph."

"Wow..." Joe Dark stared at the money for a good few seconds and then shook his head and tossed it down.

"No. No no no this isn't right..."

"Huh?" Alura poked her head up and he looked at her directly.

"We can't accept all this money when I didn't do anything to earn it."

"We can't?" Alura murmured.

"No Alura, we can't." He said with a somewhat hesitant sigh.

He then turned to Julius and remarked, "There were a lot of people who were harmed by Prometheus' work. Its not much to compensate for but...could we divide up the money among those people and their families? I know someone who could help out."

"I think that's the best course of action, Master Joseph," He raised a curious brow towards them, "But, shouldn't you try and keep some of it for yourself?"

"Why...?" Joe Dark said, crossing his arms.

"Why, to keep ownership of the manor until you can land a job capable of paying for it."

Joe Dark stared out into space for a few moments then sputtered, "S-Say that again...?"

"In the event of your family's death I was to keep ownership of the deed to the manors," Julius pulled up a document rolled up in a nice ribbon, "But as you're alive, ownership now falls over to you."

"..." Joe Dark stared at the ground with his mouth agape, then rattled a hand around in the air, "Hold up hold up you can't just drop a big thing like that on me out of the blue...!"

He laid a hand flat on his chest and exclaimed, "I don't even own toilet paper to wipe my own ass, I can't own a manor...!"

Julius retracted the document into his shirt and remarked, "Yes...yes I suppose that is a little much to ask of you."

"Uhhh yeah!" Joe Dark barked in disbelief.

Then in the silence that followed, he closed his eyes and thought to himself, _"And besides, Mew..." _

"Mrrrn..." With an uncomfortable groan he thought some more. He already had a bed, food, and warmth. But...where could he go from there? Mew's already got it rough enough having to raise Maria. He doesn't need to coddle him and Alura too.

Maybe...maybe this was a sign of change. A chance to find opportunities in the big open world. But still...

"Can you wait right here Julius? I'll be right back..." He raised his right hand out and opened a dark rift, making Julius hop away.

"Wait here Alura. I shouldn't be long." He said, entering the rift a moment after.

His destination? Home. At least...

No. Not yet.

He stared at the door for a good half a minute. His feet felt too stiff to move. The door suddenly opened and Mew stood under the frame with a surprised expression.

"Hey you're back!" He said happily while glancing around, "Uh oh, did Alura get in trouble or something?"

"Why is that your first...?" Joe Dark grit his teeth and steadily raised his head to look him in the eyes, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Mew's expression went full neutral and he gave a short nod, "Y-Yeah. Come here, sit down."

He took a seat on the steps and Joe Dark joined him at his side. He felt a rough pat on the back from Mew, who smirked.

"So, what've you been up to today? You look a lot chipper."

"Well..." Joe Dark briefly explained the talk he had with Julius, including the important matter of revealing his powers at the end.

"I'm sorry, I had to do it. You understand right?" As he expected his plead to raise a scowl, instead Mew crossed his arms and leaned back into the steps.

"I mean you trust the guy that much so its probably ok..."

Joe Dark stared blankly at his face and then shook his head, "You really are impossible to faze..."

"Heh heh!" Mew sprung back up and patted him on the back, "You know it!"

"That was cool of you to donate all that money to the victims though. Seriously bro, I'm proud of ya. God knows I'd lose myself to greed in front of all that moola."

Joe Dark turned his head and muttered, "You? ...Yeah, probably."

"Well you don't have to agree with me!" Mew said back.

"Hahahah..." The two then laughed and for a moment, things felt normal. Normal...one last time.

Joe Dark stared up at the sky, the long, lovingly blue expanse, and saw a few clouds rolling in towards the sun. The breeze was nice and gentle as it flowed between the mountains, and whispered through the leaves.

"..." He closed his eyes and saw a meadow being blown by this same wind. Must have been his imagination...

"Mew..." Joe Dark paused to consider what he was about to say, if this was the right way to go about it.

"I'm going to be moving into that manor." It slipped right out beneath his notice, consequences be damned.

Mew slowly drew his hands away from his cheeks and stared at the side of his face. Joe Dark looked back and saw completely, utter devastation in his eyes.

Mew smiled and said, "R-Really...!"

He patted him on the back some more and said, "Well look at you moving up in the world! Your own manor, a personal butler assassin, all the money in the world..."

"Mew..." Joe Dark felt uneasy hearing this fake praise from him.

"You'll finally get to have some non-crappy food and can stop complaining about your bed, or the lack of air conditioning...!"

"THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!" Joe Dark sprung to his feet and threw his taut fists by his hips.

He then clutched his teeth together tight and trembled, "I loved your crappy cooking, I loved your rickety bed! I loved everything you did for me, even though you didn't have to...!"

His eyes became wet and his voice wobbled, "That's why this is so hard...! I'd give up everything else in the world if it meant I could stay here with you...!"

"B-But I can't..." As the tears flowed down his cheeks he swung them off with the slight turn of his head, "This is a chance for me to make something of myself. And Alura, she needs to get out and see the world more for what it is...You have a child now Mew, you can't provide for all of us. You'll try goddamn you you'll try but..."

Mew stood and put a hand onto his shoulder softly, "I get it."

Joe Dark sniffled and waited as Mew smiled and looked him directly in the eyes, "Frankly it took you long enough to get out on your own."

He closed his eyes and looked positively smug, "I mean I'm sure its all going to inevitably blow up in your face like it always does and you'll come crawling back to me begging for your daily dose of scrambled eggs..."

Mew chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, "I'm kidding. You'll do fine. And if something does go wrong, which I hope it won't, I'll be right here."

Joe Dark's smile wobbled and he wrapped Mew up in a hug, "Thank you brother...! No matter what, you'll always be family to me!"

Mew froze in place and seemed to be at a loss for words, "...Just don't be a stranger alright? God knows Riku's enjoying himself too much on the moon these days."

"I won't...I owe you that much." He replied as he pulled away.

"Hey, you wanna pay me back...?" Mew held onto his shoulder and flashed a thumbs-up, "Call me brother again."

Joe Dark smirked with a snicker and then turned away from the house. As he went down the stairs he waved one hand up and remarked, "Later Mew."

"You son of a...!" Mew threw his fist up and exclaimed, "Ok fine you know what? I don't want you back! In fact I'm gonna throw your bed into a fire right now!"

The ranting went on for a bit but right before entering the dark rift, Joe Dark glanced over his shoulder and saw his brother's expression sinking. He tried to smile but couldn't pass the halfway point. Instead he slowly waved his hand up, and returned inside...

Joe Dark tucked his hands into his pockets and entered the rift standing tall.

When he arrived back at the manor he had to take a breath before Julius addressed him as such, "D-Did your stroll in the...darkness help?"

Joe Dark closed the rift and murmured, "Yeah it did..."

He then looked him in the eye and remarked, "I've decided I'll move in, but on one condition."

"And that's...?"

"I want you to stay Julius."

Julius winced and his eyes widened, "You do?"

"There's a lot of skills me and Alura are lacking, and you're the only adult I know and trust to teach us. I hope we can make up for lost time."

"From butler to teacher," Julius crossed an arm before his chest and bowed, "I would be honored to help you Master Joseph."

"_I don't know where my life will be heading. Its a new horizon to explore..." _Joe Dark stared up at the ceiling with a longing gaze, _"But I'll hold my head high and embrace tomorrow. So watch over me...dad." _

**STORY 7: Shadows in our Blood END**

**NEXT: Story 8: Secondary Lives**


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49: The Desert Whirlwind**

"_Bored. Bored. Bored. Boreddy bored bored..." _

Mew was kicking back in his couch while staring up at the ceiling. He was all alone at home with the peace and quiet that came with it. And it **sucked**.

He turned onto his side at the clock, _"9:00 AM..." _

He turned back and with a pout shouted, "Damn it!"

He put his hands behind his head and muttered, "Bored. Bored...Super mega ultra BOOOOOORED..."

He took a limp hand towards the remote and turned on the TV to flip through the channels, _"Seen it, seen it. New episode? ...Wait I don't like this show. Seen it. Seen it. Stock markets up? ...Seen it. Seen it. Pass. Seen it. Too dramatic. Too unfunny. Seen it. Seen it..."_

"Ugh...!" He shut the TV off and flopped the controller onto the floor, slapping the hand onto his chest.

"Hey Joe, why don't we-" Oh, right. He's not here anymore.

"_Its only been a day..." _He paused and thought about it a little, when his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "A week?! How can that be?!"

"Uuuuuuuugh...!" He collapsed back onto the couch and drooped one arm off the side, "Maria and Kairi's at school. Riku's still training. Joe Dark's probably laughing at up at his new manor with tons of women catering to his every whim..."

He closed his eyes and sighed, "And I'm stuck at home about ready to count all the pimples in the ceiling paint...again."

For the record, there's 15,000 of them, give or take two.

"Aye caramba, I should really do something..." Mew sat up and dreaded considering the possibility of, "Like...get a job."

A shiver ran through his skin. The situation was getting out of hand and he needed to correct it. Fast.

"Ring! Ring!" Came the sound of his phone, a savior in outdated technological form!

He zipped over to it in a second and clutched it against his face, "Master of the house speaking!"

"_Mew?" _Right off the bat the voice didn't sound like anyone in his family, and it was a guy not a girl either so...

"_Its me, Seth." _They said right away.

"Oh! Hey Seth!" AKA, Aurian Mars, voted "Least likely to be a stick in the mud" amongst his group, "How's it going? Haven't seen you since the beach."

"_Yeah that was a fun time wasn't it?" _His laughter could be heard over the other line.

"Speak for yourself..." Mew grumbled, feeling a twinge of pain in his spine, "So, how'd you get this number any-"

"...You know what, never mind," The answer wore a big white lab coat, "You wanting to hang out again? Catch another trip to the beach? Play video games?"

"_A-Actually I really need your help with something." _His voice lacked the usual laid-backness.

"You're sounding a bit shook up there buddy, is it that bad?"

"_Not really...if I get your help at least." _

"Well fortunately for you my schedule's all freed up today!" Mew lit up with a smile, "Shall I meet you at the Pyramid then?"

"_No need, I'll just beam you up...As soon as I remember how this works...Lets see, this button locks on, this one..." _

Mew felt his body become incredibly fuzzy as he was pulled off the floor and straight...up? through hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye.

He slammed his head against a glass ceiling and plopped down onto a comfy leather seat, with a hard light seatbelt locking him into place thereafter.

"OW!" He said, barely fazed as he rubbed his head.

"Oh good, you made it in one piece." Mars' voice came in super clear now cause he was sitting in the seat directly in front of him.

Mew looked around and saw they were in a simple two-man space ship overlooking the planet Earth and all the satellites that cluttered over the atmosphere.

The ship started flying away, zipping past the moon so fast the stars became streaks of light. Then a click was heard and Mars looked over the shoulder of his chair to extend a hand towards him.

"Thanks for helping on such short notice Mew."

Mew shook his hand and said, "Its nothing. Anything for a friend."

Mars then sat back down and gripped the steering wheel, taking the occasional look at the wildly changing coordinates off to the right.

Mew leaned back into the chair and but his hands behind his head, "So you gonna tell me what the mission is chief?"

"Oh right!" Mars snapped back over the chair and reached towards a disc-shaped device in his vest. One button press later and a hologram popped up revealed a titanic entity in shadows, with a very, very big number attached to something resembling a dollar sign below it.

"I'm on a mission to stop a powerful creature known as the 'Tremorlord' that my information broker said is being dropped onto an inhabited world."

Mew stared at the beast's silhouette but couldn't make out any distinguishable features, "So kinda like a bounty hunting mission eh? Didn't take you for the type."

Mars shut the device off and his head hung with a sigh, "Gotta make ends meet somehow these days..."

He flopped back into his chair and gave Mew some food for thought, "Oh right, you were getting paid by Gravitus..."

Mew firmly crossed his arms and gave a half-hearted gesture of apology, "Sorry but not sorry buddy. He needed to be stopped."

"I get you. I kind of figured it was going to happen to him someday."

He didn't expect to hear that, "You did?"

"He had some good ideas but at the same time you could just tell he had a couple screws loose..." Mars scoffed with laughter and shook his head, "I sure as heck wasn't gonna say anything though."

"True, he'd flatten you like a fly without even looking at you." Mew responded nonchalantly.

"Ouch..." Mars cringed, "You're right and all but still, ouch..."

"I think Catherine's been taking it the worst out of all of us, especially over the last week."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Mew blurted out suddenly.

"You know something about it?"

Mew clamped his lips shut for a moment and came up with a way around his mistake, "E-Even if I did it wouldn't be right to tell you in her place."

"True that."

A few minutes later, Mew crossed his arms and leaned into the chair some more, "So tell me more about this...'Tremorlord'"

"Well according to my info its a massive surface trenching worm that devours all stone in its path. There's been one or two reports in the past of one eating its way through an entire planet until only the core remains."

"...And you said we're going to an inhabited world?" Mew took the matter seriously.

"Yeah. Some asshole on the black market bought and raised a Tremorlord larvae then deposited it on the planet Bickbock, probably for shits and giggles." Mars said with a hint of anger.

"And nobody's giving them a heads-up?" Mew inquired.

"The galaxy's crazy right now Mew, especially where Gravitus' empire is concerned. A lot of bounty hunting and thus bounty hunters have cropped up to take advantage of the chaos."

"Like you?" The moment Mew said that he could feel Mars' animosity coming back at him, "S-Sorry I didn't mean it like-"

"I got my reasons for doing this, that's all I'll say..." Mars ruffled around with a sigh. He was clearly antsy from the way he fiddled his fingers on the wheel, "Most hunters take the easy jobs to make a quick buck leaving nobody wanting to deal with the tougher ones, the ones that'll actually make a difference to someone..."

"Really pisses me off..." He muttered under his breath.

"..." Mew leaned towards the back of his chair and patted him on the shoulder, "Then how about we go make a difference?"

"Hmm!" He nodded in approval.

A few more minutes later the ship jumped out of lightspeed moving towards a giant mass of brown rock with a bunch of fissures and deep chasms already carved into it.

"Oh no, are we too late?" Mew said, tensed up.

"No this is how it normally looks. That means the Tremolord hasn't started burrowing yet..." Mars arched his brows determinedly and set the ship on a direct course for the planet's surface.

The sky was orange and it felt like there was no air to speak of. Mew prepared an air barrier around himself in advance and was about to give one to Mars when...

"No need," He spoke confidently, raising his right wrist to reveal a watch on it, "I'm prepared."

He landed the ship onto a thick stack of stones and opened Mew's window first. After he hopped out he saw a bright flash of light coming from the ship and turned back around. A black streak shot out of the cockpit and crashed down in front of Mew, cracking the ground.

Mars was in the same kind of suit Saturn tended to wear, albeit he got to keep his vest on the outside. Red to brown light lines flowed in groups of threes from his feet and arms to his chest, and the orange visor was shaped like an "M".

Mars squeezed his fist and said happily, "Still as snug as a glove..."

Mew leaned back slightly and crossed his arms with a smirk, "You too huh?"

"I-Its not like I like the suit or anything..." Mars stumbled on his words, "It just helps me breathe."

"Uh-huh. So what was your suited up phrase?" Mew's smirk grew wider.

"Now? I-I don't really remember what..."

"Oh don't give me that come on. I wanna hear it."

Mars sighed heavily and then swung his right arm to the upper corner of his body unenthusiastically, "When evil comes to rob the innocent of peace, I rush to their side...I am Galaxy Rider Mars."

"Again, with aplomb!" Mew clapped his hands.

"Mew..." Mars grumbled.

"Oh fine, later..." Mew crossed his arms and turned towards the horizon. Rocks rocks rocks as far as the eye can see. There were some cool rock arrangements out there, but they might as well have gotten their color palette from a pile of shit.

"Lets get to the surface." Mars advised before taking a swift, daring leap off the tower.

"Right-o!" Mew followed suit.

Once they both landed Mew looked around for any signs of life, wondering who the heck would want to be here on this dull rock.

"What's the plan of attack?" He asked.

"You can sense movements in the ground right?"

"Uhhh, if I'm familiar with the rocks yeah. Gimme a moment..." Mew closed his eyes and laid his feet flat on the ground. Concentrate. Concentrate.

"Oh yeah, this is super basic rock here..." He muttered confidently. Expanding the scope of his senses through the ground, he felt a faint tremor coming from a couple miles to the east. No, one mile away?

The tremor was shaking his feet and moving a few pebbles on the ground. He widened his eyes open and declared, "I think our target's closer than we want him to be...!"

Mars hunched over and drew his clasped nunchucks in one hand, "Then get ready!"

His voice started to be drowned out by the violent rupturing of the ground ahead of them, "HERE HE COMES!"

In one vicious rise a circular set of razor sharp metal sawblades came out of the ground, attached to a cylindrical, tunnel-length monstrosity capable of devouring large cities in one gulp. Its head alone drowned the two in a pitch black shadow.

Mew and Mars split up as the beast crashed upon the surface and started tearing ass like an out of control train. Its hide was coated in a thick, rugged diamond-like material.

"How are we supposed to stop this?!" Mew exclaimed, barely able to hear himself, "Oh son of...!"

He leaped far out of the way of the worm's warpath and dashed faster than it could move. Mars' assessment wasn't an exaggeration. The worm didn't let any wayward debris escape being devoured by its body or mouth.

He got past the worm's mouth and saw Mars had gotten to that point with his head already turned in anticipation of his arrival.

"HOW DO WE STOP THIS?!" Mew yelled at the top of his lungs.

His voice amplified by his suit Mars screamed, "TREMORLORDS ARE TITANIC, BUT THEIR BRAINS ARE INCREDIBLY SMALL. THEY ONLY KNOW HOW TO EAT. TAKING OUT THE BRAIN WILL STOP IT."

"ATTACK THE HEAD, GOT IT!" Mew flashed a thumbs-up and then took a daring leap onto the worm's head with Mars following suit.

The beast trembled like a magnitude 10 earthquake and made it hard to stand. Mew drew his sword in a stabbing motion but it bounced off the beast's hard hide.

"What is this thing made of?!" He gasped in disbelief.

"Nobody knows! Its too hard to even use as jewelry!" Mars seemed to have no problem standing though, "But fortunately the worm's young so the skin shouldn't have fully developed over the brain yet."

"Alright that's great!" Mew scoured the immediate area with his eyes and grimaced, "Ok this is not great, I ain't seeing an opening anywhere."

"What?" Mars did a scan himself and clutched his fists, "Damn it! The culprit must have artificially accelerated its growth!"

"Got a Plan B?" Mew hastily asked.

"There is no Plan B! If we can't get to the brain we're not stopping this thing by force!"

"_He's right. This thing's too huge and heavy for me to lift off the planet, and I ain't about to try attacking from the inside with all those razor blades in the way..." _Mew snapped his fingers and figured he'd have to just try his usual method of dealing with things...

"I'll try breaking through with my fists! You run on ahead and warn the people of this planet!"

"Crap, I forgot to mention...!" Mars said, bitterly clutching his teeth at the end.

"What?" Mew panicked, "What now?"

Mars turned his head and he looked visibly shaken on the inside, "The people of this planet are made of rocks too!"

"WHAT?!" Mew felt the worm's body jerk around which, for it, would almost be enough to throw them off. He then ran to the very top of the worm's mouth and saw it nearing a massive fissure.

And just down below he could make out a series of flat-faced rock creatures with goofy drilled through eyes and various shapes and sizes moving around stiffly on their cavernous porches.

"You could've led with that!" Mew exclaimed before he dove off the side of the worm and flew underneath its path. The worm flew off the edge and started barreling towards the helpless citizens.

Mew turned upside-down and grit his teeth, rapidly pounding the underside of the worm with kicks. His legs quickly felt like they were on fire and he watched his shoes be stripped down from the friction.

The worm was kept suspended over the chasm and eventually crashed "safely" on the other side. Mew's feet throbbed heavily as he positioned himself upright and caught his breath.

"Jesus christ..." He gasped, taking straight off back to the Tremorlord's head. Landing on its hide was very, very uncomfortable on the heels.

"Well there goes my best shoes..." He said, flicking the battered things off his feet.

"We've averted disaster, but for how much longer?" Mars muttered to himself.

Mew winced and looked straight out, noticing another fissure over the horizon. He threw his hands down and concentrated on the ground ahead, "Not this time you wormy bastard!"

He threw his hands out and extended a massive bridge over the fissure for the Tremorlord to tunnel through. He then gripped his fists and said, "At the speed its going I don't know if I can keep doing this..."

He closed his eyes for a momentary break to think. Somehow, he had a brilliant shot in the dark kind of idea, "Hey if the creature's growth was accelerated then wouldn't that make the skin weaker around the brain?"

Mars sprung up and snapped his fingers, "That's right, it would be!"

"Great!" Mew drew his sword in both hands and raised it high, "Keep an eye out for anymore fissures, I'll carve our way through!"

Mars hopped to the front and Mew stabbed down. The tip of the blade failed to meet its mark. He took a couple steps forward and tried again. No luck.

Mars hollered "FISSURE!" when it was time for Mew to break away and bridge the gap for the worm to cross. Meanwhile Mars used his shotgun nunchucks to try and pick up Mew's work.

Rapidly alternating between the two's jobs kept the people safe but the planet was suffering a lot of damage in the meantime. Eventually though Mew felt his blade get stuck.

"Got it!" He gasped out in relief.

He discarded the sword and went for the faster approach of chipping through the surface with a flurry of fists. His knuckles quickly turned red under pressure but he kept going strong, eventually feeling something wet and squishy underneath.

"Almost there...!" He said, sweat glistening off his face.

"Leave this part to me!" Mars chimed in, giving Mew the chance to breathe.

Mars dipped both ends of his nunchucks into the soft membrane and fired two concentrated shotgun blasts. Bits of flesh and viscera spewed upward like a geyser, and the worm started squirming uncontrollably.

Mew dug his hand into the side of the wound to hold on while Mars went tumbling onto his back, sent rolling past Mew.

Mew summoned a solid cloud and he used it to bounce back over.

"One...MORE!" He grunted with all his might as he put one nunchuck into the gap, and fired.

The Tremorlord let out a sky-rending screech and reared its head high. The strength in its voice depleted to nothing, and when its head came crashing down the entirety of its girth was thrown around in a twisted shape.

Mew and Mars were tossed off the side and got within a hair's breath from being crushed.

Mew threw his fists in the air and screamed, "WOO HOO! What a work out!"

His fists twitched and he went "OW!" as he pulled them back towards his chest.

Mars stood up and brushed the dirt off his suit, then walked over to put his hand on the worm's hide, "That was close..."

Mew sprung forward onto his feet and crossed his arms partway, "Sooooo, what are we going to do with the body?"

Mars flipped his right hand around and a number pad appeared on it. He dialed on them with his mind and raised it to his hand, complete with a dial-tone, "I'll get Catherine to run by later and carry it off to a sun for disposal. It should be fine here for now."

He then turned away and said "Hello?" basically saying to Mew "I'm busy". Mew shrugged and stepped aside while he did his thing.

When the click came from him he turned back around and saw Mars walking his way, "Alright I reported the bounty in to the bureau. Now I got to stop by and pick up my reward. You mind?"

"Not at all, I'm curious to see what its like." Not as if he had anything better to do. It also just felt good to have done something heroic for the first time in...months.

After getting back to the ship, shockingly in prime shape, they took off back into space. Mars deactivated his suit too. The trip to their next location was much shorter.

They weren't heading to a planet, but a massive space station. It looked grimy, surrounded by a force field enforced by hollowed out metal skull satellites.

There was vigorous static coming in over the radio that Mars came to answer with "Desert Whirlwind, reporting in."

The static ceased with a screech, upon which the two front-most satellites opened their jaws to form a gap in the force field.

The space station was smaller than the main part of Neptune's casino but as ugly as a pile of trash. Vicious looking spaceships loitered in small, barely attached compartments and there was a camera on every corner. This was where the worst of the worst came to hang.

The ship was landed and the two of them climbed out. The doorway to the main part opened like a rusty jaw, keeping Mew on his guard.

Mars walked with a calm, confident strut and kept one hand near his nunchucks as they went through the humid tubes. At the end they wound up at a gathering of the galaxy's roughest toughest bounty hunters all gathered in lines.

There was a four-legged cowboy-like figure with slimy tentacles for arms and a face made of a tangle of smaller tentacles, one of which reached up and lowered the rim of its hat over the gap of shadows where the eyes should be.

A bipedal triceratops with a broken horn and tattooed back flashed a smirk towards them while pulling another of its horn off and scraping it across the metal wall to intimidate.

Mew tucked his fists in his pockets and rolled his shoulders comfortably, _"I'd like to see them try..." _

He got in line with Mars and waited up to an hour for them to get up front. In that time there were three lacerations, one knock-out, one alien getting shoved through a wall, and at least ten accounts of gunfire. None focused on him, unfortunately.

"_Cowards..." _Mew said, putting his itchy fingers in line for now.

Mars got up to the counter, protected by a wire-mesh wall. There stood a woman with light-green skin, barnacle covered cheeks, and three eyes arranged in a triangle.

"Hey Quillax." Mars greeted comfortably.

The woman's throat made a gurgling sound and she raised a webbed hand onto the counter with a check glued to it.

Mars pulled it out and waved the sticky stuff off, tucking it away in his pocket, "Split as usual right?"

Quillax nodded and made more gurgling sounds.

"Thanks, you're a peach." Mars flashed a smile and thumbs-up and the woman's barnacles expanded, puffing out hot steam.

"S-Sorry, you're right," Mars said with an awkward chuckle, "Later."

And just like that business was through here and they returned to the ship without any interruption. Mew leaned back into the chair with his hands behind his head and remarked, "Seemed like a pleasant place."

Mars started the ship up and they rode on out past the force field. He then locked in new coordinates and said, "I got one more stop to make. You wouldn't mind right...? Its on the way back."

"No absolutely, go right ahead!" Mew waved a hand down gently.

"You sure...?" Mars tilted his head.

"Positive, Maria's not out of school for a few more hours."

"I mean if you want to go back..."

"Just go...!" Mew hurried him along before the inevitable return to loneliness could settle in.

"Alright!" Mars gasped and set the ship to lightspeed.

After a relatively short gap of time the two exited lightspeed over a mostly desert planet. Though, with the few bodies of water throughout it'd be better to call it an oasis. The planet had a red moon and a perfectly breathable atmosphere.

"What's this place?"

"Alluranda, the Oasis that Never Sleeps." Mars spoke warmly of.

He took the ship through the atmosphere and got within a hundred feet of the surface before leveling out into a glide. On the horizon was a city ripped straight out of Arabian stories. It was much more tall than wide, built entirely out of stone, mud and sand.

At least, that's how it looked at first. As they got closer Mew caught some electrical wires and poles going through the city, and there was more metal at the base of the buildings to prop them up. Also, there was a concrete road going in and out of the city, where people seemed to be towed on floating carpets by giant, speedy scorpions.

Mars glided past the city and looked at it for a while with a smile. He then continued his descent on the outskirts, heading towards a two-story building with a palm tree shaded garden and a series of jungle gym equipment for children.

Mars landed in the parking lot and opened the cockpit, exposing Mew to the cool, sandy air.

"I'll be just a few moments ok?"

Mew started climbing out the side, "I want to see what its like here."

"T-That won't be necessary...!" Mars exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Mew turned his head and found his body language suspicious since they had arrived. He then cracked a wily smirk and crossed his arms, "Oh ho ho, got a secret hidden in your vest do you...?"

"No its just...not very interesting..." Mars and Mew both watched as another scorpion ride came darted by down the road.

Mars then saw the big smile on Mew's face and fell over in a slump, "Ugh fine. You can come with."

"Sweet!" Mew threw his arms down and walked alongside Mars towards the building.

Mars knocked twice on the wooden door and said stiffly, "H-Hey, I'm here...!"

A woman answered the door, having tan brown-skin just like him. Her dark brown hair was resting on her right shoulder as a fancy braid tied up by flowery tropical ribbons. She too had little regard for how much skin she showed, judging by the palm-tree patterned bikini and slightly see-through skirt.

"Well if it isn't Seth!" The woman said with a slight Arabian accent, "Come on in!"

She gave way to her two guests and raised a hand beside her face, "Kids! Seth's home!"

A rupturing roar of "YAYs!" came from the stampede of little kids barreling out of the nearby room. They gathered around Mars' legs and clung on tight, fighting one other for the right.

"S-Settle down everyone." Mars squirmed but offered little resistance besides a playful shove or two.

The kids ranged from 4 to 12 years old and were all well-dressed. They dragged Seth towards the big room to the left and the woman was left talking to Mew.

"Friend of his?" She said, her eyes and smile changing as she scanned him over.

"You could say that...?" Mew crossed his arms and looked the woman in the eyes. After a good long while he roughed up a cough and remarked, "Are you...his wife?"

"Oh ho ho!" She lightly slapped the side of his arm and leaned forth to chuckle, "Did he tell you to say that?"

She stood up and waved her hand over towards a wooden board with a name chiseled onto it, "Gala Lala Chawa, owner of the Palm Side Day Care, at your service."

"Pleasure to meet you Gala," Mew extended his hand, "My name's Mew."

She held his hand tight and gave it a firm shake, "Charmed. Ooooh, you've got tough hands there..."

Mew withdrew coolly and said with pride, "I may get into a few fights..."

"With a friend like Seth I'm not surprised," Gala gestured towards the other room and said, "Come join us."

Mew went quietly into the room, finding Mars peeling off the kids and sitting on a chair.

"Did you bring a gift?"

"What kinda monsters did you fight?"

"Tell us a cool story Seth!"

The kids were all over him like bees on honey. Mars gently pushed his hands towards them and said, "Settle down and I'll tell you a story..."

"YAY!" They cried, plopping onto their rears with their eyes lit up like a starry night.

Mew and Gala stayed under the door frame as Mars recounted the encounter with the Tremorlord. Mew's name was kept out but his presence was still there. He didn't try to spice it up or anything, but the kids ate it right up.

Mew glanced around the room and noticed some framed pictures on the wall. One with Mars and Gala, looking a few years younger, gathered around a different group of kids.

But then, there was another picture showing Mars with a different woman and another group of kids. Then another one with ANOTHER different woman and group of kids. And another. And another. And another...The state of the Day Care changed too, to a point where it didn't have its second floor, and then almost looked like it couldn't stand. The clothes of the children and woman became less clean and exotic and more like scraps of paper patched together.

"..." Mew decided to keep that in the back of his mind for now.

The story ended and Mars tried to get up only for the kids to cheer "Another! Another!"

Gala stepped in and waved the kids down, "Everyone, its lunch time. Seth'll tell you another story later."

"Hooray! Lunch time!" Shouted some of the kids as they stampeded out of the room, nearly toppling Mew over.

"Thanks Gala." Mars breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're a natural kid magnet Seth," Gala chuckled with her hands pressed on her lips, "We're opening a new Day Care in Cabalea, maybe its time you settled down and took a job there?"

"You call that settling down?" Mars laughed calmly, and began to reach into his vest, "That reminds me though..."

He pulled out the check from earlier and handed it off, "Sorry I'm a couple months late on my contribution, its been a busy time."

Gala snagged the check in hand and looked over it for a second before it was tucked into her bikini for safe-keeping, "I'll make sure it gets to the King safe and sound don't you worry. By the way, he wanted me to say he missed you coming to his wife's dinner last month."

"Aw man that totally slipped my mind..." Mars recoiled slightly in shock, "Tell him I can make it up to him next month ok?"

"Will do." She laughed.

"Well, I'll catch you later. Tell your mother I said 'Hi'." As Mars began to head towards Mew, Gala waved him off.

"Lets go." He said with a sigh towards Mew.

As they left the Day Care Mew tucked his hands into his pockets and noticed Mars seemed kinda down.

"Need to talk?" He extended a gesture of good faith.

Mars craned his head back towards the big city a mile away and put his hands in his pockets too, "I've never been good at subtlety Mew."

He looked over his shoulder and said with a relenting sigh, "You pieced together that this is my home, didn't you?"

Mew rolled his shoulders and said, "I may have found a hint or two..."

Mars looked back up at the city and stated calmly, "I used to be an orphan."

Mew relaxed, sensing he'd be hearing a long story from the Desert Whirlwind.

"Our planet wasn't always this pretty. Alluranda used to be known as 'The Land of Fading Gold'. This city you see was the only one, where the rich ruled from the top and the lower you were, the more grim your day-to-day life felt."

"And if you lived outside the city, you were lower than sand. But that's where my life began, far as I can remember...Outside the city, at the Palm Side Orphanage. We barely had any money and scrounged up clothes from the trash people threw over the walls."

"I tried to sneak into the city a lot to get food and money but tended to get caught a lot and tossed back out. But I kept trying, improving, and eventually succeeding. But scraps weren't going to cut it. We'd need a King's Ransom if we wanted to truly survive..."

"I planned to sneak into the King's tower one day and steal from his vault. It took multiple attempts, and it got harder as I got older, but eventually I succeeded...Or so I thought."

"I was sloppy, thought I was a nobody in the King's eyes...He didn't take to being stolen from very lightly. He had his guards follow me footsteps back to the Orphanage and tried to have it burned down. A few of my family died in the fire by the time I got back and incapacitated the guards."

"That night I broke back into the King's tower in a rage, knocked out his guards, and cornered that rat bastard in his bed...I demanded he take his money and start using it to treat his people equally no matter where they came from."

"He was prideful, fearless...All that money blinded him to danger. But more importantly, he had a particular vendetta against me..."

"I was his son."

"My mother was the victim of one of his one-night stands and she had tried to use my birth as leverage to make the King bend to similar demands. But the King, not wanting the populace to learn of his 'dirty child' had his guards kill her in the dead of night. But with her last breath she brought me to the orphanage."

"The King took advantage of my shock to call in more guards...I gave him a swift kick in the dick and told him that I would keep coming back until he realized the error of his ways."

"I kept fighting off guards and stealing treasure. Somewhere along the way that Grand Cosmic Sage guy showed up and, for whatever reason, gave me the powers I have now. But I stuck to my usual bag of tricks to keep my home safe, with the added bonuses of being ageless, I guess..."

"I didn't win by beating the King physically, or mentally, but because I outlasted him. Years of vexing him led to deteriorated health on his end, and when he was 77 years old I got a message from one of his guards that he was on his death bed...and he wanted me to come see him."

"I thought it was a trap, but the guards stayed still as I approached the old bastard on his bed one more time. For the first time in my life I saw a shred of humanity in his eyes as he looked to me full of regret and said..."

"'I have been selfish my boy...Hoarding, feasting away atop my tower with all the pleasures in the world at my side...And yet now, in my final moments, did any of it make me happy? I am...alone. I have no wife, I have no child...Just the company of a street rat, nay, a brave man who fought this foolish king's greed to the bitter end.'"

"In his last moments he declared a new law, 'Seth's Law', stating that all outside and inside the city are to be treated equally."

"And then he gave his last breath, and went quietly into the night."

"..." Mars rubbed the back of his head calmly and grumbled, "He was a bastard, and his last moments don't erase years of oppression but...His decision always reminds me that there's good in everyone. It was the only thing he ever taught me."

"...After that there were a few years of turmoil about succession from the king's two nephews, but when that got ironed out the planet's thrived ever since. In-between stuff with the Planetary Aurians and Gravitus I drop by to see how everyone's doing."

"And give a little bit of your paychecks to the orphanage?" Mew remarked.

"...Yeah." Mars whispered.

Mew leaned around and smiled, "Why'd you want to keep this a secret? You're like a combination of Robin Hood and Aladdin!"

"Are those heroes on your world Mew?" Mars turned aside and shook his head, "I-I'm not a hero...I'm just a guy who did what should be done."

Mew settled into place and nodded, "You're right. But don't you think you might be overdoing it a bit now?"

Mars took pause as Mew chewed him out a bit, "If you didn't get a hold of me I feel like you would've tried taking that Tremorlord on yourself."

He waved his hand out and kept any hint of humor out of his voice, "The people here love you, don't make them mourn you.

Mars wagged his hand aside and remarked with a dry chuckle, "Maybe I can...dial it back a bit."

"Or just keep calling me for help! I had a fun time today!" Mew said grinning from ear-to-ear.

"If you're not too busy again sure."

"Oh I can't see that being a problem any time soon..." Mew muttered under his breath. He then looked Mars straight in the eyes and hesitated, "Say, when you've felt alone, how..."

He shook his head and relaxed into a smile, "Never mind."

After that Mars took him back home with no further detours. He was teleported back into his house right where he had been left off, and once he hung up the dangling phone he returned to his couch.

But as he relaxed back into it, his smile turned into a frown...Until he focused on how he helped Mars out, which made that smile return.

"_This was a good day..." _And maybe that's all it needed to be.

_Next Time: Eyes of a Scaled Half-Breed_


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50: The Scourge Draconis**

_Long, long ago in the deepest, furthest reaches of the known universe, a planet roared to life with the fires and stones of hell. It came to be known as one of the first birthplaces of the ferocious dragons, the mightiest of the mythical creatures._

_None know the planet's name but the dragons who inhabit it, for its said merely uttering the name turns one's breath to white flame and burns their innards to ash. _

_It is a land of ferocity, where only the toughest, roughest and strongest live to eat another meal. Blood and fire spew from the molten cracks as the magma devours the weak and frail._

_Dragons fought daily for supremacy. But at the top of the food chain stood the mightiest of all...The Scourge Draconis, He of Indominance. _

_Existing beyond power, beyond magic, beyond fear, he ruled over all and turned the weak into dust beneath his heel, where they would then be swallowed up through his nostrils._

_None could challenge him. Not only cause they lacked the strength, but also the will for what would come after..._

_But as the saying goes, there is always a bigger fish. And he was but a stepping stone for the true hero of this legend..._

_The land of the hellfire knew not the feel of human flesh until one fateful day, when a spaceship crash landed upon the outer realms, where the weakest of dragons cowered from the Scourge's watchful eyes._

_It was a space-faring woman who had landed upon their domain. A woman who, by all accounts, should have collapsed from the weight of fear, let along burned up from contact with the planet._

_Yet she stood to greet the ferocious dragons with an iron eye, for she had already escaped death once. Her colony, as she called it, had met its end to an asteroid field._

_One of the dragons, feeling emotions he knew nothing of, took the woman in and kept her safe. Their bond was formed from a healthy dosage of intrigue on both sides, as they shared their knowledge of each other's worlds over the coming months._

_She could survive off the meat on this world, but if she were to be discovered by the Scourge's entourage then her fate would be sealed. Yet by a miracle, the kind dragon kept her presence a secret from the inner circle._

_And then came another miracle, as the woman managed to bear the dragon's child...A half-breed, as they'd call her, would come to be named Priscilla after the woman's mother. _

_Priscilla grew like her mother, but wore the scales and horns of her father. She survived this harsh world for ten years, learning how to control her different abilities, including becoming a giant dragon of her own. She even learned karate from her mother, though the father stumbled when he attempted to try it himself._

_But it was not to last._

_The Scourge Draconis made his rounds, seeking a "challenge" from the outer realms. As he got his fill of murder in, Priscilla rose against her parents' wishes and attacked the Scourge, only to be batted aside by accident._

_Yet the Scourge noticed what had happened, and finally learned the truth of union between dragon and human. _

_Priscilla's father jumped to her aid and bit and chewed away at the Scourge's flesh. But the Scourge laughed, and impaled him through the chest in one blow. While his entourage feasted upon her father's body, Priscilla roared with rage and attacked the Scourge again in her dragon form._

_Still, she was no threat, and the Scourge tossed her aside once more. He then plucked her mother from the ground, and devoured her without a second thought._

_He then crushed Priscilla's chest underfoot, laughing into the black and crimson night sky as he walked away._

_But Priscilla survived. The depths of her rage held off the cold hand of Death, and she swore vengeance upon the Scourge Draconis._

_For the next decade she crawled through the hellish lands beyond her home, feasting off the feral wildlife and barely scraping victories against stronger dragons just to survive._

_Her strength grew, as did her rage, as she slowly tore a path towards the Scourge Draconis' front steps. _

_When she arrived her body was a specter of blood, with only her figure cluing the Scourge in as to who she was. But his memory of that passing moment was faint, all he could remember was the succulent taste of "that woman"._

_Priscilla's roar rocked the Scourge's castle to the ground as the two engaged in feral combat. For seven days and seven nights, the dragons of the world gathered to witness the bloodshed between these mighty dragons. Scales, claws and fangs were ripped asunder from their bleeding bodies, as the hellfire of the world chanted their names._

_Entire volcanoes were raised from the ground around where they fought._

_In the end though, Priscilla's strength overcame the Scourge Draconis. Yet as the tyrant king laid on his back, he uttered a terrifying laugh._

_He mocked this half-breed, for though she stands triumphant, she cannot truly win over him unless she devours him entirely. That is the curse of the Scourge Draconis._

"_I know."_

_She first ripped a claw from his feet and watched him scream as she ate it. She plucked off one small piece at a time, devouring muscle, bone and organs alike. The Scourge Draconis screamed, and screamed. Never stopping, for she saved his lungs for last. _

_She was done after five hours, the power of the Scourge Draconic now her's to command._

_She returned to the castle's former entrance and was met with the bows of millions of dragons. In this moment of levity brought forth by victory, Priscilla commanded these dragons not as one of them, but as a human. _

_They would no longer be a society of war and bloodshed, but a peaceful one, so that no more of the "weak" would be trampled over. She declared that if there were any issues with her decree, they could dare to claim her head._

_And so the world became a little less hellish...for a time anyways. _

_Everything changed when the slavers attacked. Priscilla's mother had been a part of their group, and they had finally gotten a hold of the faint signal her escape pod was emitting. _

_Without any knowledge of technology, the dragons were overwhelmed by the slavers and captured. Even Priscilla could only manage to shoot down a few of their ships before suffering the same fate as well._

_As a half-breed she held the greatest value of all. She screamed and flailed in captivity while they shocked her, chained her, and kept her just fed enough._

_Eventually her time in captivity led to, if you'd believe it, a stroke of good fortune. _

_She was brought to a place called "Casino Neptune", where they attempted to sell her as an attraction to the owner for a large sum,_

_The owner beat up the slavers and freed Priscilla. But in the rage of the moment, Priscilla rampaged through the casino, only being brought down by her own exhaustion. Yet the owner survived all that and helped her calm down._

_After Priscilla had calmed down, the two talked for a long while, leading to Neptune, the owner, vowing to aid the grief-stricken dragon._

_She worked alongside a partner of hers, Gravitus, to completely and utterly dismantle the slavers operation and kill all their members to send a message to those who'd continue the trade._

_Neptune brought the head of the organization back to Priscilla, who devoured it without hesitation, and then broke down in tears._

_Gravitus approached Priscilla with a message...Once the dragons had been freed, he decided to share some of his technology with them to help with their chances of survival should another organization boldly decide to invade._

_In a humbling move, Priscilla forced her gratitude upon Gravitus. But she knew she could not return to her home now. She had been a terrible leader, and that shame would be her chains forever._

_Neptune offered her a home at her Casino, and even a job as a bouncer. Priscilla accepted as a means of repaying the debt owed. _

_But that respect swiftly turned to love, as did Neptune's curiosity towards this bewitching dragon do the same. The two confessed their love together and were married not long after. Begrudgingly, Priscilla returned to her home world at Neptune's behest, because she wanted to know more about where she grew up._

_Life for her has changed immensely since those struggling days of old, but at the core of her burning soul she is still the one, the only, Scourge Draconis..._

"Another day, same old idiots..." Sighed Priscilla, making the rounds in the casino. Behind her laid a pile of unconscious aliens who had tried to cheat some money out of the poker table.

She puffed a ring of smoke and tucked her hands into her pants, "At least its a short round today..."

She glanced up at the clock atop the dice-ridden pole. Fifteen more minutes and she doesn't have to work the rest of the day.

The smell of gold. The sound of dice clacking. What was intoxicating to the masses was invigorating to her.

She glanced to the right and saw there was an empty seat at the blackjack table.

"Hmmm..." She shrugged and stepped down to join them with a few spare chips she snagged off her victims.

"I'm in." She said to the server, a nine-foot tall limbless, blindfolded telekinetic life form known around here as "Psy Ik".

"****?" It uttered with its pulsating flesh jaw.

"Yeah sure." She tossed in a few more chips and was handed her first card, a King of Diamonds.

Second deal gave her a 4 of Spades. Dealer drops a 8 of Spades atop their down card.

A look around the table showed her having the second lowest hand thus far. Two players stuck to 19 points.

She tapped her card with a claw and was dealt another 4, this time of Hearts.

"_18 points..." _Not enough to win the table...yet. Picking up the chips here would net her a quick lunch before she headed out for the day.

Visions of fried Torqu'a burgers slathered in cheese brought her mouth to drool, and she readily tapped her claw five times over.

One more card...a 7 of Diamonds. She's over. Done. A three-day old veggie and ham sandwich awaited her in the fridge.

"Peh...!" She huffed an ember, lightly hammered the table, then pulled away to go elsewhere.

All's quiet in Silver Section B, and C, and D too. The burly bouncers tip their hats and mutter "Boss" respectfully by her passing.

"No harm in cutting out early." She said with five minutes on the clock.

Rounding about to the bottom floor, she made her way to the train station and coolly whipped her custom made pink-gold VIP card over the scanner.

"Heh," She smirked, "Still got it..."

The bullet tram came down the middle chute and she hopped in, taking a straight shot up to their abode between stations.

A quick trip down the quiet hallway and she arrived in front of a blank wall. She took out one claw and glided it gently across the center. Part of the wall pulled back slightly and then opened vertically to allow her in.

She had unbuttoned most of her shirt by the time she rounded into the first door in the next hall, containing bright, florescent platinum walls.

Her darling Belle laid on their diamond shaped bed undressed of her tuxedo and pants with book in hand. Roughly translated to "The Whims of Your Two Hearts", it was her latest joy acquired from their recent vacation on Planet Cortodo.

Priscilla threw her suit onto a wall hook and stopped briefly before a mirror to look at herself. She leaned in and stared at the top of her head, then took her hands to the hair and ruffled it up so it'd look like a wild bush.

She smiled and puffed smoke from her nostrils.

Then she crossed in front of the dozens of pictures on the wall of her and her darling to get to the closet, a dangerous domain bigger than a dragon's keep.

Thrusting open the doors exposed ALL the clothes they've acquired over the years from many worlds. But she had an ideal in mind. Today she was feeling...wild.

First, these pants **had** to go.

After they were tossed to the side and she was left bare in bra and panties, she leaned into the closet and started thumbing over the hangers for a style to fit her mood.

She tried on a pair of shambled jeans with a chained belt. Then a leather set of pants with gold flames flowing down to her ankles.

But what got her feeling really hot in the loins was a comfortable set of short shorts, whose bottom was practically grinding her womanhood.

With a gentle purr she settled on that and flicked through the shirts next. She liked a variety of these shirts, especially the crop tops. But for today, she settled on a sleeveless, thin strap shirt hanging loosely above her midriff.

As she pulled the black one off she suddenly felt a pair of arms ensnaring her hips slowly like the coil of a snake.

"Mmmm..." Moaned her darling soothingly, "Stay. Let us spend the day together."

She attacked from two fronts. First by rubbing her stiffening nipples against her backside, then by gliding the silky smooth touch of her fingers down into her shorts.

Priscilla trembled, biting her lower lip with great fervor as she fought back, calling her tail out to wrap around Belle's lithe frame and pull her away.

Priscilla turned around and left her darling leaning atop her muscular tail with both palms. Gazing into her eyes, she said, "You're such a puppy dog Belle..."

Belle curled her lower lip into a pout and whimpered as her eyes took on a dazzling gleam.

Priscilla gently tossed her back onto the bed with her tail and chuckled, "I'll have plenty of energy for tonight."

"Ho hum~" Belle remarked as she fell onto the bed and crossed her legs.

Priscilla then finished clothing herself with the addition of a white jacket vest with a fiery symbol for "Dragon" on the back.

"I'm off." She said on her way to the door.

"Have fun on your day off dear." Belle cheerfully waved her off.

Once a year Priscilla chooses to have a day off to go visit her old home and unwind some of her tense nerves. Sometimes she prefers to go it alone. Not today though.

"There's the pink terror!"

It was the sound of Belle's older sister Noel, AKA Aurian Jupiter, AKA The One Punch Crime Fighter, AKA...Well, you get the idea.

She's a very tough gal and backs it up with confidence. Its very attractive. Somewhat. Slightly. That's all, seriously.

And today she'll be accompanying her on her day off. She's still wearing the old shorts and bra combo alongside the scarf her sister had knitted for her. Hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it...

The two crossed blows with the crack of their wrists real quick and grinned.

"Ready to lose again, amazon?"

"Hah, you wish! You're going down, Silverfang!"

Noel had parked her ride outside another of the building's hidden compartments. The ride through space would be taking up most of the day, at least six hours total there and back.

They talked recent events, some concerns briefly arising due to Gravitus demise yet again. The Casino was under no threat of attack, but it was a shame that Gravitus died without the debt being repaid...

Mew Whiter, the Elemental Overlord...His name came up in conversation at one point. Word has spread that he was responsible for Gravitus' demise. Doubtful. The Neo Drive wielder, Kairi was it? She probably did it.

Still, that put a target on his Earth's back and someday a bullet would fire through it. He'll have to handle that fight himself, she had no intention of coming to his aid unless Belle requested it.

Otherwise the talk boiled down mostly to a one-sided mention of Noel's recent exploits. Criminals and riff-raff alike sure do love to take advantage of chaos, don't they? The Casino has been a breeding ground for that kind of scum. But they just wind up feeding their funds to her and Belle. At least that keeps some of the wealthier warmongers in check...

It was a good time passer.

Then came the familiar sight of her fiery birthplace in the distance, glowing brightly like a red sun. The ship dove through the black smoke clouds and towards the spewing craters of magma, which led towards a river of lava.

Following that river to a thick, molten moat surrounding a large, metal castle armed with turrets, Noel parked the ship on supposedly solid ground.

There they walked out towards the castle with steam hissing off the bottom of their bare feet. The gate bridge slammed down hard before their toes, and out walked four mighty dragons.

Each stood on all fours at twenty feet tall and thirty feet long. The scales of their neck opened as they breathed, while the gem-like surfaces of their faces glowed red with flames. One had horns curved back towards their necks, another had them coiled up thick like rams horns. Their wings were lively, the membranes charred with an ashen coat.

They crossed the bridge and stood in an arch before the two, growling beneath their breath. A fifth dragon, slightly bigger than the others, walked onto the bridge, leaving his footprints smoldering in the metal. His body glistened with silver, his scales as black as death.

Once he stood before the two, his breath manifested as a thick black smog and his protruding fangs formed a grin.

Priscilla eyed the dragon with her pupils sinking into a paper thin slit, while Noel rolled her right arm in a couple circles.

"Heh..." The dragon raised its front right claw and nudged Priscilla in her chest.

"Welcome back, squirt." The deep-voiced beast said affectionately before flattening his claw out in front of her.

"Come on, give old Yunhelm a hi-five!"

"Heh!" Priscilla smirked and slapped her hand hard against the dragon's claw, with Jupiter following up.

Yunhelm stumbled a couple steps back and him along with the other four reared their heads back in laughter, "Hahaha! Splendid!"

The four dragons leaped and clapped their claws against the ground in an uproar.

"Same old dumbasses..." Priscilla murmured with a smile.

Yunhelm turned towards the castle and remarked, "Come! Preparations have already been made inside..."

They walked into the spacious courtyard and found a few other dragons loitering about. One dragged in a massive wooden barrel leaking wine with the help of a rope in his mouth.

"Ungh...! Our finest wine, stamped down and aged for a year...!" The dragon grunted as he let the barrel go in the center of the courtyard.

Priscilla glanced at Noel with a leer, "Are you ready?"

Noel looked back with a cockier leer, "Am I never?"

A few minutes later the two were laid back atop a pair of dragons with a glass of wine overflowing in their hand. They clinked their glasses together and looked up into the sky.

The turret artillery was fired off and the dragons took turns trying to blow them up with fireballs.

"You missed again...!" Laughed Yunhelm towards a floating, limbless yellow dragon.

"Ha! You try then, you old curmudgeon..."

"Gladly...!" Yunhelm's mouth glowed bright gold and the moment the turret burst, he launched his fireball straight in its path.

A metallic explosion of gold filled the away, crackling away like dim fireworks. Yunhelm reared his front legs and stamped them down, the rest of the dragons roaring for his triumph.

Priscilla wound up spilling most of her drink into her mouth and gobbled it down, smacking the bottom of the glass onto the dragon's scales, "Watch your step you silverback little bitch!"

"Heh," The mighty dragon stalled still, "Still as sharp-tongued as ever. But I bet your claws are too dull from playing bouncer to a bunch of wimps...!"

"Oooooo!" Bellowed the other dragons.

Priscilla stood up and smashed the glass upon the dragon's back, licking up the scattered wine with a sweep of her tongue.

"Man the railgun..." She muttered cockily.

The mightiest of weapons was aimed towards the horizon and manned by three of the dragons. Priscilla took a claw to her tongue and glided it down to the tip as it salivated with a thick, raunchy venom.

Her fingertips crackled with electricity, but she only aimed one towards the sky.

"Venom Spark..." She muttered, snapping her fingers right before the railgun fired.

A purple bolt of lightning shot through the air and cut the railgun blast permanently in half, then blew a mile-wide hole through the cloudy sky.

Priscilla calmly blew the smoke off her fingertip and sat back down on Yunhelm's trembling scales.

"Heh, She is the mightiest still..." The dragon muttered, falling upon his belly to rest.

"Bold of you to say that while **I'M **here." Noel commented.

Priscilla gave her a passing glance and watched as she stood and stretched her rippling arms up high.

"Mmmm...Feast your eyes on these guns!" She said, pulling her fists back so hard the air made a powerful whipping sound.

The railgun was charged again, much to the chagrin of the exhausted dragons, and fired in the same direction.

Noel cracked her fists forward at full power and the energy from the railgun was carried skyward along a bubble of pure pressure. When it hit the clouds the hole rippled a little wider.

Noel put her fists down and sat with a cheeky smile, soaking in the awed gasps of the other dragons.

Noel smirked. Priscilla threw out a pout and drank another glass of wine horded at her side.

They later feasted upon part of a massive worm's corpse. A gift from the "squirmy one", as Yunhelm called him.

Priscilla and Noel packed in the pounds until their bellies barely started to churn in anger...Then picked up the pace even further.

When the carcass was emptied Priscilla bellowed a belch like thunder and patted her bulging belly. She then turned to Noel and said, "Race you to the volcano."

Noel stirred her right leg in the air and grinned, "You're on."

The other dragons joined in for a romp through the cracking fire plains stretching miles beyond the castle. They stampeded past other dragons that decided to join them, but all lagged far behind.

Priscilla enjoyed a comfortable lead until a shadow dropped in front of her, uprooting most of the ground on impact.

Noel blew aside the smoke with her arm and her legs were now twice their size. She flashed a grin then leaped far, far off in the lead.

"Heh...! I don't lose to humans!" Priscilla leaped after her, her body swallowed up in rose-colored flames.

Then she crashed down at a size and shape comparable to her peers. Her snout was rectangular, her horns stuck up sharp and proudly as a crown, while her hair stretched as a mane down her neck. Her body spread two pairs of wings with dark red membranes, and with a feral roar she stampeded after Noel at double her normal pace.

It was neck and neck to the bitter end and the winner was undecided between their observers. But Priscilla had absolutely won. Totally.

At the base of this volcano was a thick lack of lava. As the larger dragons dipped their toes into the edge, Priscilla and Noel stripped nude and sank their lower bodies into it.

The sixth barrel of wine was cracked open and split among the crowd, as tales of maritime spread amongst them.

"So you two, what's kept you busy lately?" Yunhelm inquired.

Noel basked in the lava and stretched her arms along the edge, "You know the deal. Bad guys cause trouble, I knock 'em out."

"Ah come on, there's gotta be something special you got involved in lately." One of the other dragons nudged her in the shoulder.

"Hmm, though you mention it..." Noel tapped her fingers along the ground and raised her head back, "There was a thing involving monsters a whole while back."

"Monsters eh? Like what?"

"I dunno, some things with wings, a giant mummy, a worm in a trenchcoat?" Noel shrugged her shoulders and huffed boastfully, "They all went down so fast I didn't commit them to memory."

"What about you Priscilla? Join in the fun?" Yunhelm guffawed.

Priscilla took a sip of her wine and murmured, "Those foul beasts weren't worth the time..."

"_Curse my profession sometimes...!" _She growled internally.

Noel looked her way and nudged her with her glass, "My sis keeps you busy doesn't she?"

"..." Priscilla shoved her glass off and blushed.

Yunhelm slapped the edge of the lake and laughed, "If you're the Scourge Draconis, then your wife is surely the Scourge Magus!"

"Ha ha ha...!" Noel downed another cup of wine and her face started looking red, "Good ol' Belle...Successful, pretty, married..."

She sank deeper into the lava and her eyes looked a little glazed over, "And you're so cool Priscilla. Nothing ever gets you down..."

"Look at me...!" She spat out a hiccup, "Ain't got a job anymore, or a home...! I'm just a big orange muscular loser...!"

She raised her glass up high and shouted, "Yaaaaaaaaay!"

The dragons laughed around her, save Priscilla, who quietly took another sip from her glass.

"I'm envious of you Noel. You've kicked ass harder than anyone I know and made many friends. Your sister gushes about you more than she does me sometimes..." She closed her eyes and sighed, "I have captured Belle's heart, but you'll always have what's more precious...a bond of family."

"Heh...and what's that gotta do with anything...?" Noel said, slurring her words.

Priscilla took another sip of her glass, _"She won't remember this anyways..." _

After a long soak Noel was starting to lose consciousness from the wine indulging, so Priscilla picked her up, clothed her, and took it upon herself to carry her back to the ship on foot.

The dragons sent her off with a beautiful display of fireballs exploding in the sky. Those idiots may have changed over time, but they still love showing their power...

One lonely, quiet trip later, she had returned home feeling quite satisfied with herself.

She lugged Noel all the way to their private room, where Belle sat on the edge in a thin night gown. But when Priscilla stepped through the door she sprung up and looked hardly fazed.

"She lost again?" Belle said, gliding a magic soaked hand over her sister's body.

"Yes." Priscilla laid Noel onto the bed.

"We'll let her stay the night." She then remarked.

"Will we?" Belle said with a playful smile, then sat beside her fainted sister to rub her head.

"Poor Noel...These last few months have been rough. You were fired from the galactic patrol? Why didn't you tell me that?"

Noel groaned and moved in her sleep. Belle continued to apply a gentle touch to help her relax, her smile staying wide.

"You'll tough it out. You always have."

Priscilla stepped aside for the moment to change her clothes out for the night. In her lonesome she closed her eyes and huffed out a little steam.

"_The Scourge Draconis carries the weight of suffering...But it should be a power to help, not hurt," _She glanced warmly behind at her darling caring for her sister and smiled, _"I was suffering once...But I'm happy now. I wouldn't exchange this happiness for anything."_

_Next Time: Two-of-a-kind_


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51: A Matchless Greed**

From the comfort of her bed in the VIP chamber, Neptune used magic to observe the on-going activity in her casino.

On the surface it was like any other day. A plethora of aliens gambled away their hard earnings, while Priscilla or her fellow bouncers took out the ne'er-do-wells.

But there was dark magic in the air. A faint trace that only someone of her level could sense. It weaved through her casino like a spider constructing a web, never stopping for anyone.

It was but a thimble strand, nothing that'd interfere with the patrons time. But it had a clear path in mind. She knew it right away. It was coming for her.

With a intrigued pucker she gazed towards her upper right portal and saw a little peckish imp scurrying between the legs of much bigger clientele.

Magical creatures weren't foreign here. Goblins especially loved to come to this place. But this imp? It was made of solid gold, with eyes of emeralds and tiny horns of silver.

It was as blunt of an invitation as any from an aggressor saying "You know I'm here, you know what I want."

"Let its mischief be..." She murmured with a glowing smile, "For the time has come at last."

The dark magic stirred through the first floor of her casino and towards the train station. Soon it would climb to her place and infiltrate her room.

There was no suspense to this mystery. The dark magic was but a mailman in ethereal form come to deliver a letter of invitation to her from her greatest enemy...

With a wave of the hand her visions of the casino turned to mist and she rose from her bed with pool stick in her grasp. She tapped the ground twice with it and wiggled her nose.

She felt no shakes in her body, or fog clouding her judgment. This was a day worth waiting for, for all two-thousand years it took to finally arrive.

She began a brisk stroll towards the secret door, the dark magic's approach riddling her fine skin with goosebumps.

She bent towards the door's bottom and pinched the expected letter right as it spawned from a dark nothingness.

It was embroidered in gold, obviously, with both addresses written in blood red runes. A quick, novice puzzle solved with a wave of the hand.

Her name, her real name, flashed above the space coordinates to her casino. The return address was one line long, giving up only the deliverers name...

"The Endless of Greed, Aava'ris."

She closed her eyes with a giggling hum and returned to her bed, giving her stick a little twirl beside her. She sat down, laid the stick beside the bed, and gently creased her finger under the flap to open it.

An entire scroll sprung out of the envelop and unfurled before her. More runes were burned into the paper a letter at a time, forcing her to keep pace.

"_Belle of Planet Y'Tol, or should I say...Aurian Neptune? _

_You have caught my interest for a long time, most blatantly in fact. I know what you want. You're no different from the rest inflicted with this bug this...fever of greed. _

_But of the many who claim to match me in wealth all crash and burn in poverty eventually EXCEPT...for you. You have amassed a terrifying treasure trove in such a short time. Almost, I MUST EMPHASIS ALMOST, matching my hoard..._

_This cannot stand._

_Only one can be the wealthiest, richest, most fortuitous being in the universe. I want everything you have...you want everything __**I **__have..._

_I think its time we met. Person to person, greed against greed..._

_You can deny my offer, surely. But by now you've noticed my little treasure imps wandering your casino, yes? With a click of my jaw they will empty the pockets of all your patrons, and if the ensuing riot doesn't dismantle your operations, the bad publicity surely will..._

_If you accept this meeting, then all you must do is touch my calling sign on the envelope._

_Inviting you lovingly...Aava'ris."_

The scroll turned solid gold and then smashed to pieces on the ground. Neptune kicked her crossed legs up and tapped her fingers on the edge of the bed.

"Me thinks this demon tries too hard..." She smiled and giggled, "There was no doubt I'd go from the start."

But before she accepted the invite, she called her dear wife up with a spell. The moment Priscilla entered the room, Neptune raised the envelope before her mouth.

"Is something the matter darling?" Priscilla stopped in the middle of the entrance to their bedroom and stared wide-eyed at the envelope.

"Its time." Neptune uttered lightly.

Priscilla put a hand on her hip and spoke, "You finally got the invitation."

"Yes, seems our greedy 'friend' finally got tired of me hogging his hoard."

Neptune flipped the envelope around while Priscilla walked to her side, "You've been waiting a long time for this. Nervous?"

Neptune closed her eyes and shook her head, "No. Well..."

She tapped Priscilla on the nose and winked, "Maybe a _tiny_ bit."

Priscilla blushed and tapped her fist on her mouth, "Y-You better be prepared darling. Who knows what underhanded tricks this mastermind will pull on you."

"Hmmm..." Neptune plopped down onto the lip of her bed and Priscilla followed.

"It feels like it hasn't been that long, has it?" She murmured softly.

"Since the day you first learned about this mastermind, right?"

"Yes...On the day I earned my freedom, that demon in charge of the casino told me..."

"_To think...that I'd be betrayed by you...I raised you, taught you magic...But you...You were born carrying an insatiable thirst for money...I didn't give you that. Hehehe...your greed will take you far child...I have only seen such a quagmire of avarice in my master's soul...! Heh heh heh...you're not free...You'll NEVER be free...He will take you for himself someday...Greed...consumes...all..."_

Neptune sank her head slightly and Priscilla offered her hand as support on the chin, "You are not like him Belle."

Neptune gently grabbed her wrist and pulled it aside, "I DO love money. And gold. And jewels...I am proud of the fortune we have amassed together Priscilla. So when I say 'I won't lose', it is not a temptation of fate...It is a declaration of victory."

"You've never lost at anything darling," Priscilla forced her hand onto Neptune's cheek and glided it over to her hair, "You're a master magician who can turn even defeats into victories."

"But it IS as you say dear..." Neptune looked towards her stick and picked it up, "Our opponent is not to be taken lightly. Even with all the resources we had available to us, from Catherine's smarts to Gravitus' reach and my sister's intuitive eye, this...Aava'ris hid himself perfectly."

"Do you have a plan? Should I come with?" Priscilla voiced equally valid concerns, but...

"I'll be fine." Neptune shot them down with her usual smile and with a flick of the wrist, suddenly had a Queen of Hearts between her fingers.

"But before I go dear, why don't I show you a new magic trick I developed?"

One flashy card trick later, Neptune was now left alone to catch her breath one last time. She looked around her room and marveled at how far she'd come from the little tattered orphan on the streets...

She could never go back to that. This state of wealth and bliss was her present, and forever her future. But there was one black stain on her past keeping it from being spotless, and today, it would be removed.

She took the envelope in hand and glided her finger over the mastermind's name, the lettering cold like gold. A wave of dark magic washed over her and made her body feel like it was on fire. An amateurish deception of the senses, at best.

She kept her eyes peeled wide-open towards the onslaught of shifting dimensions before her. She zoomed past hundreds of them, her body no thinner than a molecule, until she was squeezed between a very narrow space and spat out to her destination.

The envelope, no longer in her hand, allowed her to call her trusty pool stick wand to her grip. Dressed in her best tuxedo, she wandered forward in this strange new land.

It was a rocky start. The ground was littered with goblets and treasure chests overloaded with jewels. One misstep and she'd sink into the ground, never to be seen again.

The area was cavernous, with a melted mix of metals and jewels making up the stalagmites overhead. All these valuables shimmered and glowed, giving all the light necessary for her to see forward.

This treasure horde must've spanned miles, and even that felt like a lowball guess. Curiously though despite the faint traces of magic in the air it didn't feel like she had been pulled into another dimension.

Not at all. This was still the normal dimension, whatever could be considered "normal".

It was more so...this place exists in its own league. The air was sinister and normally, that'd do nothing to her. But now she felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck.

Go back? Nonsense. She could only go forward.

It felt like a long journey thanks to the sights being unchanged throughout. An attempt to wear her down mentally? Again, amateurish.

Finally though, the host started to give up on this act and let themselves be seen in the horizon.

Sitting atop a throne of crystals that glowed with what could only be described as the essence of the soul, there was a centipede. Nothing normal, of course. Fifteen feet of its length was visible, the rest was burrowing under the gold. It was three feet wide and all its limbs were made of bone, with two pronged talons acted as the fingers. Its head was hunched over and a black gem socketed into its right eye, while the left was red with a pin-sized pupil, its shape that of a right triangle.

It had mandibles that, when they began to stretch, the creases of his vulnerable underbelly seemed to smile as well.

"Welcome, Belle of Y'Tol..." Said the creature with an unnatural set of clicking sounds, "To my Golden Globe."

It unlocked its many crossed arms and pulled itself off its throne, sifting through the gold to get closer. It suddenly lurched its face down within a foot of hers and chuckled.

"Fancy yourself a gold lover do you? Think that you..." It curled around the other side of her head with surprising speed, "Can outmatch **me**?"

Neptune closed her eyes as the creature breathed its putrid slime onto her face, and then tapped the center of its face with her stick, "I will rob you of everything you own, Aava'ris...Your money, your infamy, and then your life."

"Heh hehehe...!" Aava'ris retreated to his throne fiddling his prehensile talons together, "You're a delight. I wish your hunger for greed was under my service again, little Belle..."

Neptune narrowly glared at the bug and said, "Are we going to start, or do you have as many mouths as you do arms, Endless of Greed?"

He clicked his hands together and the air became still, and thicker. He hunched his head down further and his body began to twist around.

"You're right. Our ultimate game shouldn't be delayed any further. We understand each other. We're friends in all but the word...What's mine, can be yours..." He gestured his highest hand out and chuckled, "If you're brave enough to offer what's of equal value...Your existence."

Neptune felt a slight twitch in her heart and gulped. She steadied her hand out towards the centipede and said, "My existence? Dare I ask what you mean?"

"I am not the simpleton sinner you take me for...Gold, jewels, treasure..." He graced his hands towards the ceiling with little a care in his mannerisms, "They're fine. Beautiful I'd go as far to say...But its not enough."

He pointed to his head, "Knowledge, emotions, spirit...That which cannot be seen yet holds the most value, I have spent my lifetime hoarding all these things for myself. You wish to take everything that I am away? Then its only fair I take yours too..."

Aava'ris pointed at her and clicked his jaw, "What does it mean to exist? Why, its how much you affect the world around you. A ladybug may not catch a human's eye but it still eats, grows, and dies...It left a mark somewhere for someone to know it was alive."

"What happens when a person who has affected so many lives suddenly never existed at all...?" The creature's whole body curled with a smile, "I am eager to find out. Though...who is to say I haven't already? Ha ha ha ha...!"

Neptune closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I see, you will steal away the life I lived in this world."

"It'll be like you were never even born." Aava'ris said, stirring with anticipation.

"_My Casino wouldn't exist...My sister would have struggled alone. And Priscilla..." _Neptune's body shook, she felt a moment of hesitation stir within.

She opened her eyes with a curling smile and brandished her stick towards the creature, "I do not lose, Endless of Greed. I will play whatever game you want, and win!"

Aava'ris leaned comfortably into his throne and waved a hand around, "Oh but we're not playing one game...We're playing 501 of them!"

"A marathon eh?" Neptune was intrigued.

"Yes, a grand duel for existence. The rules are simple...As long as we stick within the terms set for each game, we're allowed to use whatever tricks we have up our sleeves to win, as long as we don't directly target each other."

"That's fair."

"Are you sure? You know nothing about me, but I know plenty about you..."

Neptune gestured her hand down and a card slid from the sleeve into her hand. She flicked it straight out and nearly cut the side of the centipede's face. As he flinched, she called the card back with magic and chuckled.

"You're so sure of yourself..." Neptune extend her hand out in a majestic sweep of the air, "I accept your challenge without regret!"

"Very well...Then let us begin!" Aava'ris peeled himself away from his throne and stretched his arms out, "Game 1...! A rousing round of Rock, Paper, Scissors...! But the goal isn't to beat one hand...!"

He started wiggling all his limbs around in the air, clacking them together like a cacophony of monkeys on tambourines, "You must beat the majority of them!"

Neptune flicked her fist out and gave it a few shakes.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" And when the two had said the magic words, she threw out Scissors.

Aava'ris had his talons spread apart for Scissors, used magic to make thin sheets of paper, but the majority of his hands were closed together for Rock...

"You lose the first game, Belle of Y'Tol." He smirked and uttered a deep laugh.

She squirmed in response but kept her smile going, "500 to go then..."

_Game 27: Ball in a Cup_

Aava'ris, with a cup in each hand, commanded a rubber ball to go bounce around between them rapidly. Ultimately it'd stop in one.

Paying attention to the ball itself would cause a migraine. She instead looked to the cups for any signs of wobbling. The game master kept a surprisingly steady hand, so the cups only moved when the ball went in.

After two minutes of playing tricks, the ball settled in one spot and Aava'ris leered at her to pick. Neptune tapped her chin a couple times, playing with the centipede's expectations.

It was in the second down from the upper right corner. No fooling her.

Aava'ris frowned and wiggled the ball out of that cup, then flicked the cups out of his hands, "Hmph...now you're only down by two."

"_Can't expend too much brain power on the easy ones. For this to work, I need to concentrate..." _Neptune readied herself for what's to come.

_Game 96: Eight-Ball_

Aava'ris dug up an old pool table he snagged a long time ago for them to play on. Neptune masterfully glided around the table from ball to ball, sinking them into the pockets without breaking a sweat.

When Aava'ris was allowed a turn, he struggled to get into position over the table without bending his body in the shape of a "U". And with such garish posture he fumbled with making his shots.

She sank the last ball in as an act of mercy, then brushed her knuckles against her chest.

Aava'ris snapped his pool stick on the table in the meantime. Neptune then smirked at him and said, "Seems I've acquired a three-point lead."

"For now. But this is only the beginning...! The centipede growled.

_Game 139: Whirlwind Solitaire_

It was a simple match of Solitaire on the surface. The two had their own tables to work with. But every ten seconds a gust of wind shuffled all the cards that were still in play, forcing them to recollect where they were.

Neptune hustled to flip over and match cards with their suits. She managed her first complete set in a minute, and from there it would prove easier to get the rest.

But despite his many setbacks, the numerous limbs at the centipede's disposal allowed him to handle cards much faster.

He slapped his hands down on the table, signifying his victory. Neptune stared at the one card she had left, a King of Spades, and sighed.

"Finally, I have broken our tie..." Aava'ris boasted right in her face.

Neptune pressed her remaining card against his face and it stuck there until he took it off himself.

_Game 194: Ball-o-Rama_

This round was utter chaos. Balls bouncing around everywhere, and the goal was to catch as many as possible.

Neptune used her stick as a makeshift flying broom and zipped around, snagging them in a magic bag. Aava'ris coiled around the room and snagged tons of balls in his hands with ease.

He held a clear and present advantage yet again, but she kept going until there were no balls left.

Something told her she wasn't the victor when she saw at least two balls in each of Aava'ris' many hands. Sure enough he dropped them down into a pile next to her own and his easily doubled hers in size.

"Now I lead by five-points. Your chances of victory are dwindling, lil' Belle..."

"Hardly." She replied.

_Game 245: Mahjong_

Mahjong isn't her area of expertise. It can be played with two people but generally speaking you get the full experience with four.

The goal is to the gather enough tiles to complete sets. There can only be 13 in each hand, so when another is added from the pile you have to either toss it away or keep it and toss another tile.

There's multiple types of hands to make and once its completely, you win that round.

As money is of no importance the value of these hands doesn't matter, even going for a basic "Three matches" would be fine. Buuuuuut for the sake of styling on that arrogant roach, Neptune's decided to go for the rarest hand of them all...13 Orphans.

All she needs is one more tile, either Aava'ris slips or she draws it. The centipede eyes her from across the table, glancing at his hand with the other eye.

"Hmmm...HMMMM!" He's frustrated, tense. He's going to play right into her hand and he knows it.

With great aplomb he slapped a tile down from his rack and slowly let go. Neptune smirked, snatched the tile up and then laid her rack flat on the table to complete the set.

"13 Orphans." She coolly declared.

"Ghhh...!" Aava'ris pounded the edge of his table and declared, "You sneaky girl...! You could've ended this sooner and you know it!"

"Two behind..." She said with a wily smile.

A drop of sweat fell before her eyes and splashed on the table. She flattened her smile and gently stroked her face. It was damp.

Her stomach then made a gurgling sound.

"_Its been...eighteen hours? No, longer than that..." _She looked Aava'ris in the eyes and saw him no worse for the wear. He gave a knowing sneer and she took a moment to catch her breath.

"_This isn't just a battle of the minds, but a test of endurance too. Halfway there...Can't lose sight of tomorrow."_

_Game 307: Poker_

Unlike in Mahjong they are using chips to determine when the game is over. But what it essentially boiled down to was "Who'd be cocky enough to go all-in first?" which in turn could be answered by "Whoever's lucky enough to get the first Straight Flush without grinning like an idiot."

Neptune looked at her current hand. It could become something, if she draws correctly. Aava'ris was staring up from his hand, then quickly back down when he was caught red-handed.

He then reached for his chips and shoved them all forward, "I'm going all-in."

He had lost the last few hands so this reeked of desperation. A bluff, a terrible one at that. She may be feeling a little drowsy but that didn't give him an excuse to try and pull one over on her.

She had the potential for a Four-of-a-Kind. Was it worth the risk? Right now he had a three point lead in games and they were past the halfway mark. But at the same time this game was wasting a lot of time, pushing her mind and patience to its limits.

"_It might be worth losing the battle to win the war..." _She pushed her chips in and locked in her bet in silence.

"Very well..." Aava'ris reached down and flipped the first card over. It matched her pair already in hand.

"_Three..." _He flipped the next card, it was a mismatch.

Then, slowly, he flipped the last one over...And it was a mismatch too. A three-of-a-kind is decent, but she was doubtful it'd be enough.

Aava'ris guffawed and laid his cards on the table. A Straight Flush...!

Neptune froze and swallowed quietly. He stretched his greedy claws towards the chips and piled them against his chest, speaking grimly, "Four ahead..."

_Game 393: Cribbage_

"Sorry, but you've lost." Neptune slapped her hand of cards down. A 24 point hand, and her next move gave her a 20 point crib. With a stunning 44 point jump across the board, she stamped her peg into the end space and put her feet up on the table.

Aava'ris stared at the board, finding himself behind the skunk line, and then glared her square in the eyes, "You cheated."

"I did not. You're just bad at counting. Must be hard when nothing you own has value." Neptune gladly rubbed that in his face as she clattered his mandibles in frustration.

"Hmph...! You've only regained a one point advantage lil' Belle...I am still in peak condition!"

Certainly he had a point. For however long they'd been going at this now, her clothes were positively soaked with sweat and her stomach might as well be an endless organ of noise.

As she peeled off her tuxedo and pants to remain in her undershirt and panties, she closed her eyes and took another deep breath, _"Just a little over a hundred left. Keep focused on the future..." _

_Game 442: Old Maid_

It was down to the wire. Either side just needed one pair to win. Neptune was stuck with the Old Maid, and fiddled the cards around so he wouldn't guess which one was it.

He plucked the Old Maid out and visibly winced, "Dhhh...!"

He then pulled the same stunt on her, and she wound up grabbing the Old Maid.

"Hmmm..." She repeated her trick, and he pulled it out again.

"What in the...?"

They've been at this phase of combat for an hour now.

He shuffled the cards around, she grabbed the Old Maid. She shuffled the cards, he grabbed the Old Maid.

"This is dumb!" He blatantly shoved his half of the last pair at her face and said, "Take it! I'll accept your lead growing just to escape this hell!"

"There's a reason that shuffling is not allowed in this game, Endless of Greed." She replied as she took the card and set the last pair on the table.

She then smiled weakly and whispered, "I'm ahead by two."

_Game 475: 01 Darts_

The goal of the game is simple. Throw darts at the board to reduce the score from 2101 to 0. If either goes over, the score resets to the last number before the darts were thrown.

Three darts per possession. There were plenty of bulls-eyes to go around.

Neptune's vision was damp and shaky. This was the end of a second day of games...? Was it? No. Stay awake. So close to the end...

Her ability to land darts was terrible. Aava'ris wasn't losing any stamina. He nailed every throw he wanted, down to the bitter end...

As he plucked his darts in victory he twisted his head around and chuckled, "Now I lead by one. And so close to the end too..."

Neptune wiped the thick sweat off her brow and took a deep breath, only for a series of coughs to assault her throat.

"_The finish line is in sight...I can't give up now."_

_Game 500: Pick a Card_

Down to the wire...This time Neptune was tasked with taking a deck of cards and picking one that she liked the most. If Aava'ris could guess it, he wins.

"_This is the moment of truth...If I win now, its over. If I lose..." _She narrowed her gaze and slowly raised the deck she shuffled to her chest.

Taking a deep, unpleasant sounding gulp she closed her eyes and concentrated. Deeper, deeper, where no tiredness could reach...

"_Feel it out...Let nothing distract you..." _At the very last second her hand, and the card she touched, gave off a faint glow.

She then gestured her hand out and the cards spread out into a wall between her and him.

Aava'ris leaned out and stared at each individual one. With a gleam in his bejeweled eye he gestured towards one in the second row.

"Its this one, obviously..." He plucked it out from the rest. It was the Queen of Hearts.

"...Yes." Neptune said with a sigh.

"Ho ho ho...Then that means we are tied." He flicked the card around between his talons and then gave it a quick look over.

"...This girl on the card..."

Neptune perked up instantly.

"Its your lover isn't it?" He turned the card around, and Priscilla made up both halves of the Queens' face. One in her normal form, the other her dragon half.

Neptune gave a quick nod and then gestured her hand out, "You can keep it if you want...I have other decks at home."

"Hmph...It hardly matters, given my inevitable victory." He placed the card on the front of his throne and then wiggled back out towards her.

"500 games, and we are tied..." He hunched over and clicked his jaw a few times, "I wasn't expecting to be challenged like this after so many eons...You have exhausted me of all my games."

He buried his face into his piles of gold and ruffled around a bit. When he rose in his talons was...a simple, unassuming penny.

"Let us end this grand duel with a true test of luck. A single coin flip. Heads...you win. Tails, I do. Lady Luck will decide who deserves to exist, and who shall disappear forever..."

Neptune stared at the coin and nodded.

"Then let us begin." Aava'ris rose to his full height and flicked the coin into the air.

No more tricks. No more sleights of hand. The coin flipped around and around as it should, and fell at gravity's command.

It plinked upon a flat surface and bounced around for a little while, before settling into place as it should...

Neptune's heart raced. It was all or nothing. Everything would be decided by one coin. And given the extent of her opponent's greed...

"Tails." He uttered coldly.

He should not be trusted.

She stared down at the coin resting on its Tail end and her body felt cold.

"Gwahahhaha..." He laughed slowly into the echoes of his hoard.

"You lose..." He said with a certain, sinister confidence.

His body began to glow with a red and purple aura, draping him in shadows. He extended his hands, each covered by a glyph, then thrust them towards her, wiggling the talons around.

Neptune felt...nothing. Her body was grasping for nourishment, air, and moisture. If her brain could think it must have given up hours ago, and only her spirit had been keeping her going.

She recognized the hands of defeat staring her down. Nay, this was the end of everything. She had lost to a devil's game of deception, played out exactly as he wished from the start.

Perhaps it was her own undoing for trusting a greedy centipede to keep its word. Perhaps it was a moment of arrogance spilling out so close to victory...

No. She had played the game as it was meant to be played, her life on the line be damned.

Aava'ris took this opportunity to gloat as his ethereal hands gripped and grabbed everything she was, and ever has been, "You were a fool to challenge one of the ancient Leviathans of Sin, Belle of Y'Tol. But...you were a worthy opponent. Not that I will even remember you. Yet...I suppose its worth exploring...What are your last words?"

Neptune closed her eyes and took a deep breath one more time, _"If nothing else, I have lived as honest a life as I could. I wore my feelings on my sleeve, helped whoever I could, and knew a life of love and loss...If I were to pass, I'd leave with no regrets..."_

She snuck two glowing fingers behind her back and began to smile, _"So forgive me for cheating...just this once." _

"I don't have any words...Just two letters."

With a quick gesture and a confident smirk, she sent a bolt of magic past Aava'ris towards the card on his throne, "GG."

A vortex began to open forth, and with an air-shaking roar at his back the centipede turned his head in confusion.

"What in the...?!"

Priscilla grabbed hold of his abdomen in her iron jaw and bit down as hard as she could. His magic dispersed, Aava'ris upper body fell to the ground while Priscilla devoured what was in her mouth, juices and all.

"Ghhhh...! Hhhhh...!" Aava'ris gasped and wheezes, spitting up a white liquid atop his gold, "Y-You...sneaky little...H-How long did you plan this...?"

"From the start," Neptune said comfortably to his face, "Though only as a Plan B on the very high probability that you refused to accept defeat or tried to cheat a victory."

She bent down and picked up the penny, "A coin with two of the same side? You really are an ama..."

She flipped the coin over and saw Heads.

"..." Her face went numb, and the silence was filled by the centipede's weakened laugh.

"L-Look who has egg...on their face now..." His laughter was interrupted by him hacking up blood, "What good are all the riches in the world...when they've been earned dishonestly...?"

"Big words from a demon who stole from men's souls." Said Priscilla, reverting back to normal.

"Ah, but that's the trick...Nothing is more honest than the greed in a mortal's soul..." Aava'ris took what few hands he had to point straight up at Neptune, "And you, Belle of Y'Tol, are the greediest of them all..."

"Heh heh heh...I may die now...But I've left a worthy successor to take my place..." Aava'ris' hands fell flat on the floor and he rubbed the gold around him, "Take my riches, my wealth...And never stop taking. More...more...make everything yours, my little darling...For you are what I've molded you to be...Greed is Endless, and so am I..."

Neptune slowly bent over the centipede's head and looked him straight in the eyes to say, "I'm not you."

The centipede went silent.

"Greed brings out the worst in people, yes...But its never brought out the worst in me. If I am guilty of anything, its being too greedy for the sake of the greater good."

"...You lie. Greed cannot be a force for good." Hissed Aava'ris.

"It can, if you apply it correctly..." Neptune took a stand and look around her, "I don't need your treasure, Aava'ris."

Priscilla stood by her side and she wrapped her arm around her back, "I already have everything I could ever want."

"...I don't understand." He said.

"Riches and wealth aren't the only way to happiness." Neptune stated plainly.

"...Heh..." Aava'ris body began to decay into dust, leaving one last whisper in the air...

"_I __**can't**__ see it your way, Neptune..."_

"...Its over." She whispered with one quick, exhausted breath as she fell into the arms of her wife.

Priscilla held her up and said, "You look terrible Belle."

"Well, I never said it'd be an easy win..." She chuckled.

Priscilla huffed flames through her fanged grin and said, "I'm still mad you tricked me into that card you know..."

"Dinner on me then?" She winked at her, "I know I'm famished..."

Priscilla closed her eyes and drew out a long sigh, "Yes, I would like that...But first."

She turned around, "We should claim this treasure for ourselves."

"No, let it be..." Neptune responded curtly.

"What? But..."

"Let this tainted hoard be someone else's temptation..." Neptune leaned in to give her a wife a kiss on the cheek, "I have the purest jewel of all."

Priscilla blushed and forced a cough, "Y-Yes I agree but...Wouldn't it better to be rid of it then?"

Neptune fluttered her eyelashes and then weakly smiled, "You're right, my mind is completely down the drain right now...I'll have Catherine drop this Golden Globe into the sun or something. She'll get a kick out of that."

"For now..." She took up her pool stick and waved it around to make a magic portal, "Lets go home dear."

Priscilla lifted her up in her arms and carried her through the portal. Tomorrow awaited, as stainless as diamonds...

…

…

Two shadowy figures walked through the golden land, happening upon the stain of white blood and the dust that once was Aava'ris.

"Another of them, gone...!" The smaller shadow clutched their fists and growled, "This has gone far enough...! They'll pay for this...!"

_Next Time: Solaris vs. Basic Human Decency_


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52: Second Drink**

"HRAAAAH!" Solaris takes a swing at Riku and he speeds out of the way in Light Form, then attempting to swing behind him to strike his neck.

"_Not this time!" _Solaris readies his hand to grab Riku's katana and pull him over.

Riku also anticipated this and dispelled his katana midway through being pulled overhead. Then he blasts Solaris with a cone of energy.

"Ghh...!" Solaris grits his teeth as the floor's cratered around his feet.

He steadied himself and charged forward with a smirk, winding his flaming right arm up to slam Riku's neck when he lands.

Riku hopped back when he landed and looked surprised.

"_Hold still damn it...!" _Solaris swung his flames out and created a wall for Riku to collide with.

Stalled, he was _finally_ in prime position for him to lay the smackdown on. Solaris kept moving, swinging the hammer of his biceps forward.

Riku closed his eyes and with a flash of light and darkness, he has vanished at the last moment. Solaris swung his head around utterly baffled.

"_Where did he...?" _He froze up as cold steel scissored him on both sides of the neck.

"You lose." Riku said with a slight hint of playfulness before immediately withdrawing his blades.

Solaris turned around just to catch a glimpse of Riku wielding yet another new power. It wasn't Light, it wasn't Dark. It was some kinda crazy mix of both.

He dispelled the form and clapped his hands together saying, "Lets take a break now."

Solaris felt a cold sweat down his cheeks and then fell on his butt in a huff of frustration, "Augh! I had you!"

"You did," Riku responded, extending his hand out towards him, "That means you're getting better."

Solaris thought on it for a moment and then bobbed his head, "Yeah...yeah!"

He let Riku pull him up and then proclaimed proudly, "I AM getting stronger!"

Riku raised a brow and chuckled slightly, "I _meant _you're thinking more about your options."

"...Oh."

"But you're getting stronger too."

"Neat!"

As the two wandered off their training ground in the throne room Riku repaired the damage with a casual wave of the hand.

"So I guess that Black-and-White State is my next milestone then." Solaris commented.

"Chaos Form," Riku corrected, "I'll throw it in every and now and then, but I still need to work on both halves of it."

Riku started rubbing his chin in one of those contemplative states that means "I ain't listening anymore".

Solaris lifted his head and shouted "Yo!" to his bookworm sister laying on her bed.

She unglued her head from another dumb book with a look of surprise, "Oh are you two done already?"

"Taking a break," He replied, "You should stop burying your head in paper and ink and train with us Lunis."

Lunis laid the book down open pages first beside herself and said, "Oh maybe I will someday. These books are just so, so...interesting!"

"More like dullsville." Solaris quietly remarked.

As Riku sat down in the chair next to the bed and grabbed a book himself, Solaris stood around tapping his foot on the ground.

Lunis immediately peeked over her book and remarked, "Brother, haven't you found anything else to do?"

"No." He responded bluntly.

Riku laid his book on his lap and said, "I'm going to be a bit, why don't you go hang out with my brother?"

"Pass."

"Oh I know!" Lunis chimed in excitedly, "You should go try and talk to that girl again!"

"Girl?" Solaris raised a brow.

"You know, the one you embarrassed yourself in front of by getting totally wasted?"

Solaris spewed a brief aura of fire from his body and shouted, "T-That's not what happened! I didn't embarrass myself!"

Lunis pressed the book up to her lips with widened eyes, "Oh my bad, I don't know where that came from..."

Solaris settled down while crossing his arms to his chest. With a hefty grunt he remarked, "But you reminded me, I still got to settle the score with that woman."

"Are you still on about that?" Lunis said, laying her book down beside her, "It isn't attractive to hold a grudge Solaris."

"Who cares about what's attractive?!" He barked out, "There's something fishy about that woman I want to get to the bottom of it!"

Riku glanced aside at Lunis and said, "He is right. By his accounts this 'Samantha J' isn't a normal girl."

"Forcing a girl to submit isn't the answer though," Lunis said in a nauseatingly flowery tone, then began to bridge her fingers together with a smile, "You've got to be a bit more...delicate."

"Snnk...!" Went Riku with a half-assed smile.

Solaris glared at him then swung it over to Lunis, "Which tome of bullshit did you get that crap from Lunis?"

"Oh why this issue of Women's Vogue!" She said, hastily pulling out a magazine from her left and thrusting it out in both hands.

The cover read: "Don't settle for less! Seek these five traits to find your perfect man!"

Solaris squinted long at it while Lunis proudly declared, "If you follow the guidelines even you'll become an expert at talking to women Solaris!"

"HARD pass." Solaris turned and brushed his hand up.

"Y-You didn't even let me start!" Lunis said, utterly baffled.

"For good damn reason! That magazine ain't for people like me!" He looked over his shoulder with a firm scowl of defiance, "I'm going to go down to that bar, challenge that woman to arm wrestling, and finally get-"

"SOLARIS ARCAVIRA YOU COME SIT YOUR ASS DOWN RIGHT NOW AND LEARN SOME GODDAMN DECENCY!"

The rumbling in the air from Lunis' voice lingered for a while after, leaving Solaris and Riku's jaws dropped halfway to the floor.

She hung over panting for a couple seconds and then rose briskly with a smile, brushing loose bangs away from her eyes, "Whew...! That felt great!"

She turned to Riku, who quietly hid his blushing face behind his book and pretended he had no involvement.

She then turned to Solaris, cocked her head to the right, and patted down the bed beside her.

"...Tsk!" With his body in a mild sweat he walked back over to humor her whims...

After some time later Solaris was free to go to that bar yet again. He put on the clothes he had worn the last time and teleported into the alley beside the bar.

It was the middle of the day so there were a lot more humans walking the streets. Someone looked at him walking out of the alley but he just brushed them off and walked on up to the front of the bar.

He stared upward at the dim sign and tucked his hands in his pockets, "At least the Big Green Buzzkill isn't here to sour the mood this time..."

He headed inside and saw that there was no party going down today. Just a few people sitting around enjoying a meal or drink.

"Huh...?"

"Welcome to-!" Came the cheery voice of his target.

From over the counter Samantha J propped her head up with her elbows and sneered, "Well well, look who finally got their second wind."

"Mmrr...!" Solaris walked up to the bar stool and plopped down in front of her.

"What kinda crabs pinched your balls today?" She said with a snicker.

"Be quiet, you should be grateful I even came back!" Solaris proclaimed.

"Awww, I'm touched." She said with biting sarcasm as she stood up, and pulled out a menu from below shelf.

As he jerked it out of her hand and began to look it over she remarked, "Flying solo today?"

"Yeah, got that nuisance off my back this time."

"Ah, so should I call an ambulance NOW or AFTER you've thrown up your stomach?"

"Mmrrrr...!" Solaris felt compelled to order the toughest drink on the menu just to shut her up...!

...But waking up the morning after drinking those was very, **very** unpleasant and he'd rather not recall nor repeat that day.

"..." He quietly laid the menu on the counter and pointed at it without looking her way, "Can you give me something from the 'Grenade' section?"

"Oh ho ho, dialing it back a bit are we?" She was a little mocking in tone starting off, "Alright, one Surprise Coconut Blast coming right up!"

She went to work while Solaris felt his masculinity slowly being drained by the second. He grinded his fist against his cheekbone and looked out at the dull, quiet scenery.

"Why's it so empty today?" He muttered aloud.

"Couple factors," Replied Samantha as she brought the glass to his side, "Its the middle of the week, and the middle of the day. Ain't prime drinking conditions for a lot of folk."

"Hmmm..." Solaris picked up his drink and took a sip. It had a slight bite to it that made his throat wiggle around, wanting to reject it.

He downed it anyways and made a loud gagging sound, "Ughh...What's that awful flavor?"

"Mmm, not a fan of coconut?" Asked Samantha.

"Never even HAD coconut before...Is that what that is? Nasty." Solaris put down his drink hard and coughed a couple times.

"Coconut's added to some drinks to enhance the flavor. But if you don't like it..."

As she went to grab the glass he grabbed onto her fingers and looked her from the side while growling defiantly, "I'll get used to it."

She swung her hands up and muttered, "Alright, if you insist."

He picked up the drink and was about to take another sip when...

"HUP!" Samantha suddenly vaulted over the counter and landed perfectly on the seat in front of him. After the stool went for a quick twirl she leaned towards the counter, propping her head up against her fist.

"Since it ain't too busy I can afford to fool around a bit. So lets talk, mano-a-mano."

"Mano-a...what?" Solaris stammered.

She rolled her fingers out from the face and remarked, "You know, I say something, you say something back."

She curled them back in and grinned, "A conversation."

"Oh," Solaris took a sour sip of his drink, "I knew that."

"Heh," Samantha sat upright and lightly slapped the counter, "So why don't we start with your name, Muscle Man?"

Solaris blinked twice and Samantha starting nudging her elbow into his chest, "C'mon I've seen you three times now and you've never told me it!"

He was reminded of the first step in Lunis' dumb magazine, _"Trait 1: They answer your questions. Honesty means a lot in a relationship!"_

He closed his eyes partway and remarked, "Fine. My name's Sol-"

Riku suddenly popped into his head adding on to Lunis' advice, _"But don't give too much away Solaris...We're trying to keep our cover here."_

Admittedly as cool and powerful as his name was it didn't sound normal. So he bit his lip and muttered, "Sol. My name's Sol."

"Huh, like the Badguy?" Her sentence was a foreign language to him.

"Who?"

"Ah never mind," She shrugged her shoulders and then leaned back into her stool with a hand planted on the counter, "Soooo, what kind of profession are you in?"

Solaris took another sip and responded curtly with "What?"

"Your job?" She said, leaning in with a smile.

"Oh, a job..." Solaris put down his glass and said, "Why would I have one of those?"

Samantha recoiled with a blunt scoff, "Whoa, didn't expect to hear that. So you're purposefully jobless?"

"I repeat..." Solaris bluntly retorted, "WHY would I have one of those?"

"Well hopefully to earn money for these drinks you're sipping down." She said with a big chuckle.

"..." Solaris closed his eyes and reached into his back pocket to pull out some dollar bills that Lunis had given him after earning it doing jobs for Auris in her spare time.

He slapped them flat on the counter and then pushed them in Samantha's direction.

She waved her hand out all coolly and said, "Eh don't fret over it. I'll bill you later."

He crumpled the bills in his hand and shoved them back in. He then took another sip of his drink and turned away from her to try and have some peace and quiet.

"Enjoying the drink now?" She wouldn't let him have that though.

"I guess its ok after a couple sips..." Solaris finished it off wistfully, "But damn it, that other stuff was fire!"

"Right? But it ain't good on first timers. Glad you took that book I lent you to heart."

"Pffft, yeah right...!" Solaris rolled his eyes and waved the back of his hand towards her, "I wouldn't be caught dead reading what some nerd crapped onto paper."

"Hmmm..." She suddenly went quiet.

"_What? Why's she clamming up now? Did I say something wrong? Don't tell me SHE'S got a fetish for books like Lunis too...!" _

In a scramble to figure out what he's done wrong, Solaris forced himself to remember another of the magazine's tips, _"Trait 2: They look you in the eyes when you're talking. That means they acknowledge you as a person."_

"_Is that all it is? God, humans are fickle..." _With his teeth grit he turned in the stool to look her in the eyes, finding it hard to keep focused.

"_This feels pointless, I was already answering her dumb questions..." _

He stared into her eyes and noticed they were blue, _"Huh, did I not know that...?" _

Somewhat curious, he stared some more. There was a ferocious spirit in those eyes. Sharp, glistening, like a beast on the hunt. He felt that odd twitch pop up in his pants again, and his heart began to flutter.

"_W-Whoa..." _And his eyes widened.

"Heh." She smirked and lightly brushed her hand out towards him...Whatever that meant.

"Hey Sam!" Shouted a customer, "Can I get a refill here?"

She looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Be right there!"

She then vaulted over the shoulder while shouting vigorously, "Be RIGHT back!"

As she wandered off to do her job Solaris stared at his empty glass and glided a finger around the rim while pouting.

"Having trouble kid?" Came the deep voice of the black man who partnered alongside Samantha.

"Ack!" Shouted Solaris, finding the man suddenly standing before him on recoil.

He was polishing a glass with a towel and gave off this statue-like presence as he appeared to be looking directly at him.

"...Uhhh, Black Frost...right?" Solaris confidently snapped his fingers.

"Call me Zeke," He responded curtly, flashing a smirk, "First time talking to a woman?"

"Besides my sister? Yeah," He put his chin to the counter and rolled his hand in the air, "Is it **supposed** to be this annoying?"

"Yeah. But you're also just a punk novice." Zeke said bluntly.

"Tsk...!" Solaris jerked up and glared at his sunglasses, "I ain't a novice anything!"

"Heh, sure you ain't." Zeke put his glass down in front of him and leaned in closer, hooking his sunglasses to reveal his green-brown eyes.

"Listen kid, I'm sure you're trying your best but Sam? She ain't just some fish in the sea, you catch my drift?"

"...Does anyone in this bar speak normally?" Solaris said, folding his arms against his chest in a huff.

Zeke sighed and shook his head, "You got to go with her flow, not expect her to follow yours. Got it?"

"...Seriously, what?" Solaris shook his head frantically and then waved his hand out, "Look pops, I'm just trying to do what Women's Vogue said I should."

He raised a brow past his sunglasses and snickered.

"Oh give me a break! My sister shoved that advice down my throat!"

"Ooooo, you have a sister?" Samantha shoved herself into the conversation at the worst possible time.

"Ghhh...!" Solaris flinched and turned to face her at the bar stool, while Zeke coolly withdrew.

"I'll get back to work." He said with another snicker.

Samantha was now eyeing him narrowly and grinning like Lunis when she gets a hold of a new book.

Following the normal pattern of things Solaris replied with a hesitant grunt, "Ugh yeah, my twin sister...She's such a pain in the ass these days."

Samantha rubbed her chin and bobbed her head, "I think I'm starting to piece it together now..."

"What?"

"Oooooh nothing." She said, leaning back with a smirk."

"Hmph!" Solaris sat there and stared at her eyes when suddenly, it was silent. For the next minute they stared at each other and didn't make a sound.

He furrowed his brows and thought, _"Oh what NOW? I'm answering her questions I'm looking her in the eyes...!" _

Thus forcing him to think more about that drivel, _"Trait 3: He asks you questions. A man who only answers cares only about themselves." _

"_Good grief...fiiiiine!" _He rolled his eyes and tried to take a stab in the dark here, "Soooo...What...about you?"

She perked her eyes wide-open and sat upright.

"Do you have any siblings?"

She pointed at herself chest puffed in pride, "Only child."

"Oh." Solaris stated plainly.

"Oh? What's with the 'Oh'?" She chuckled, "Its great being the center of your parents' attention! I bet sometimes you wish your sister would go away right?"

"Ha...ha ha..." Solaris' enthusiasm to laugh dwindled fast. He then twiddled his fingers on the counter.

_"Actually..." _He glanced down at her leg from the corner of his eyes, recalling the flash of metal he caught on her at the beach.

He pointed to there and remarked, "What's with the metal leg?"

She glanced straight down and looked surprised, "Oh shit you saw that?"

She scooted her stool back a couple inches and then slammed her heel right onto his knee. He braced himself in time but it still stung a bit.

She then grabbed the bottom of her leg and peel the pant back slightly. The metal was pretty slick, looked a bit like actual muscles.

"Isn't it the coolest?" She patted it down a couple times.

Solaris found his hand drawn to the leg, but as he was to touch it she pulled it right out of the way and stamped the ground. She then brushed his wrist with her fingertips.

Solaris pulled back, crossed his arms and shrugged, "I guess its neat. So what, you some kinda robot?"

"A cyborg you mean? Pffft, I wish," Samantha patted her leg some more then gripped the thigh hard, "Hah, its a prosthetic. One-of-a-kind too."

"Prosthetic?" Solaris had remember hearing that word before and got intrigued, "Oh...you lost your leg."

"Yeeeep," She replied cheerfully, "Happened in the war a few years back."

"You're a soldier?" Solaris widened his eyes slightly.

"Ex...soldier," She said with great emphasis on the former, "Surprised to hear that?"

"That's the least surprising thing about you so far." He retorted.

"Hah, same to you!"

"Huh?" He said with a drooping face.

She wagged her pointer finger up and remarked, "You were a soldier too weren't you? I can tell by how hardened your body looked on the beach."

"Yeah I was a soldier," He said in confidence, "My sister too. Though she was trained for stealth, not combat."

"No shit?" She said with vested interest, "How many battles did you fight?"

"I fought a lot of monsters, but they were all weak. I was part of a war just a while ago against some really tough enemies..."

"Oh, the Taliban?" Samantha retorted.

"Uhhh, no?" Solaris hadn't even heard of them, "It was uhhh something else."

"I suppose, the Taliban are weak but I wouldn't call them monsters," She then waved the back of her hand up and said, "Sorry, go on."

He didn't really know how to though, "Uhhh...I haven't done much since then except train my ass off for the next battle. Haven't really had much reason to fight since my father..."

He bit his lip and thought harshly towards himself, _"W__hat am I doing? She doesn't need to know that."_

"Did your father die...?" She said, her voice somewhat softer than before.

He turned his head away and remarked bluntly, "None of your business."

"I'm not being a dick you know. I get it," She resumed her gruffness and nudged his elbow with hers. He glared at her as she said, "War sucks and too many people die for nothing. Did your dad at least get to...?"

She clamped her lips shut, gave them a smack and then turned towards the counter, "You're right this is stupid. Lets move on."

"Now wait a damn minute," He faced her fully and said, "Did my dad get to what?"

"Haaaa..." She slumped her shoulders somewhat and turned back towards him in a quieter mood, "Did your dad make a difference before he kicked the bucket?"

He dug his fingers into his skin and looked aside feeling soured on the mood, "Maybe. He probably thought so."

"I getcha," She nodded slowly and looked up towards the ceiling, "My dad was the Secretary of Defense for America. He didn't fight in wars but he knew a lot about military strategy and had weapons training. He taught me a few things but a lot of what I know I learned from Zeke."

Solaris glanced up at the black man and spatted, "Him? Really?"

"Are you really in a position to judge someone, Mr. 0-60?" She said with a sinister smirk.

"Fweh, fine!" He spat in disgust, "Continue."

"My dad's connections did help me get into the military when I was fresh out of high school though. I served in a Jungle Platoon and was pretty sharp with a rifle."

"Two years into my deployment we were set to infiltrate a compound hiding important enemy intel. I got a little ahead of myself though and ended up running into one of many pressure sensitive mines they had placed on the ground."

"I don't remember much of what happened next, the adrenaline kinda fucked my mind up a bit. I think I managed to warn my platoon where the other mines were and kept them from getting blown up."

She raised her head back and snapped two fingers up, "Oh no wait, that's right...One of the guys tripped and fell towards a mines, so I dove at them to knock them out of the way...And KABOOM! That's when I lost my leg."

Solaris felt his body flinch on its own, _"H__oly shit..." _

"I fell into a coma for a while after that. One month? Two months? I forget, it ain't important," She rolled her shoulders and started speeding through the next couple sentences, "I woke up to a Medal of Honor beside my bed and the assurance that my platoon made it out alive. Then they told me I couldn't walk ever again."

The doctors were like... She flapped her left hand up while using a mocking tone, "Oh you can't use a prosthetic, the muscle tissue above your thigh is too burnt!"

She then slapped her hand down and sprung her head up wildly towards Solaris, "Well you know what my dad did when he heard that? He told me medical science could bite his ass and that he'd get me the miracle I needed to walk again! So he must've called in some favors from some very powerful people cause the next thing I knew, _after a small helping of anesthetic_, I had this shiny new robot leg and my muscle tissue was tougher than ever!"

"Sadly they wouldn't let me go back to the fight after I got to walking again," She didn't seem to care much though, "So I came back to the states and Zeke got me a job as a bartender here where I've been working ever since!"

"Sounds like your dad's a pretty cool guy." He remarked.

"Yeah, he was." She replied.

"...Was?"

The moment he said that she tensed up and muttered "Crap damn it" before going completely silent. He looked her in the eyes again and asked, "Did...something happen to your dad too?"

She laid her hand on the counter and gave a heavy sigh, "He died four months ago."

"...Did he, go out fighting?"

She shook her head, "He got caught in a random building fire. Went out in a blaze with none of the glory..."

He pulled his head back and spoke softly, "I'm...sorry."

...

...

She suddenly punched the counter and shouted, "This mood sucks! Hey Sol, why don't you find us a tune on the ol' jukebox to listen to?"

"H-Huh?" He stuttered while she pulled two coins from something called a "Tip Jar" and flicked them over to his hand, "Ok...?"

He slowly got up and looked around, muttering "Jukebox" over and over as he pushed through the tables. He eventually got to a shiny rainbow machine shaped like an arch.

_"Huh, maybe this is it..." _It LOOKED like the coins would fit into it so why not?

The coins went in with a clicking sound and the machine began to whir, _"O__k now what? Did that dumb magazine mention anything about this?"_

The next hint was, _"T__rait 4: They aren't shy about their interests. Don't seek out masculinity. A true man-"_

_"Ok that one's straight up stupid. I just need to pick a song that fits my tastes..." _He stared at the menu of music behind the glass and found his eyes sagging, "I _don't know the first damn thing about music."_

_"Eh, screw it..." _He tapped on the first one that sounded cool called "Dread of Sun" The machine started to vibrate like crazy and let out a powerful sound like metal tearing on metal multiple times, followed by the rapid banging of drums.

He pulled back and uttered "Whoa" as the music started blasting a bunch of words into his eardrums. He didn't understand any of it but it sounded sick as hell.

"H-H-Hell yeah! I'd drink to this one!" Cheered Samantha, who pumped her fist in the air.

"Guess I made the right choice." He started walking back with a smirk and bobbed his head a lot to the music. He sat back down with a smile and continued tapped his fingers to the rhythm.

Samantha bobbed her head for a while and then brushed her hand towards his chest, "Not bad taste! I'd have taken you for a country softie, not a grunge metal lover!"

He crossed his arms and smiled wider, _"N__ow she gets how cool I am."_

After the song ran its course Solaris had finished another drink and realized that he wasn't feeling dizzy this go around.

_"Huh, who knew that'd make a difference..." _He then poked his head up and saw Samantha stretching her toughened arms into the air.

"Aren't you gonna get a drink?"

"I wish, we ain't allowed to on the job," She then glanced to the right and he caught her looking at a clock. She then turned further back and shouted, "Yo Black Frost, mind if I cut out for a bit for dinner?"

"Go right ahead Fire Fist," Zeke said coolly, "I'm sure I can ride this roarin' tidal wave of oncoming customers solo."

"Thanks man!" She slapped the counter and hopped off the stool, throwing a casual glance at Solaris, "You coming?"

"To dinner?" He said baffled.

"Sure why not." She said with a shrug.

There was one last bit of advice he remembered hearing from that book, _"T__rait 5: They love to empty their wallets for you. The pricier the meals and gifts, the more loyal they are!"_

He pulled the money back out of his pocket and waved it towards her, "What'll this get us?"

She leaned in and squinted at the money, "Ummm...Two Big Macs, Large Fries, and a couple shakes."

"That's considered pricey foods?"

"Pffft, not unless McDonalds have **really** stepped up their game since I last went," She stood and gestured a thumb to her chest, "I'm buying. We'll just add it to the bill."

"Well, alright!" Solaris cheerfully hopped off the stool and followed her out the door. Standing side-by-side with their hands in their pockets, they chatted it up the whole way to the golden arches.

After a surprisingly fine if not greasy meal she went back to work, and they agreed to meet up again another day.

He returned to the Lunar Palace smiling from ear-to-ear up until he waltzed into the throne room. Riku and Lunis were still reading from the same books, but she poked her head up long enough to say hello.

"Welcome back brother! How'd it go?"

Riku said dryly, "Well he's not getting carried back this time..."

"Ha ha," He stood still between them and held his head high, "I'll have you know it went **perfectly**."

Lunis fluttered her eyelashes and held back a smirk, "Did it really?"

"Yes really," He firmly glared her way, "As it turns out I'm an expert at talking to women!"

Riku laid his book down and remarked, "And its all because you listened to a book."

"N-No!" He stuttered, "I'm...just a natural at it! I didn't even need your dumb advice!"

"That's great Solaris!" Lunis said, getting on her knees and crawling up to the edge of the bed eagerly, "So how far did you go with her?"

"How far...what?" As he stared into her eyes she raised her fists to her chest and barely kept herself upright.

"C'mon tell me us all the details! Did you passionately lock lips with her?"

"W-What?"

"Oh! Maybe you held her in your arms and danced under the moonlight!"

_"What in the goddamn fuck is she..."_

"Or maybe, maybe you slept together!"

"What are you saying?!" He shouted.

She fluttered her eyes some more and then sat upright on her legs, "Y'know you..."

She cupped one hand and then started thrusting two fingers in and out of the gap feverishly. Her eyes innocently staring into the distance.

Solaris recoiled and felt his body seething with rage, "What the FUCK NO! Where the hell did you learn about that?!"

He glimpsed Riku trying to hide his wide-eyed blushing face behind a book and then set his own body ablaze, "Was it you?! Have you been teaching my sister about sex while I'm gone?!"

Lunis squeaked and her face turned redder than a tomato, "N-N-No its not his fault I just..."

Solaris squeezed his knuckles and the bones snapped in his ears, "Get your ass off the chair Riku, we got some _sparring_ to do."

Riku sighed and dropped the book on the desk to his right. As he pulled off the chair he whispered, "Sorry about the interruption Lunis."

She sprawled out flat on the bed and buried her face in the mattress, "He is who he is..."

As Riku and Solaris resumed fighting, Lunis sat back comfortably in place and tried to bury herself in her books with a smile. It was nice to see her brother in good spirits for once...

_Next Time: Settling into a New Life_


	54. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53: Get a Job, Alura**

_For those living in the Dark Manor, it has been an...interesting two weeks of adjusting to their new arrangements. New clothes, new furniture, more food, all of that had to be ordered and arranged by Julius while Joe Dark and Alura spent their time checking out all the manor had to offer._

_There were so many new things for Alura to learn about that it was quite overwhelming...for Joe Dark, who had to answer her questions._

_Eventually, at Julius' behest, they decided to provide Alura with the most powerful connection to knowledge the world over...A computer tablet._

_Her eyes were lit aglow with wonder the day she took this tablet in hand and started fiddling through the internet. Every day since she's been seen either laying down on the living room couch or on her bed, eyes glued to the tablet. _

_Present Day..._

"I love my tablet." She whispered with a hint of delight.

Her small finger tapped the search bar and when she talked into it, it always gave her an answer, "I'm learning so much about Joe Dark's world now..."

The only time she hasn't been laying down was when, after learning more about what it means to be "sexy", she had Julius give her a hair cut. She had made the back of her hair shoulder length and the bangs were combed partially over her right eye, just like the girl in the magazine where she first learned of that word.

She wasn't sure **why** she wanted to look that way, but it felt good at the time. The newer clothes were nice too. She got to go on a "shopping spree", which meant buying a lot of clothes for herself. There were a lot of them in Joe Dark's style, which according to the internet is called "Gothic". Lots of dark colors with the occasional skull or demonic imagery stuck onto the shirt.

What she had on now was called a "low cut shirt". Apparently it helps emphasize something on a girl's body. It had a bleeding skull and crossbones on the back.

She also learned about "jeans". They were what she had been forced to wear when she had torn up her old dress. At the time they were loose, but these current ones felt snug around her legs and butt.

This is apparently all a part of being "sexy", but she didn't know if she felt like that yet.

"Hmmm..." She lazily squinted at the tablet and went to a site called "YouTube" to see if she could find out more.

"Oh!" Her gaze immediately darted towards a video in right below the search bar called "My cute doggo chases a raccoon!" Curiously though in the thumbnail she saw a Dog that looked no different from one she saw in the city.

"What's a Doggo?" She murmured while tapping the thumbnail to pop the video up.

She watched a small dog speed after a raccoon while barking like crazy. The camera managed to keep after the dog as the raccoon scurried over a fence and the dog nearly bit its tail to drag it back down. Then the dog just kept leaping at the fence and barking some more.

"Heh heh," She laughed softly, "Doggo's are funny."

A shadow fell on her and she pulled her head back to find Joe Dark peering over with a dry smile, "Haaaa, I knew I'd find you here."

Alura tapped on the tablet and stated with a hint of excitement, "Joe Dark, I want to get a Doggo next."

"Alura..." He sighed and shook his head, "You know we can't afford that."

"Why not?" She tilted her head, "We have so much money."

"That's NOT for us to get frivolous with." He started to reach out for her tablet and, feeling doom, she squeezed it tightly in her hands, only for him to pull it right out.

"Noooo...!" She moaned, and began flailing her hands and feet around.

As Joe Dark began to lift the tablet up she turned around, got on her knees, and stretched her arms so high her belly got exposed.

His height advantage couldn't be overcome. She puffed her cheeks slightly and huffed at him, "Jerk Dark...!"

"H-Hey...!" He spat back.

She noticed that he seemed a little different. His hair was shinier and he had this flowery aroma floating around him. His clothes weren't too different, but now they were all patched up and he had gotten a belt around his waist.

"What appears to be the problem?" Said Julius as he entered the living room.

Joe Dark veered over his shoulder and sighed, "Oh nothing, Alura's being a brat."

"Says you, Jerk Dark!" While he was distracted she leaped for the tablet, only for her feet to snag on the couch's arm and send her plummeting face first into the carpet.

"Mmmrrr...!" She grunted for a while.

In a few seconds she was lifted up by Joe Dark and sat upon the couch's arm. There she firmly crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks slightly.

Julius meanwhile sighed and murmured, "Master Joseph..."

Alura smirked. Now Joe Dark was in big trouble.

Joe Dark looked over his shoulder again and stated, "I-I only came to get her to go job hunting with me."

"Job...hunting?" Alura tilted her head in interest.

He bit his teeth down and grunted, "As I was TRYING to say before you jumped me like a cougar..."

He relaxed and pointed towards the second floor, "The rest of the money in that vault's for important things, like paying for this manor, replacing broken appliances, food..."

"But you bought a computer. And a bike. And-"

"Those are **important** for us. I'd love a dog, but we don't **need** one." Joe Dark was "laying down the law" as they say online.

"**I **need one, Joe Dark." So Alura decided to do the same, and pressed her arms even more firmly against her chest.

"Then get a job, Alura." Joe Dark crossed his arms in a slant.

She stared long into his eyes and then tilted her head the other way, "Give me my tablet back, I need to know what a job is."

He turned his body to the side to hide the tablet then stated bluntly, "No. I'm taking away your tablet privileges. You've done nothing but stare at it for the past week."

He reached out and poked her exposed belly with a chuckle, "You're already putting on pounds."

"Mmm...!" Alura felt a jolt in her heart and the sudden want to slap Joe Dark across the face.

"Haaaa, Master Joseph..." Julius intervened, "Please step aside for a moment."

"Uhhh..." Joe Dark responded with a blank look on his face, "Ok?"

Julius stepped up before her and stared straight into her eyes, "Ever heard the phrase, 'Bring home the bacon' Miss Alura?"

"No," Her eyes nevertheless lit up with interest, "But I love bacon."

"Well, just replace bacon with money, and that's what a job is." He says with a smile.

"...So you...eat money?" She replied.

"Julius be straightforward with her." Joe Dark said in a soft, reprimanding tone.

Julius glared over his shoulder and then resumed speaking, "Simply put, you do jobs to earn money."

"Oh...!" Her eyes lit up with interest, "So if I get a job, I can get a Doggo."

"Yes, you can get a Doggo." He said softly.

She hopped off the couch and declared, "I will get a job."

"Atta girl." Julius patted her on the shoulder and stood up facing Joe Dark.

"Its not going to be easy Alura. We'll have to pass an interview to get hired."

"Interview...?" She inquired.

"Yes," Replied Julius, "You'll be stuck in a one-on-one conversation with another person. You'll need to answer all their questions while following certain guidelines."

"I see." She slowly nodded.

"...Actually, I wonder if it would be a good idea to bring her along." Joe Dark murmured.

Julius sharply turned to face him and remarked, "Worry about yourself Master Joseph."

When Joe Dark flinched Julius stamped his foot down, stiffening him upright, "Lets review the guidelines from the top."

Joe Dark widened his eyes and stared forward, with Julius glancing aside at Alura for a moment to say, "Watch and learn Miss Alura."

Joe Dark started speaking unprompted, stiffening his body upright, "Look them in the eyes, don't slouch, don't swear, and make sure you look nice!"

"Bravo!" Julius gave a light clap.

Joe Dark breathed out and fell into a slump, "This is going to be torture..."

"It comes naturally to you over time." Julius assured him.

"Guess you're right." Joe Dark murmured.

"The first step is always the hardest, Master Joseph. Remember that."

Joe Dark then faced Alura and asked her, "Did you get all that?"

Uh huh, She nodded, her eyes alight as she gave a tiny smile, 鏑ook them in the eyes, don't slouch, don't swear, and make sure you look nice.

She laid a hand over her chest and remarked, "I look better than nice. I look 'sexy'."

Joe Dark slanted his brows and groaned, "W-Will you quit using that damn word...?"

"Master Joseph...!" Julius grunted angrily.

Joe Dark put up a scowl and grunted, "**Darn** word...!"

"Better," Julius sighed and reached into his suit, pulling out a piece of note paper, "Here are all the available job listings I could find in the area."

Joe Dark took a look at it and said, "Not bad. Thanks Julius."

"Don't be dismayed if you don't get a job today. You're getting experience, and that matters more."

"Right, well..." Joe Dark tucked the list into his pocket and turned away, "We're off!"

As Alura began to follow him to the door Julius roughed them up with "Ahem!", stopping them in place.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He said, coolly withdrawing two wallets from his jacket pocket.

"O-Oh. Yeah..." Joe Dark and Alura returned to pick up their separate wallets. Hers was leather with a nice glossy rose painted on the front. Inside was the identification Julius forged using his CIA experience...whatever that meant.

"Alura Rose..." She whispered.

Joe Dark had been renamed to Joseph Black. How was that any different?

Nevertheless these would prove valuable for their every day lives now, so she tucked hers deep into her pockets. Finally they were allowed to leave, and took the bus down the hill to a quieter city than the norm.

Alura missed riding through the darkness. It wasn't smelly, or noisy, and wasn't uncomfortable to sit in. For some reason when people get older, they start to smell more.

Eventually they made it to their destination. None of the buildings here were more than two stories high and the streets were quiet, _welcomingly_ quiet.

Joe Dark pulled out the job list and stood at the bus bench looking it over for a while, "Julius said it might be easier in a quiet town. Hope he's right...Hmmm..."

He looked up and pointed his hand out, towards a place called "Safeway", "They're hiring cashiers there. So...yeah. Lets go."

He led her inside the store, giving her time to repeat Julius' advice in her head, _"Look them in the eyes, don't slouch, don't swear, and make sure you look nice."_

On their way through the entrance Joe Dark was fiddling around with his shirt, tugging on the collar in particular. Alura looked at her shirt and decided to tug the collar down a little more. If it helped him prepare, it'd help her too.

They were guided to the back of the store, where they keep a lot of the food packed away. There they had to find the office. There were a couple people around their age sitting down outside the door. Both of them were shaking and didn't really have the best clothes on.

Alura smiled slightly and felt good about their chances.

The first person was called in right as they sat down. While they waited for their turn Joe Dark chatted with the guy next to him. There was a few words at a time and it ended shortly. Joe Dark then sighed and looked at himself again.

The first person came out the door with a sigh of relief. But his skin looked paler than hers and his face was sweaty.

He walked out into the storage room and the next person was called in.

Joe Dark scooted closer to the door and leaned in. Alura followed, doing the same.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

Joe Dark jolted upright and pressed a lip to his mouth and made a hiss. That's known as saying "Be quiet", she's come to realize.

He then leaned back in. A few minutes later, that person walked out with the same expression. Now it was Joe Dark's turn.

"You can do it, Joe Dark!" Alura whispered as he walked in, leering over his shoulder with a spit-swallowing scowl.

Alura nudged up towards the door and waited. Her heart began to flutter. This was a feeling of "anticipation", they say.

"_I'll get to have a job and earn money." _She closed her eyes and imagined piles of dollar bills slowly raining down onto her. A bit of drool slipped out, "So much money..."

Suddenly the door opened, and Joe Dark wandered out. Same expression. Same sweat.

He looked back and said "Thank you for your time" to the person inside, then closed the door and took a couple dragging steps away.

"How'd it go?" Alura inquired.

He weakly turned his head and sighed, "They said they'd call me later."

"Is that good...?"

"I guess?" He had never sounded so tired before. Do interviews hold a terrifying power?

He looked her in the eyes and remarked, "Are you ready?"

Alura nodded and hopped off the chair, heading for the door, "I'm going to get a job, Joe Dark."

All she heard was him sighing as she entered the room. She froze up. The room was smaller than their bathroom. It had a desk, some weird metal cabinet, and a middle-aged man sitting in a chair overlooking some documents. He had a bit of extra weight on his chin and stomach, and prickly hairs around his face.

"Another interviewee..." He sighed, then waved his hand at the chair opposite his, "Take your seat young lady."

Alura sat in the chair and tried to remain upright, but the seat was hard as a rock and her legs began to squirm on their own.

"_Who would make uncomfortable seats like this? I want a cushion..." _She tucked her hands between her legs and tried again to follow Julius' advice.

She gave the man a wide stare directly at his eyes and forced herself upright. The man flinched and looked down at his documents some more.

"What is your name?"

"I am...Alura Rose," When she said that he started writing on his paper, _"What...is he doing?" _

Was this good? Was this bad? Alura found her body stiffening up in her chest region and moving out towards her arms.

"-bring to us?"

"Huh?" She muttered, raising her head to the man's tired expression.

"What can you bring to us?" He repeated in a slightly firmer tone.

"Ummm..." She looked him in the eyes but started to lower her head, "Don't you need a cashier?"

"Yes..." The man folded his arms under his two layers of chins and remarked, "What can you bring to us as a cashier?"

"I know how to handle cash." She remarked.

"And...?"

She tilted her head and said, "That's all I need right?"

"..." He closed his eyes and wrote more in his paper.

Staring at the lead grinding against the paper made her feel sick to her stomach. What did it all mean?

He looked at her again and said, "What do you hope to get out of this job?"

"Oh!" This was a simple answer, "Money."

"Money...?" He remarked, and she gave a nod.

"Do you intend to pursue further goals in the future?" He asked in an insisting tone.

"Can I earn more money if I do?" She said with a plain smile.

Once more, he put his pencil to paper and let out a sigh. Alura's heart was beating extra hard now. Why is this paper so important?!

She leaned out of her chair preparing to take a peek when the man closed the folder shut and remarked, "We'll call you later."

"H-Huh...?" It was over? But she had just gotten in...

She slowly got out of the chair, staring at the man while she left the door. The feeling in her chest wouldn't stop, and when she shut the door blood started rushing through her entire body.

She fell into a cold slump against the door and started to slide to the ground, panting slowly.

"So I'm guessing it didn't go so well?" Inquired Joe Dark, standing by.

Alura swallowed deep and tried to pull herself up. Her eyes were wobbling and she felt like she had to gasp for air, "T-Terror..."

She clutched her heart against her chest and murmured, "I've never known...such terror...!"

Joe Dark frowned and lifted himself off the chair, stiffly raising his arms over his head, "What did he say?"

She raised her head slightly and said, "We'll call you later."

"Really...?" He responded.

"T-That's good...right?" She stared deep into his eyes and he did everything in his power to avoid doing the same.

"W-Well I guess so..." He then reached into his pocket and pulled that list, "Alright, on to the next interview."

Alura felt a cold sting in the back of her neck and jolted upright with a gasp, "N-Next...interview?"

He looked over his shoulder and said, "Yeah? Julius told me we should stretch our influence as much as we can...or something."

Despair. This was true despair...

"If you don't think you can handle it..."

"I'll _get_ a job, Joe Dark...!" She found her voice raising slightly. He flinched.

She then puffed her cheeks into a fine pout and refused to look or speak to him the whole time they walked to the next job interview.

_McDonalds (Cook)_

"We'll call you later." Is what Alura heard after a couple tortuous minutes inside of a cramped room.

_Wal-Mart (Cart Handler)_

"We'll call you later." The same four words, in the same emotionless tone.

_Some Garden Place_

"We'll call you later." Was this another "conspiracy" planned between these companies? Couldn't they say something else?

_Chuck E. Cheese (Mascot)_

"Sorry, but you're too short for the costume."

Alura blacked out for two minutes, waking up to find Joe Dark dragging her out of the facility with some of her fingernails chipped.

She had been banned from Chuck E. Cheese for life.

_Some...place._

"We'll call you later."

Alura dragged herself out of that uncomfortable room with her head hung and her arms feeling like spaghetti noodles.

"So...tired..." She limply followed Joe Dark out of the building, and then fell back against the brick wall hoping the sun would just burn her alive right here...

Joe Dark looked at his list with a slight pout and then huffed a sigh, "Julius was right, this is rough..."

"Mmmrr..." Alura slowly lifted her head up and saw an ice cream truck driving through the street and playing a pleasant, inviting jingle.

"Ice creeeeeeam..." She stretched her hand out and wobbled out towards her one and only comfort in these dreadful times.

"No Alura, you'll ruin your appetite." Joe Dark grabbed her by the neck of her shirt and she immediately flailed her arms around.

"Noooooooooo..." She moaned tiredly.

"Haaaa, come on, I'll buy us something to eat." He dragged her away to a nearby food stand, where they got two big meaty burritos to go.

She nibbled it down. It was fine. It was food.

Joe Dark stood tall as they walked down the crosswalk. The weather was ok. It was sunny.

"I wonder if I said the right things in those interviews. Ugh, Mew makes conversations seem so easy..." After he muted himself to take a large bite of his burrito, Alura sank into her mind for a bit.

"_I want a job. I want money..." _She didn't know what made her want these things so badly. IS it even necessary to have them? Joe Dark could get them plenty of money on his own...

She looked at his back and imagined him working inside one of those stores...and her chest suddenly felt...strange. Not warm. Not cold. Hollow...empty...Because she imagined him being...happy?

She had rarely seen him be optimistic about what he's doing. Getting a job was important to him. So why...why does she feel this way? It didn't feel right. It hurt...

She tried to fill this emptiness in her chest with hamburger and cheese wrapped in a tortilla. It seemed to help, a little.

Joe Dark kept eating away at his burrito as they walked past some stores.

Alura raised her head on a whim and saw something behind a nearby window. It was made of wood, round on the bottom and more narrow towards the top. There were metal looking strings along its length, some of it going over a round hole.

"Ooooh..." She dropped the burrito and pressed her hands and face against the glass. It was calling to her...whatever it was.

With her heart racing she ran inside through the nearby door and looked around.

There were racks filled with many, many small, square glass cases. Below them were boxes with more glass cases. Tucked away in the right corner was ANOTHER box with thin cardboard envelopes contained big black discs.

She heard some noise playing throughout the building. It sounded like...a song.

"_What is this place?" _She turned her head and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that strange object from before, just within reach.

She walked on up to it and stared.

Meanwhile, up at the cashier stand, two guys sat in their steel folding chairs with their dirty sneakers on the counter.

One had a ring piercing in his nose and messy, dirty blonde hair. He wore a black shirt that said "Metalnomics" in sharp, jagged text with a hole under his left armpit, and had two different colored socks on. Just for some sense of normalcy, he wore jeans.

The guy next to him had the same shirt on but in blue, and much cleaner auburn hair. He had a spike bracelet on one wrist and a watch on the other. There were NO holes in his clothes and both his socks were black.

The guy with the piercing perked up and nudged his friend in the shoulder playfully, "Heeey check it out."

The cleaner guy sat up and looked out towards the only other person in the store at the moment, staring at their guitar.

"Cutie at 12 o'clock." Said the piercing wearer, continuing to lightly jab his friend's ribs.

With a sigh the clean guy fell back into his chair and put his hand behind his head, "Dude she looks young. Like...call the cops on us young."

"Jeff. Dude. Buddy," The piercing guy plopped his hands by his knees and leaned towards his friend, "Remember that tiny bombshell with the tight ass that walked by us the other day...?"

"The one whose boyfriend gave you that ugly bruise on your stomach?"

The guy swung his hands around and remarked, "Forget that. She was 17. Totally within legal limits."

"Stewart..." Jeff groaned and began to sit back up.

"Dude. Seriously. Listen. To. Me," Stewart swayed his hands down and then pointed at each of their chests, "I'm hot. You're...not as hot. But man, single ladies are out there waiting for a ride on the Jeff Express and you're here stuck in the station."

"Mmmrr..." Jeff sucked his lips in and sat up.

"If you won't go for her..." Stewart began to rise.

"I'll Rock Paper Scissors you for it." Jeff held his fist out, and Stewart pumped his by his chest.

The two shook their hands in the air and Jeff won out with paper.

"Fuck...!" Stewart shouted. He then pushed his chair back and brushed his hand out forcefully. Jeff walked around the counter and looked at the girl. She was picking up the guitar.

"H-Hey...!" He sprinted over to her.

"Hmmm?" Alura turned around with this curious new object held against her chest.

Seconds later this strange boy was grabbing onto it and trying to pull it away. Alura grunt with all her might but the boy overpowered her.

"Gimme!" With one last burst of strength she pushed instead of pulled.

"Wait, what...?!" The boy uttered loudly as he fell onto his back and the object slid down beside him. Alura fell down too, pressing both her hands upon the boy's arms while her knees jabbed the space between his legs.

"OW! My nuts...!" Hissed the boy.

Alura stared at the boy's reddening face and saw his pupils shrink. He whispered, "I...wasn't...prepared...for this...!"

Alura blinked a couple times and then peeled herself off the boy to grab onto that strange object.

"Huh...?" The boy quickly stood up and Alura hugged this object tightly against herself.

The boy reached out and said, "You can't be playing with that little girl. Its display only."

Alura puffed her cheeks and stated, "I'm not little...! I'm 16 years old!"

The boy's eyes widened and he stuttered around, "Oh shit I thought...But you look so..."

He shook his head some more and took one step forward, so she took one step back, "But for real, you can't touch that."

"Why not? Is it...important?"

"No, but the boss will take a cut from my check if it gets damaged." The boy chuckled.

Alura stared at the object and wondered, "What is this anyways?"

"You've...never seen a guitar before?" The boy responded.

Alura looked at his wide-eyed expression and then back at this..."guitar", "Guitar..."

She reached for one of the strings and plucked it. It made an echoing, vibration-like sound that faded over time.

"...!" She recoiled, leaving the vibration to echo in her heart, "That's a nice sound..."

"...Here, can I have the guitar for a moment?" The boy asked quietly.

Alura faced him and hugged the guitar against her body. He gently extended his hand out some more and said, "I'm not going to take it away. Promise."

"Promise...?" Mew used that word a lot, so maybe its a good one?

Slowly Alura handed the guitar over to the boy, who held it from shoulder to hip via a strap hidden on the back. He then hovered his fingers over the strings and murmured, "Haven't done this in a while..."

His fingers danced along the strings, creating a unified series of sounds over the next few seconds. Alura's eyes and mouth slowly widened and she felt a gasp free itself from within.

"Wow..."

The boy stopped and shook his hand in the air, "You're supposed to use a pick not your fingernails though..."

Alura gently grabbed onto the bottom of the guitar and stared at her face reflecting off the wooden sheen, "This is beautiful."

The boy unstrapped the guitar and dropped it into her hands, "I'll be right back."

He hurried over the other side of the store, leaving Alura alone with the guitar. She blinked a few times and then put the strap over her shoulders. The guitar felt a little heavy, but comfortable. She plucked a couple strings but couldn't replicate the relaxing melody the boy made.

"How did he do that...?" She turned to face the boy and his seeming friend and decided to walk closer.

She started to hear the two talking to each other.

"So flounder face, how'd it go?" The guy with strange hair said.

"She's 16 dude." Said the boy.

"16?" The guy's eyes widened for a moment and then he rubbed his chin, "Well if we wait a couple years she might..."

"Can you stop thinking with your dick for one second Stewart!" The boy shouted and swung his arms down, then lowered his voice, "The girl doesn't know what a guitar is dude."

"What no way, who on God's rockin' rollin' Earth's never heard of a guitar?"

"Dude, there's something weird going on here. I really think we should call the police." The boy said.

"Oh yeah get the boys in blue involved..." Stewart bobbed his head and then slapped the boy across the shoulder with the back of his hand, "You crazy man? After what happened last time?!"

"How was I supposed to know that vinyl contained cocaine?!"

"Ummmm..." Alura tried to speak up from just a few feet behind them.

The boy turned around and muttered, "Whoa! You...snuck up on us."

Alura raised the guitar and said, "How did you make that sound with this?"

The boy looked at Stewart then back to her, then back at Stewart, who raised two thumbs-up and whispered, "This is your chance man. Destiny's calling and she's got lovely violet hair!"

"Sometimes I think I'm the only thing keeping you from appearing on America's Most Wanted dude..." The boy closed his eyes and slowly peeled his hand off the counter.

"What's your name girl?"

Alura tilted her head and said, "Alura Rose."

"Alura huh...?" The boy clapped his knee and then waved out beside his head, "I'm Jeff Montoya."

He scowled while gesturing a thumb back to the guy waving his hand high over the counter, "Screwball over there's my 'friend'..."

"Stewart Bolt!" The guy pointed outward and pressed his thumb down, "Certified ladykiller and lover of all things rock'n'roll!"

"I see..." Alura closed her eyes and thought, _"So there are other strange people like Mew out in the world."_

"Do you like music, Alura?" Jeff asked.

"Music's what's playing in the room right now, correct?" She replied.

"Its the freedom of our souls!" Shouted Stewart.

Alura nodded, "I like music too."

Jeff tapped his toes and then gestured to his right, "Put down the guitar for a moment, I want you to try something."

"What're you up to...?" Stewart said with a grin.

"Just watch." He said.

After Alura had placed the guitar down on the ground Jeff pulled out headphones from atop an electronic device and handed them over to her.

"Here, put these on."

She did, and then Jeff reached for the machine and pressed a button.

Powerful, banging sounds assaulted her eardrums and made her heartbeat hasten. After a long string of this there was a sharp tearing sound, many of them in fact, followed by a blood curling scream. Then somebody started shouting random words that didn't seem to flow well together at all.

Her eyes were wide open and she clasped onto the sides of the headphones feeling her body in a rush, _"This is also music? I didn't know it could be so loud!" _

"Do you like this?!" Jeff shouted over the music.

"Uh huh!" Alura nodded.

"Alright..." He reached for the button, "How about this one?"

The music got quieter. A sound similar to a guitar started to play out. The person's voice was clearer, but now they had some kind of strange accent. Overall this was slower and not as good as the previous one.

"Lets try number three..." Jeff pressed the button again.

A guitar slowly played in the headphones, then was joined by another. The person singing was a woman. Her voice was soft and heavenly. Hearing it made Alura envision a meadow under the sun, where she was laying in the grass on a familiar lap...

Her eyes began to water and she trembled, murmuring, "M-Mama..."

"Dude jesus christ what the FUCK!" Shouted Stewart.

Jeff quickly ripped the headphones off and hastily started saying, "Oh my god I'm so so sorry I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories...!"

Alura pressed her fingertips to her damp cheeks and sniffled. She then shook her head and said, "I-It wasn't a bad memory..."

She stared at the wall of glass cases before her. There were so many of them. And they all contained music.

"Music is...beautiful. It makes me feel happy."

She turned to Jeff and bobbed her head, "Thank you Jeff Montoya, Stewart Bolt...I feel better now. I can go back to getting a job."

As she started to turn Jeff shouted "WAIT!" and she looked back.

"You're looking for a job? W-We're hiring!"

Alura's eyes widened and she let out a gasp.

Stewart stood up and slapped the counter down, "What, no we're-"

"Shush!" Jeff turned around and whispered, "The boss said we were last week, you weren't paying attention. Again."

Stewart blinked twice and then smirked, "Oh I see, you're just trying to earn 'nice guy' points with the new girl on the block."

Jeff crossed his arms and grunted, "The world doesn't revolve around our penises dude."

Alura ignored their strange manner of speaking and rolled on up to Jeff's leg, staring up straight into his face with all the energy of a thousand batteries in her eyes, "You want to hire me?!"

Jeff backed away slowly but she kept glued to him, "Y-Yeah...I mean, we'd have to train you a bit but..."

"I have a job...!" Alura pulled away and felt like her heart was fluttering like one of those butterflies. She started hopping up and down in place with her fists curled against her chest, "I have a job! I have a job! I have a job!"

Jeff stared at her with his mouth partially agape and muttered, "Talk about a 180..."

The front door opened and suddenly they heard, "THERE you are Alura!"

Alura stopped her celebration and saw Joe Dark running into the building covered in sweat.

"Joe Dark!"

When she got closer to him he grabbed her by the shoulders and shouted, "D-Don't go running off like that you idiot!"

Alura stared wide-eyed at him and murmured, "Oops."

"Hey!" Shouted Jeff, snapping his fingers as he walked up to the two and rubbed faces with Joe Dark, "Where do you get off roughing up a girl like that buddy?"

Joe Dark squinted his eyes and then looked down at Alura, "Whose this bozo with the bad taste in clothes?"

"B-Bad...?!" Jeff recoiled while Stewart stewed in his own laughter.

Alura turned around and pointed at the two, "This is Jeff Montoya and Stewart Bolt. They hired me to work here."

Suddenly the atmosphere grew tense, and Joe Dark's face twisted into a scowl, "Did they now...?"

Jeff retreated one slow step at a time and threw his hands up, "Y-You got the wrong idea dude! We're just a humble music store!"

Joe Dark was about to make a move, probably of the violent variety, on these two poor souls, "Really? Your place smells like shit and your walls look like ass...!"

Stewart leaned in and whispered, "I told you we should've sprung for the new wallpaper."

"Wrong time dude!" Jeff shouted. He then quickly scrambled for the counter and pulled out a small paper card to flash at Joe Dark's face.

"S-See! We're certified!"

Joe Dark snatched the card up and while he was distracted Alura ran up and socked him in the butt.

"Jerk Dark!" She grunted.

"Ow...!" He turned and stared right in her wide eyes. She felt very warm in her chest and face and puffed her cheeks at him, "These nice people taught me about guitars! Don't be a jerk to them!"

"..." Joe Dark stared at the card again, then looked over his shoulder at the two shaking men. He tucked the card away and then crossed his arms firmly upon his chest.

"How much are you paying her?"

"U-Uhhh...Well, minimum wage is 20 dollars an hour so..."

"21 dollars." Joe Dark bluntly remarked.

"I-I mean, she'll be getting a cut of the stuff we sell so like..."

"You'll be giving her time for lunch too."

"Dude like...we run a pretty lax ship here so why-"

"And if you teach her anything inappropriate..." Joe Dark pointed down between their legs, and then squeezed his hand firmly into a fist.

Jeff squirmed, but not as much as Stewart.

"Y-You're the boss sir, dude, like...dude sir!" Stewart raised his hand in a salute.

The atmosphere settled down and Joe Dark smiled, "Good. Thanks for hiring her then. This'll be a good learning experience for her."

He then turned around, patting her on the back to guide her towards the door, "C'mon Alura. We're out of here."

Jeff stepped forward and shouted, "Alura! We open at 10 AM tomorrow, so just come in then!"

"Ok." She replied, unsure of what the heck just happened here. Only that Jeff looked more scared than some of her father's victims...

As they walked out of the store Joe Dark tucked his hands in his pockets and pulled his head back with a sigh.

She looked at him and asked, "Did you manage to get a job, Joe Dark?"

He glanced beside himself and said, "I was too busy trying to find you to do anymore interviews. I'll have to wait and hear from the others..."

Alura paused and felt her lips rising in a tiny smile. This must be what it feels like to be proud.

"I got a job," She said with a small snicker, "It was easy."

Joe Dark strained out a grin and said, "Good for yoooou..."

"Ah..." She had read about this sensation he was experiencing before on the internet, "Joe Dark are you...frustrated?"

He immediately faced her and stuttered, "W-What? No! I'm...I'm very happy for you Alura!"

He resumed gritting his teeth and looking forward. Alura snickered some more and remarked, "You're mad. Irrationally devastated. Butthurt."

"WHERE are you picking up this language?!" He exclaimed.

She closed her eyes and said, "Looks like I'll be the one 'bringing home the bacon', Joe Dark."

His scowl was now so tight that his teeth looked like they were going to break. With a sinister tone of voice he said, "You know...I think I'm going to hold onto your tablet for a little while longer."

Alura flinched and started flailing her fists at Joe Dark's hip, "Noooooooo! Its mine, give it back!"

Joe Dark paraded down the crosswalk with his head held high in the air, "Yep, I think the first thing I'm going to do is eat some peanut butter over it. Get my hands all niiiice and sticky..."

"Jerk Dark!" And they continued like this all the way back home...

_Next Time: Humility and Determination_


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54: What Becomes of Us?**

_Vergo II, a nocturnal planet teetering on the very edge of the Redline Galaxy. Home to the Halfids, a race of small, very wise creatures whom, only on the one day a year when the sun graces their presence, become powerful warriors._

_...Today, unfortunately, is NOT that day._

_Their planet was kept under Gravitus' watchful eye during his rule, but ever since word spread of his demise this planet along with many others have come under attack from powerful, fierce usurpers seeking to control the fragmented empire._

_Klaggs, one of the most feared warmongering races this side of the Western Universe, have established a foothold on this planet and kept the peaceful Halfids under lock and key. Now, having built fortifications all across the planet's surface, they have but one goal..._

"_(Deliver Gravitus' strongest ships...Or entire planet...gone!)" [Translated from Klaggsher]_

_Its been three hours since the threat was given...And now, the fate of Vergo II and its inhabitants rests on the shoulders of an unlikely duo..._

**Vergo II. Nocturnal Fall Date 17/15/?. **

**Mission Start.**

The black sky was filled with red and yellow stars, guiding two people's way through a dark-brown canyon. They were split into two sides, left and right, keeping communication to a minimum.

The rocky sights soon gave way to signs of technology grafted into the walls. There they pinned their backs to the cold metal surfaces and felt the electricity burn its way towards a mighty fortress erected in the back of the canyon.

Five tiers tall and as wide as an imperial class space battleship. It was armed to the teeth and guarded by hundreds of Klaggs.

The black, rocky scaled bipedal creatures were fitted with foot long rifles pulsating with enough energy to cleave through a dozen people per shot. But the guns had a fatal weakness. They were being fed into by an invisible connection to their spiky chest plate, which had a reactor in the middle.

Still, it'd be unwise to charge in. There were cages of Halfids lined up at the base of the fortress in preparation for taking them offworld.

The poor, pale blue-skinned people were cuddled together, staring into the starry abyss with optimism dwindling from their pitch yellow eyes.

From the cover of shadows, the first of their saviors, Aurian Jupiter, poked her head out and scowled, "Bastards...!"

A sentiment which her partner, Aurian Mars, shared, albeit a little less harshly, "Damn Klaggs..."

The two turned and stared at each other from across the half a mile gap and then sharply looked away. They thought the same thing, _"Why did it have to be us...?"_

_A few hours ago..._

Seth was on a solo ride through space towards Catherine's HQ. As he edged closer he wondered, "Sounded urgent, I hope everything's ok..."

Right as the ship was docking he looked to his left and saw another ship entering as well, "Its not just me...?"

And it left him feeling on edge as he exited the ship and kept his eyes on the other arrival. The moment the window popped open he saw Noel stretching her chiseled arms in the air and moaning, "Aaaah! Finally, took long enough!"

And right when she poked her head up their eyes met and her usual energy depleted, "Oh..."

"Oh." He echoed, his climb down the ship slowing to a crawl.

The two stood on the floor and stared at each other, Noel propping a fist on her hip and trying not to linger on him for long.

"Cat called you too?" She inquired dismissively.

"Yeah." He said.

"I'm surprised you responded." She said with a smirk.

Seth narrowed his gaze and turned away, taking the first steps away from the docking bay. Noel pushed ahead of him and cupped her hands around her mouth, "HEY CAT! I'M HERE!"

"Excellent!" Shouted their overeager friend as they dropped down from above and nearly tripped on their own feet.

She quickly stood upright with her arms crossed and shifted their gaze between them both, "I'm glad you both came! I got a mission for you two!"

"A mission?" Seth quietly said.

"For US?" Noel snickered and gestured harshly towards Seth, "Y-You're kidding right...?"

"Nope! You two are the only ones I can rely on to get the job done!" She closed her eyes and started laughing, "C'mon it'll be just like old times!"

Noel and Seth gave a collective groan and glanced briefly at one another. Seth then waved his hand out and asked, "What's the mission...?"

_Present..._

The two shared another look towards each other and wiggled out a scowl. Then Seth turned towards the fortress and limply laid a hand on his left ear.

"It looks like Catherine's info was on the money. Their forces are a hundred strong and they've set up an impenetrable fortress."

Noel responded in kind with cockiness, "Impenetrable for you maybe! I could knock that over in one punch."

"And alert every guard in the area," Seth said with a sigh, "This is a stealth mission Noel, just-"

"Yeah yeah, take out the Klaggs silently and find the enemy's super weapon. I was listening." Was she? It was definitely in doubt...

"_She's not a screw up. I shouldn't worry..." _Seth calmed himself with a sigh and then peered around the wall once more. There was a half a mile separating him and the fortress and at least a dozen guards wandering the outer walls.

He was confident in his agility, but it'd take more than confidence to win the day. One wrong move, "BAM", an innocent life is lost.

"_The Klaggs are all using weapons Gravitus developed from Catherine's tech..." _He reached down into his vest pocket while putting his back to the wall.

He pulled out one of many thumbnail sized chips and positioned it directly before his eye, remembering Catherine's advice.

"_Stick these to the reactors and it should disable the guns and send a non-lethal shock through the Klaggs body to knock them out. But remember...it HAS to be on the exact center or it won't work!"_

"_Exact center..." _He poked his head around the corner, the Klaggs had their arms crossed over the reactor, _"Easier said than done."_

He then noticed that Noel was on the move and quickly gasped into his comm link, "What are you doing?"

"I'm heading out! Don't be slow!"

She got right up to the closest guard and with her iron grip forced his jaw shut and then slammed a chip into the reactor. The electricity fed into his body and left him lying down on the ground. Fortunate for them that the electricity didn't discharge outward...

And then Noel was off, leaping onto the highest part of the outer wall to take down another guard, and then another in quick succession.

"Guess we're doing this...!" Seth grit his teeth and poked around the corner, finding himself face-to-face with one of the guards.

The alien let out a feral gargle and then raised its gun at his chest. Seth quickly pulled out a chip and stuck it to the center of the reactor. The discharged felled the Klagg before he could fire.

From there there could be no breaks. He had to move, fast! His fleet feet allowed him to scale the nearby wall to reach the stationary guard up top. He leaped into the air and tackled them to the ground. They put up a struggle but by the time their barrel was locked onto him he'd already put the chip in place.

He then hopped off before he'd get shocked too and used the shadow of the night to hide away and observe the other guards' positions.

"_Two moving south, one moving north. If I can do this right...!" _He slid down the rocks and hopped off upon reaching metal, aiming for the solo target.

He whipped out his nunchucks and wrapped the chain around the guard's jaw so that his grunts wouldn't alert the others. He then quickly slammed his skull against the ground to knock him out.

That...couldn't be quiet.

The two behind turned around and he quickly pulled two chips from his vest to fling like shuriken. The guards were knocked out before they got to arm their weapons.

"Whew..." He breathed a sigh of relief and then hopped over the lone body to make a dash for the fortress, disarming the remaining guards along the way.

Once at the door he snuck a quick peek to find Noel had long since taken out her side. He tapped his comm. link and whispered, "Noel? Noel come in!"

No response. And it wasn't cause of interference. Klaggs are too arrogant and dumb to set up defenses like that.

"Tsk! Just have to hope we don't screw each other up...!" He inched closer to the door and waved his hand out. No response. That was both good and bad. Good cause it won't alert the guards, bad because he'll have to find another way in.

"There has to be a window up there..." He said, staring at the second floor.

He leaped above the door and used the frame's half inch width as footing to ascend to the next floor. He stealthily put his back to the corner and saw two guards patrolling his way.

The energy moving through the fortress didn't give his position away, yet. But where were the other guards? His heart beat picked up and he took a moment to sidestep to the opposite corner and peek around. Fortunately the guards there were fooling around with their weapons.

"_Too close..." _He took a deep breath and returned to the last corner. The guards were a few feet away now.

He readied his nunchucks and sweat fell off his cheek, _"Got to be quick!"_

He extended the chain of his weapon and then flung it out so it'd fall between the guards' legs. The chain continued to extend as it snagged around the first guards' right leg and then continued to wrap around the second one's left leg.

One more step from both tripped them up. Sound was unavoidable.

"(Noise, coming south!)" One of the guards in the back had been alerted.

Seth rushed out of cover and threw a punch down into the back of the guards necks, knocking them unconscious. He then picked up his weapon and looked around hastily.

"_Up there!" _He found a small, horned perch on the wall to his right and hopped on top. His footing nearly slipped.

One guard was sent to run reconnaissance and growled upon the sight of his fallen comrades. He charged in closer, looking for a sign of the attacker.

Seth dove down and struck the guard in the back of the neck, putting him down in a pile with his comrades. He then took a moment to catch his breath and plan his next move.

"_They'll realize something's up soon..." _There were five more guards around the back that he'd have to take down all at once.

"Haaaa..." He rolled his shoulders and then rotated one foot in the air, "Guess I'll just have to be quick, again."

His fleet feet didn't make a sound as he rounded the corners to the remaining guards. He drew two chips for safety and flung them the moment he recognized their positions.

He managed to knock two out while the rest raised their heads in shock. They turned their scaly faces upon him and readied their weapons.

In that time he managed to run up and clock the guard on the left with his nunchucks, hitting the back of their neck against the wall.

As that one slid down he swung his right foot up and pressed down on the next guard's gun, breaking the barrel off. Still just to be safe he flicked a chip into the reactor.

The last guard got in close, aimed at his chest, and pulled the trigger. Seth bit his teeth down and kneed the rifle so it'd fire past his head.

The guard then fired again but he pulled away and roundhouse kicked the guard's neck. The guard blocked with the side of his gun and aimed the barrel down his leg.

"_This must be a Squad Captain!" _Seth fell on his back to avoid the shot and used his elbow to propel his feet into the guard's chest.

While they staggered back he landed on his feet and pulled out a chip. When he threw it the guard stabbed a claw into it and chuckled.

Seth clenched his fists and muttered "I'm wasting time here" then rushed in and threw a few jabs at the guard's chest. The guard raised his gun and fired, giving Seth ample time to slip around him and karate chop the back of his neck.

After a weak growl, they finally went down.

Just when he thought he could catch his breath, the communicator activated, "I heard some gunfire. Don't tell me you blew our cover!"

Noel's tone was unsurprised but quiet. Seth tapped his ear and remarked back with some impatience, "We're fine. Now where are you?"

"First floor. I've knocked out all the guards and am heading up to the second floor."

"No sign of that superweapon?"

"Nothing yet. But if you somehow find it first, don't touch it. I'll handle it."

Seth turned around and took a couple steps forward, "You know, I did handle a few superweapons when we were a team."

"I guess so." She said with a plain lack of interest.

"Will you relax? You know when it comes to missions I'm always at the top of my game."

"Oh, like how you were on top of Cat?" Her voice got more pissy.

"Is this really the time Noel?" So he got pissy back. And then there was no answer.

"...Haaaa." With a very frustrated growl he threw his hand down and shook his head.

There were bigger fish to fry right now, "The first floor's been cleared, then..."

He ran back around to the edge of the fortress and saw a few of the guards positioned around the cages. He steeled his body and slid down the wall to land quietly behind the cages.

One of the younger Halfids crawled up to the bars and gripped them tightly, his mouth agape with awe. Seth whispered to them to be silent as he inched around the cage and approached the nearby guard.

He quickly wrapped his nunchuck's chain around their neck and pulled them towards the ground. But they got to flail around a bit and, in the process, banged their claws along the bars.

"_Shit...!" _After that talk of screwing up and everything...

Two of the closer guards looked over their shoulders and froze up at the sight of their ally's unconscious body. He had already dashed off behind a rock protrusion for cover.

The two guards kicked their ally over and then grunted at each other. One walked off with gun armed, while the other aimed theirs at the cage and started taking on a threatening tone, "(Where's the intruder?!)"

The Halfids huddled together in the back corner and the guard stuffed their barrel between the bars with an itchy trigger finger, "(We have plenty of your kind to spare! Choose! Live or die!)"

Seth buckled his fists and ran up, grabbing the guards' skull and smashing it back against the ground before their trigger finger could budge.

The guard that left turned around and Seth grit his teeth in a scowl. He ran up to that guard in a second and delivered a roundhouse kick past their gun to the back of their neck.

He then used his foot to pin them to the ground and backflip onto the rock protrusion behind them. There he flipped around and saw ten more guards staring his way.

They raised their guns his way and the moment they were about to fire he said "Sorry Noel" and dropped to the ground.

His surroundings were covered in blaster fire as he weaved between them, delivering swift kicks to the back of their necks or throwing chips when he saw an opening.

Five guards went down in ten seconds while the rest were scattered by the confusion. Two of them ran at Seth while unloading heavy fire. He ducked beneath and they went for a claw attack instead.

He grabbed their wrists and shoved them into each other's reactors. They got it worse off than their comrades when it came to voltage, but they were still alive, just barely.

He rushed around and tried to keep the gunfire aimed towards the walls. He vaulted over a cage and delivered a diving kick to the back of a guards' neck, then hopped off and spin kicked the guard behind them.

He zipped around and slapped a chip on the last trio's reactors, putting them down for the count. His body had worked up a real sweat but...

Just one look back at the smiles of the Halfids was reward enough.

His own smile turned into a determined frown as he looked back up at the mighty fortress and muttered, "Its not over yet..."

He hastened his way past the cages and ran up the wall, taking a powerful leap off the edge to get to the third floor.

The guards stationed there faced him and received a chip to their reactors for their troubles, then fell to the second floor.

"_They were on high alert. Did something else happen while I was...?" _

The alarms started blaring throughout the fortress, and the remaining guards would soon be on the move. He grit his teeth with a scoff and turned to the left.

He started dashing for the door when it suddenly came flying off with a poor guard stuck to it. He slid beneath it and stood to find Noel responsible.

She strut out onto the walkway and brushed her hand beside her face, "What did you do?!"

He grit his teeth and the urge to muster a response was ruined by the sight of a guard sneaking up behind her.

He dashed ahead, vaulting over her shoulder to drive his feet into the guard's reactor. The guard was electrocuted unconscious and sent flying out a window.

He nearly stumbled down the staircases on landing. He then looked over his shoulder and said, "Its not like you to miss that."

Noel clicked her tongue and scowled, "Shut up."

"Noel..." He grunted with a hint of frustration.

"(There they are! The Planetary Aurians!)" One of the guards alerted their comrades and then aimed their gun at them.

Noel cracked her knuckles and rolled her head around, "Go ahead and try it you scaly bastard!"

The gun fired and she threw a swift punch to deflect the laser back into the guard's reactor. Then a dozen more guards came piling into the area.

Seth leaped over Noel and spun his extended nunchucks around to deflect the incoming laser fire, "I'll get us in closer!"

"Forget about it, I can handle this!" Noel leaped over him and he shouted at her to stop.

But his voice was deafened by the thunderclap of her fist hitting the air, smashing the ground so hard it slanted it and threw the guards all over the place.

One hit her out of the air and caused her to drop down next to Seth's feet, where it then tried to attack with its claw and teeth.

Noel grabbed both ends of its jaws and forced it open, then stabbed the whole thing into the floor where it couldn't break free. She then slapped a chip onto its reactor and stood up, clapping her hands.

"Noel, what's going on?" Seth said with concern.

Noel turned and gruffly scoffed at him, "What are you on about now?"

"You're acting like a brute," He said, "Is this because you lost your job recently or...?"

"I'm fine ok!" She exclaimed angrily, "Focus on the damn mission!"

The sounds of many guns clicking came from above and they saw the guards lined up on the boundary of the fourth floor.

Seth stood his ground and used the nunchucks to deflect laser fire while moving to the right. Noel dashed away and then upon reaching the end of the road, leaped up to the next fire and wound up a punch to try and bowl the guards down.

Another Squad Captain rolled up and tackled Jupiter off-guard, proceeding to grab her by the scarf and hoist her over the edge.

"(The legendary Bloodfist Demon, snared like a bird!)"

"Noel!" Seth kept his nunchucks twirling and made a mad dash for her location.

She doubled the size of her leg muscles and kicked the guard so hard his armor shattered right off. She then landed on the edge and looked prepared to take a tumble, only for Seth to pull her up in the nick of time.

She swatted his hand away and said, "I can handle these guys myself!"

The remaining guards aimed their guns and she dove right at them, bobbing and weaving around as the laser fire scraped over her rippling biceps and calves. She launched a couple guards into the sky with a punch as two others charged at her and grappled themselves around her waist and tried to toss her over the side.

Seth ran up and kicked one of the guards in the face, allowing Noel to throw the other one straight through to the canyon opening.

Seth had to duck before he was hit in the process.

As he took the lead and deflected more laser fire he remarked, "We can get this done faster if we work together!"

"Teamwork ain't a requirement! Especially not with you!" Noel shouted as she took a leap over his nunchucks and drove her fist into the hard steel, sending a shockwave that knocked the guards into the air.

Seth clicked his tongue and started thrusting both ends of his nunchucks at the guards' reactors, using shotgun blasts to pick off the farther ones.

"You're acting like a brat Noel!" He exclaimed.

More guards were coming. He could feel his patience reaching its limits...

"Its not my fault you're the way you are!" She declared while throwing herself into the deadly fray, taking out a few guards while the rest pile on top trying to get a shot in.

He joined in and attacked the guards with quick strikes to separate them off of her. But as they bumped shoulder-to-shoulder he shouted, "Then what?! How am I supposed to know what's wrong if you won't tell me?!"

She bumped him off and turned around with her teeth tight in a scowl, "What's it matter when you'll do nothing with it like you always do?!"

He paused in shock and took a brief moment to mutter, "What do you mean...?"

She turned around with a scoff and backhanded a guard in the throat, "Forget it."

"NO!" He screamed and stamped his foot down.

She froze in place and looked over her shoulder. He was mad, absolutely so. He stared her straight in the eyes without fear and pressed his finger against her chest, "I've taken enough of your crap trying to get a straight answer out of you!"

"Don't..." She wound her fist back and he immediately ducked under her armpit as she threw a punch, "TOUCH ME!"

She took out a guard behind him and he glued his back to hers. Both of them, drenched in sweat, were being walled in by more guards, armed with deadlier looking guns.

She jabbed him with her shoulder blade while tightening her fists and shouted, "So you'll have the balls to stand up to me but when Cat crawls all over you you sit there and take it?! W-What the hell's up with that?!"

Her stuttering tone was on the brink of mad laughter, a sentiment he felt little sympathy for right now.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't want that to happen?!"

"Oh bullshit! You let it happen, what's it matter what you wanted?!" The two parted ways to fend off the ensuing horde of lizardmen, but their steeled fists were pointed more at one another's throats.

"That's always been your problem! You get in trouble all the time but you never do anything to change that! I-Its like you're satisfied wallowing in mediocrity all your life!" She fired off a particularly loud punch to bowl over the charging guards.

Seth's heart raced and he narrowly avoided the feral scratches of his foes, "T-That's not it at all...!"

"Then what is it?!" She shouted.

"How can I ever hope to stand out when I'm surrounded by such amazing friends?!" His sudden outburst caught them both unawares. But there was no putting the genie back in the bottle now...

He grit his teeth and glanced over his shoulder, "I-I'm not smart like Catherine, or wise like Gabriel. I don't know magic like your sister and Uranus. I'm not that strong either, even Venus can put up more of a fight than me..."

As he felled the remaining guards on his side he hunched over and started panting with his hands on his knees. He tried to look over his shoulder and found Noel slowly turning back to look at him.

"And you? You're strong, you're smart, you're fun to be around...You've always been able to do anything you put your mind to. Its...why I'm still in love with you in the first place."

Noel's silence didn't matter. He said what he wanted, and it got a load off his chest.

"Idiot..." She muttered.

More guards were running in, armed with ultraviolet beam sabers and no reactors in sight. The top of the elite in the Klaggs ranks.

As the two took aim at their foes they wound up stumbling back-to-back, and Noel was trembling. She closed her eyes and remarked, "You have something the rest of us don't have...The biggest heart."

"I-Its not...that big." He muttered.

"God I just...don't get it with you. You never brag about anything, you're always taken life in stride, and you'll foil perfectly good plans if it means saving a life," She cracked a dry chuckle, "Its...why I fell in love with you back then."

"...Where did we go wrong Noel?" Seth said with a relaxed sigh.

"I guess...we should've had this conversation much sooner, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Everything just kind of...happened so fast after that day. Gravitus died, I lost my job because of what Catherine dug up on him..."

"Noel," The two looked over their shoulders at their eyes, "You never needed that job to prove anything. You'll always be a hero in my eyes."

Her smile wobbled and she quickly turned away with her fists tightened by her hips, "Yeah then...We can't exactly fail here, can we?"

Seth faced the incoming elites and armed his nunchucks, "Ready when you are."

"Lets tear them down!"

It was a massacre of the highest order. These "elites" were reduced to rookies in the face of their teamwork. They had them all defeated in a minute without taking a hit.

The two of them then fell on their butts with their backs together and took a hard, long look at each other. They were drenched in so much sweat that they looked terrible.

"Heh, guess that's the last of them huh?" She said with a bright, pearly smile.

"I-I sure hope so..." Seth leaned his head back and huffed loudly, "Whew!"

"(Not so fast, Planetary Aurians!)" The feral growl of a Klagg, stronger and echoing unlike the rest, came from the roof of the fortress.

This Klagg stood clad in pitch black armor with hold highlights, a foot taller than the rest of his kind. He had no weapons to speak of, just a remote in his right hand.

"The Commander...!" Seth exclaimed.

"Jet Black Ankro!" Noel added on.

The Klagg clicked a button on his remote and the whole fortress quaked. A massive pillar rose from the roof, a pulsating ray gun aimed at the surface surrounded by a thick energy field.

Seth's eyes widened and he gasped, "A Planet Cracker...?!"

"(A parting gift from the late, great Gravitus!)" Ankro stretched his claws out and reared his head in laughter, "(You and this whole planet will soon perish!)"

"And you along with it!" Seth exclaimed.

"(A meager price to pay for the message my death will send!)" Ankro threw his fanged snout towards the two and bellowed, "(Gravitus was Power! Power was Righteousness! You justice loving neanderthals think you'll be able to keep this fractured empire together?!)"

The Planet Cracker started charging up to full power, its energy pulsing through the fortress and down into the planet's surface.

"(HA HA HA! May this planet be the firecracker that sparks anarchy throughout the universe! YOU ARE FINISHED, LONG LIVE THE GRAVITUS EMP-)"

"RAAAAH!" Noel through everything she got into firing an air bullet into Ankro, launching him into the Planet Cracker's barrier. He didn't get out a yell before disintegrating instantly.

She then bent down and leaped up to the roof with Seth following suit with a stunned expression.

She ran right up to the Planet Cracker and stretched her knuckles. Then, digging her fingers underneath the laser, she tripled the size of her biceps and started pulling.

"What are you doing? We have to evacuate the planet!" Seth hollered.

"I-If I can just...flip this thing around...!"

"Noel!" He shouted in a panic.

"What're you standing around for? You can't afford to wait! This'll go off any second!"

It was doubt. She smiled but doubted what she was doing.

Seth arched his brows and ran forward without a second thought to grab onto the laser beside her.

"Wha-!"

"I'm going to put my all into this! We're getting through this together!" He grunted and tugged, overwhelming all his senses.

Noel continued her efforts as the Planet Cracker sent terrifying vibrations through the planet. Every muscle, every sinew put their all into lifting this damn thing out of alignment.

There was sudden, deafening silence, and for a couple seconds Seth felt like he was going to black out. He fell onto his back with a hard "Thud" and his heart beat hastened to fatalistic levels.

The world was quiet for a moment, and then the black sky was lit up by a big, bright green laser. He was sent tumbling out of control, nearly falling off the edge before Noel managed to grab him by the leg.

A rush of blood to the head woke him up a little, and he let out a slight panicked gasp.

Noel tugged him back up as the shockwaves from the cannon faded. He stood and kept staring up into space, as the beam went farther and farther away.

Seth closed his eyes and let out the biggest breath imaginable, "Whew, that was too close...!"

He turned to Noel and said, "You pulled it off, never should've worried..."

She patted him on the back and with a slight blush in her cheeks said, "WE...pulled it off...partner."

With a soft wink she pulled her hand away and the two of them watched the beam continue to speed away.

"...It'll go off eventually right?" She remarked.

"I think so. These things never went off with Catherine around."

The two looked at each other and Seth started to rub the back of his head slowly, "S-So uhhh...Does this mean we're back together now or...?"

She playfully gestured her hand out from her hip and said, "I think we should take it slow, maybe talk it out some more first..."

"Y-Yeah! You're right. Wouldn't want to rush back into things..." He tried to turn away but his eyes locked onto hers and wouldn't budge.

She stared back with a weak smile, and a deep, throbbing lump traveling down her throat.

"_Wow, she looks...really good with all that sweat on her face."_ His heart pounded against his chest very loudly.

He started to close his eyes and move in closer. He collided with her forehead when she tried to go in as well. They backed away and muttered "Sorry" awkwardly and tried to look away.

Nevertheless their eyes met and he said, "Maybe one wouldn't hurt..."

"Yeah, totally..." Noel initiated the second attempt and pressed her lips against his. It was short, but sweet. His heart started fluttering as they pulled apart, like it was wrapped up in a bush of butterflies.

"Whoa..." He whispered.

"Whoa..." She did the same.

The two's eyes widened and they pulled each other closer, locking lips feverishly as they held their waists tight. Their center of gravity plummeted towards the ground, as their intimacy roared into an uncontrollable frenzy.

Above, the Planet Cracker went off as a massive, beautiful explosion to highlight the two's acts of passion.

_Sometime later, at Catherine's space station..._

Catherine was doing her paces in the docking bay in front of a series of holographic monitors. As her two companions approached she stopped in place and faced them with a smile.

"Welcome back you two! Mission was a complete succ-" Her eyes froze wide-open and her pupils shrank.

Seth's vest was half torn off and his pants were in a slack. Noel's hair was super messy, her bra was torn slightly, and her shorts hadn't been buttoned back up.

Both of them wore a strained smile and rubbed the back of their heads. Catherine blinked a few times and then with a hoarse cough pulled out her fancy clipboard and stared deep at it, "R-Right-o! Anyways, congratulations! We've impressed a LOT of people today!"

Seth perked up and said, "A lot of people? Wait, what are you talking about?"

Catherine perked up and slapped her forehead, "Oh yeah! I totally forgot to mention the important thing!"

She turned to the monitors and a bunch of different aliens appeared across them, "So guys, what do you think?"

The foremost alien, with a fish-like head and delicate business suit, pressed his finned hands together and nodded, "You and your comrades have proven your point Aurian Saturn. The amphibious clan of Planet Relaqua are honored to join the Coalition."

Before any of the others could speak Seth stepped forward and shouted, "Coalition? What?"

Catherine spun around with one hand behind her back and a big, proud smile on her face, "Over the last few weeks I've been spreading the word of Gravitus' acts of deceit, larceny and copyright infringement to many trustworthy allies I could in hopes of assembling a new Galactic Coalition focused on protecting the peace!"

She closed her eyes and nudged her glasses up to give the lens their usual shine, "Your mission to that world showed some of our doubters that we can be trusted to help preserve the peace, that we AREN'T blindly loyal to that old tyrant's ways anymore!"

"C-Catherine, you..."

She perked upright and shouted, "Justice doesn't rest just cause it runs into a roadblock! A lotta races are out there suffering at the hands of warmongers and opportunists. We can't be wasting time on internal politics and bickering! We gotta unite as one and protect those who can't fend for themselves!"

She crossed her arms firmly and declared triumphantly, "Today is the day we form C.O.G.S.! The Coalition Overseeing Galactic Security! Pretty badass name isn't it?!"

Seth and Noel were too tired to even stare blankly at her face. Noel gestured her hand out and remarked, "So are we gonna put the team back together for this?"

"Uh-huh! The Galaxy Riders are officially back in action to headline the security force!" Catherine replied.

"...Can we start justicing in the morning? We're kinda tired." Seth remarked.

Catherine flinched and then boldly declared, "O-Of course! Justice needs its beauty sleep after all! But starting TOMORROW...!"

She pointed one finger up towards the heavenly stars beyond, "LET JUSTICE BE DONE!"

_Next Time: An Old Samurai and Modern Times_


	56. Chapter 55

"_I have a rather simple routine. I wake up, meditate in my garden, go into town to enjoy a simple cup of coffee or perhaps, if I'm feeling a little wild, tea. Then I walk through the city, and see how my fellow Aurians are doing. I'll wave them hello and they'll say "hello" back. Though I've found there's a lot of...__**unique**__ ways to say "Hello" these days."_

"_Once my stroll through town is over I have lunch, a salad topped with croutons, a dash of lemon zest and a hint of vinegar. Then I pass by Lady Auris' house and see how her and the kids are doing, perhaps stick around long enough to enjoy one of her __**divine**__ dinners...and when that's over with I return to the garden, and meditate myself to sleep."_

"_Its a very simple routine but one I am very fond of."_

"_But today is different. I woke up to a letter on my lap addressed from Lady Auris to come see her. Intrigued, naturally, I walked straight to her house. I found her on the couch, drinking her morning coffee, where she immediately said to me..."_

**Chapter 55: "Find something new to do, Gabriel."**

And she calmly withdrew back to her brew without missing a beat.

"...I-I beg your pardon, Lady Auris?" He replied with a raised brow and bewildered half-smile.

She laid her glass upon her soft, warm lap and stirred the cream floating at the top with a plain, but effective turn of the wrist. The whole while her eyes never opening in acknowledgment of his presence. There was a slight air of mischief surrounding her, her small, impish smile giving herself away.

"You've found yourself in a rut recently, Gabriel," Her voice was angelic, just quiet enough to still hear but soft to soothe any lost soul, "Day in, day out, you've trapped yourself in an infinite loop of your routine."

"With all due respect," He said, keeping his tone at the barest minimum of defiant sounding, "I have done other things lately."

"At the prompting of others." Leave it to her to cut straight to the point.

Gabriel flinched, tingling up his arms, and he closed his eyes slightly out of shame, "You may have a point there..."

But though a difficult foe in the battle of the minds, she is not beyond reason. Gracefully extending his hand he stated, "But I see no harm in following a routine. It makes the different days even more exciting."

She set her cup on the table and it rang out like a small hammer hitting glass. She then rose to her feet and stared with her smile slowly creeping wider by the second.

Her giggles still retained their youthful, disarming nature and even he, loathe to admit it, stood no chance against their power coupled with the concern she expressed, "Do this for me, Gabriel. Please?"

He breathed in deep and let it out slowly, ending on a smile to match hers, "Very well, Lady Auris. I'll give it a try."

She bowed and, with nothing more to say, returned to her coffee. Though with that said, he had but one question left to ask, "What...do you suggest I do?"

She retaliated with a somewhat stern glare as she said, "Figure it out yourself."

"_To press further would be akin to poking a wasps nest." _Gabriel found himself shivering from head-to-toe and slowly turned to face the door.

He took a moment of silence to ponder the task set before him, _"Something new...Why, Sancturia is far from devoid of unexplored ventures, but where would I even begin...?"_

"Race you down sis! Last one there smells like a skunk!"

"Shina, you're gonna put the baby in danger again!"

Gabriel expressed a curious hum as he turned to the stairs and found Shina sliding down the rail on her butt, with Kairi rushing down the steps with panic in her eyes.

Shina landed at the bottom and stumbled until she was right in front of him, flailing her arms out the entire time. She wore her normal set of clothes but nearly four months into her pregnancy her belly was starting to poke out from under her shirt.

Kairi got the bottom of the stairs and the two quarreled for a bit, bringing a smile to his face.

"Oh!" Shina suddenly perked up and turned to her right, "Mornin', Gabriel! You're here early today!"

After a chuckle he gestured to them and asked, "What's the hurry you two?"

Shina slapped her arm on the back of Kairi's neck and pulled her in closer, "WE'RE going shopping!"

"_Shopping?"_ A curious spark ignited in his mind and he began to rub his chin, _"Daresay, I can't recall the last time I ever did that. And on top of that, isn't a mall a conglomerate of unique places to explore?"_

As the sisters waved to their mother on the way out the door Gabriel pushed one step towards them and remarked, "Wait. I'll come with you."

The two froze stiff as stone and looked back at him like they were seeing a ghost. Kairi then made a confusing remark, "A-Are you...feeling ok, Gabriel?"

He knew what they were getting at but humored them by playing the answer straight, "I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"I dunno," Shina curled a fist against her mouth and chuckled, "He's looking kinda...GREEN!"

Kairi pulled her head back and groaned.

He got a brief laugh out of it though, "I don't mean to intrude, if you don't want me to come-"

Kairi folded her arms under her chest and mumbled, "I-I guess you're not the worst guy who could tag along with us."

She then tossed an aside glance at him and said, "Just...don't say anything embarrassing out loud, please?"

Gabriel blinked a few times and said, "Ok...?"

As they exited the house he wondered, _"What could she possibly mean by-?"_

_A few minutes later..._

"_Oh."_

His giant frame combined with his outdated choice of clothes made him stick out like a sore thumb among these racks of clothes in the women's department.

He'd heard tales of this place before but never had reason to explore it. The colors of this place were much brighter than the men's department, and daresay it reminded him of a flowery meadow.

He was not the sole man here but he was certainly the centerpiece of attention for everyone else trying to do their shopping. Women young and old looked at him with curiosity, confusion, and the occasional lust. The men stared and dragged their heads down, relating to his dilemma with an expression of pity.

He looked at Kairi and Shina and saw them fiddling through the shirts at the moment. There were so many designs to go through and none of them repeated.

And though he prided himself on being a well-spoken man with a voluminous vocabulary, the talk between these sisters came across as an alien language. What were "cups" in reference to exactly, and why did Shina saying it make Kairi get all flustered?

"_I am completely out of my element here..." _Gabriel rested his hands by his hips and sighed to his lonesome but nevertheless, steeled his nerves, _"But I must endure, for Lady Auris' sake."_

He looked between the two sisters and tried to engage in their conversation a little, "What type of shirt are you looking for?"

They turned and blinked like they had forgotten he was here. Then Shina took the shirt in her hands and pulled them at the shoulders, "I need something big and stretchable for my belly."

She then wiggled her brows towards Kairi, who was holding up a striped shirt with two shades of green on it, "Sis here's looking for some shirts to show off her body to a _certain someone_."

Kairi scrunched the poor shirt against her chest and her cheeks turned red.

"S-Shut up...!" She whispered out.

Shina hung her shirt over her shoulder and snatched the one out of her sister's hands, tossing it back onto the shelves without a care, "You're too conservative, sis."

She then dipped into the neatly laid clothes and ruined how they were arranged in a hunt for one specific shirt.

"Here we go!" She announced with aplomb, hopping up and dangling a rather...interesting shirt before their eyes.

It had straps to go over the shoulders but...could they even qualify as strings? He had to strain his eyes just to see them. And the rest of the fabric...just how much of the body could it even cover?

Shina proudly held this shirt up to Kairi's beet red face and told her, "Wear this and it'll get his eyes rolling til he's seeing his brain!"

Kairi stared at the shirt with her eyes so utterly devoid of color. A sound was surfacing deep within her akin to a siren's screech.

Looking at that shirt forced a long sigh out of Gabriel, and he grabbed his chin to ponder things over, _"What has become of fashion these days? The women of this day and age are so...brazen and bold with their clothing, flashing their cleavage and midriffs in public without a care."_

He was reminded of simpler days, _"Why, back then you only bared your skin to consummate with your precious one. I still fondly remember passing by many a tempting beauty, wrapped tightly in garments of silk and threadbare robes, their eyes alit with a passionate glow envied by the stars..."_

He gave a slight nod and then looked towards Kairi calmly, "You don't need to display yourself so brazenly Kairi."

His words got both sister's attention perfectly ensnared in his grasp, "Any man worth his salt will love you for who you are...On the inside, AND outside."

He smiled proudly at the two. Shina courteously bobbed her head in agreement.

"..." Kairi raised her brows sharply and muttered, "You're shittin' me right, Gabriel?"

His eyes widened as he watched Kairi brush him off with a frustrated scoff and then waved her hand out towards Shina without looking at her, "G-Give me that shirt, Shina. N-Not because Mew would like it or anything though...!"

Shina slowly pushed the shirt forth with a smile while Gabriel found himself with, what do they say? "Egg on his face?"

"Ah," He gently rubbed his chin and said, "This was all about Mew, I should've guessed."

"N-No! Its not! Its totally not!" Kairi started flapping the shirt directly up and down Gabriel's body, and he felt his body being pushed away against its will.

He looked down with a blank stare and nervously closing his eyes shut, _"I feel I overstepped my bounds somewhere..."_

He silently endured the rest of the shopping trip and then politely pardoned himself from their group, leaving the mall having felt he knew less now than he did going in.

He tilted his head to gaze at the sun and sighed heavily, "Have I really become that detached from time?"

The answer was a solemn "Yes", through which he found the resolve to admit, "Perhaps before I try anything else, I should consult someone who can relate to the youths of today."

An immediate answer sprung to mind as he walked through the streets, _"Catherine. She's energetic and youthful. That bright brain of hers ought to know a thing or two that could help me."_

He strolled over to the Pyramid and went to her floor, _"The portal's still active. Good."_

He went through it to wind up in her space station. His gaze wandered through the area, reminding him how little time has actually passed since he last stepped foot inside.

"_Its been a peaceful time." _Everyone had earned their time to rest. But Catherine, bless her soul, could be seen working tirelessly at her computer on the opposite end of the garage.

The complexities of her setup were lost on him but the effort was not. She was the maestro of technology and the keyboards played to her tune. Those tiny fingers of hers dancing from place to place in the blink of an eye.

The quiet, heavy steps he made were not even a blip on her radar. A more rougher measure, manifesting as a cough, aroused her from her trance.

"Hmmm?" She perked up from her hovering seat and turned to face him with a greeting smile, slipping the loose glasses back into place, "Oh! This is a surprise, Gabe!"

"Catherine." He gave a brief bow as she hopped out of her seat and reciprocated in kind.

"Got any troubles that need solving again?" She said playfully.

"As a matter of fact..." He detailed his dilemma in simple enough terms and she nodded approvingly by the end.

"Ah, I get ya!" She gave a dashing smile and crossed her arms upon her chest, "You came to the perfect girl! I'm young, I'm hip, and I got it going on!"

"Then what should I do?" He said with a kindly gesture of his hand.

"I have NO IDEA!" She said, springing her eyes wide open and masking the severe blow she dealt with her own confidence.

Gabriel itched the side of his beard for a few seconds.

"Sorry Gabe! 110% of my brain goes into technology! When it comes to the latest trends?" She stuck the tip of her tongue out and made a dull sputtering sound.

"I see." He bemoaned softly.

She tapped her right toes on the ground and then suddenly snapped her fingers up, "Hey I know! You can help me work on some of my tech!"

"..." Gabriel stared her straight in the eyes and cracked a thin smile, "Heh."

Her smile broke with a snicker and the two shared a stifled laugh for a few seconds, ending with her hunched over to catch her breath.

"Ahhhh." She sighed and wiped a wandering tear off her right eye as she rose.

Then she spun around and picked up a tablet on her desk, brandishing it straight into his burly chest, "Tell you what Gabe, you work on this for me for a bit, and I'll try getting in contact with Jupes to ask her for advice!"

He took the tablet out of her hands and stared at a list of names originated from many different but familiar worlds. At the top was the label for her new organization, "C.O.G.S." She had each letter overlaid onto a different colored gear to contrast the color of the letters themselves. Behind it was a starry backdrop.

"Ah, this must be the roster of leaders backing your organization."

"Yep!" She said upon hopping onto her chair for a spin, "Gotta divide division leadership among everyone best qualified for the job! It ain't as easy as I thought it'd be though..."

"I'll lessen the workload for you."

"Much appreciated Gabe!" She waved him off and returned to her computer in peace.

He held the tablet to his waist in one hand and wandered away from her workspace to the elevator in the center of the room.

"_I recall there being a garden on the 14__th__ floor." _He pressed the corresponding button and took a gentle ride through the glass tube while staring at the tablet.

"Hmm, all these names belong to leaders who backed Gravitus' empire..." And there was no better place to start than at the top.

"Pluminx from the Tesla Sector," He stared into the one-eyed disciplined face of a cat man with a combed back mane and found himself wandering into the past, "Third in the family line as Emperor of his people. He assisted us in stopping the insurgency in the Tesla Mining Region, and then signed an accord with Gravitus to share partial quarry from the mines..."

Catherine had put a blank space next to his name and touching it popped a list of leadership roles that needed to be filled.

"Fierce, dependable, a fair man to his people..." He tapped the "Supplies" mark and muttered, "He'll keep everyone well-stocked."

Next up was a squinty eyed reptilian creature with a coat collar made of fangs and a bottom jaw lacking in teeth, "Camormidus of Planet Eadine. He partook in the War of Five Worlds with a considerable army and only lost a handful of soldiers thanks to sharp thinking, and even sharper claws. He believes that war can only be stopped with war, but he tends to take great care towards the lives of his people."

His finger drifted towards "Military" only to hesitate, and instead move towards "Strategy", tensely hovering between the two for a few seconds.

"He has the potential to save many lives..." He dropped down to "N/A" and let out a deep breath, "But his methods may come at too great a cost."

The elevator jiggled to a stop and the doors slid open. He calmly walked out and caught a whiff of the floral life nearby.

He turned and gestured his left hand towards the arboretum, tickling the underside of the thick, veiny petal of a Florana Rose along the way.

She had gathered many plants from across the universe in this one place. Some got along in the ecosystem better than others, certainly, but this was a one-of-a-kind view that he couldn't get anywhere else. And for that, he could look past a little mishandling here or there.

There was a subtle beauty to the imperfection this garden had. Not many could appreciate it. He had to stop and look it over, picking out what had changed since he was last here.

"Ah, there's some ivy crawling beneath the stems here..." He leaned in and reached out, but the "ivy" whipped its head out and spewed drips of venom with a hiss.

He retracted his hand and stared at the serpent's four hungering eyes arranged in a square at the tips of its spread mouth. Its tongue rattled around against its slimy maw as it slowly closed shut, and the creature returned to its natural habitat.

"_That's a new one," _He withdraw back with a mild chuckle, _"Perhaps that can count as a new experience?"_

He felt a cold chill resting on the back of his neck for a brief moment, and stuttered.

"Never mind." He withdrew back towards the tablet and wandered a few steps away.

"Well well." Came a voice he thought he'd never hear from again reminding him that, on top of being a garden, this floor also acted as a prison.

He turned away from his job with a coarse glare at one of many cells stacked against the wall. Cuffed to the point of impotence in both arms and legs, the once pale king Pluto sat not on a throne of gold, but a cold, steel stool, with all the comfort it could provide robbed from him.

Shadows dangled under his eyes thanks to the glow of the chain around his neck, as time continued to knead its claws into his disheveled face. All the energy he could muster, wasting away on a smirk.

"To what do I owe this displeasure?"

"Pluto..." Gabriel growled softly, and turned away.

"That tablet in your hand..." The king gripped his invisible iron hand on his shoulder and remarked with a harsh chuckle, "Playing taskmaster for the girl's newest make-believe team are we?"

Gabriel tucked the tablet behind his back and cautiously approached the cage, _"Even a cornered beast can still bite..."_

He stopped ten feet away, and knelt to maintain direct eye contact with this man.

Pluto's dirty smile rested into a frown, no doubt expressing his own, twisted definition of pity, "Poor girl. Betrayed by the man she saw as a savior, only to then chase his shadow in futility."

His eyes raised with a sinister gleam, his tone in turn got deeper, and cold, "Even though she already runs from her own..."

He can talk big, but his weaknesses laid bare on his sleeve for Gabriel to exploit, "Is that really the proper thing to say, coming from the 'Disgraced King'?"

"Heh," Pluto's dry chuckle came as a surprise, "I speak only the truth. She cannot bring peace to the universe. And if you're a part of her game of make-believe then you're an even greater fool than I have known."

"Today..." Gabriel took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, "I am merely a friend helping a friend."

He raised his hand to his chin and gave it a soft rub, imagining a puzzled look on the pale elf's face, "But... if you want my honest opinion, I am somewhat inclined to agree."

"Oh?" Pluto bemoaned curiously.

Gabriel gestured his hand forward off the chin and remarked curtly, "She alone cannot bring peace to the universe. It'll take the efforts of the many, not the few."

"And here for a moment I thought you had an inkling of sense behind that mold ridden face of yours..." Pluto answered with a light scoff.

"Do you still believe yourself worthy of being a king?" Gabriel proposed with a firm, but gentle tone.

Pluto paused, sitting hunched over deep in thought. He then shook his head, chuckling to his lonesome.

"The lies of Gravitus' making do not change his truths. The universe is rotten, and it requires change, direct change, to make a difference."

"And you're the one who can make that change happen?"

"If not me then who?" Whispered the pale elf.

Gabriel paused and sat there, alone in his thoughts for an entire minute. He closed his eyes with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his gut as he responded, "Perhaps...there is no one person capable of saving the universe anymore."

"The Elemental Overlord, the Dark King, even Gravitus..." Pluto tried to gesture his hand out and spoke with a powerful gravitas, "Movers! Shakers! Gods, toiling among men! Their lives have shaped the fates of many worlds, even to this day!"

"...But even they could not fix that which is incomprehensibly broken."

"...Mmrrr," Gabriel placed his hands on his knees and shook his head, "I am still willing to hedge my bets on one individual to make a change where all else have failed."

"Oh?" Pluto hummed curiously, "And whom might that be?"

"You know who he is," Gabriel remarked with a knowing smirk, "You owe your new throne to him, after all."

Pluto grimaced and raised his brows in laughter, "Him?! A fine sense of humor you have there, Gabriel."

"We owe our lives to him in more ways than one. Mock him for his naivete if you wish, Pluto, but his strange way of thinking has started to bring out the best in all of us..." Gabriel stood and took one last look at the king's unamused face, "Even you."

The pale elf sank into a welcome silence, while he made his way back to the elevator. He pulled his head back and breathed out a deep sigh as this talk, inadvertently, gave him an idea.

"Mew." He whispered.

He stared at the buttons for a good while with his hand hovering over the one to the 1st floor.

He pulled away, sorting out a few more members on Saturn's roster to pass the time while his thoughts laid elsewhere, _"It feels rude of me to have not considered him sooner. Perhaps I felt a sense of guilt in asking for his help again, when I already owe him so much. But no, he hardly thinks of such things. He helps people without a second thought, not doing it for any sort of reward, or celebration of his deeds. Daresay if I could it down to one reason, I was simply embarrassed at the thought."_

He held his head up high from the tablet and after another sigh, swiftly pressed the button to the 1st floor, _"Wouldn't be the first time this old man's learned some humility, eh, Sarajin?"_

Once at the bottom he walked out and Saturn rolled on up beside him and he handed her the tablet, "My apologies, Catherine, I got a little distracted."

"That's fine, Gabe! Hey listen, I asked Jupes and she said-"

"No need," His curt response brought her to a standstill, "I've found my answer."

He turned his head with a smile and said, "I need you to send me to Mew's house."

She was understandably belligerent over his decision for a brief moment but nevertheless, got him to where he needed to be.

He didn't know what he came to expect from Mew's home but a humble two-story cottage in the mountains was on the lower end of his guesses.

The crisp air, blended with the fresh mountain scent, marked a perfect atmosphere for meditating in. And sitting off to the side was a bountiful garden of fresh fruits and vegetables that he could tell were kept lovingly maintained.

After a brief detour to examine the _fruits_ of Mew's labors, he wandered on up to his front door, made of a fine oak wood, and gave it a couple knocks.

"Are you there, Mew?" He said with an inviting tone.

"Gabriel?!" Came an illicit sound of shock from behind the door.

A moment later Mew pulled the door open and looked straight at him like he was seeing a ghost. He wore his usual attire of black shirt and blue jeans, with not a single bit out of place.

With a fond gesture Gabriel remarked, "May I?"

Mew shook his head and backed away from the door, "N-No, c'mon in!"

His voice was oddly quieter than usual.

He ducked through the door to finally get a look at the house behind the man. And his jaw dropped, _"I__ts all so...clean."_

Clean table, clean kitchen, clean halls. Why, there even was a lingering lemon scent in the air and the floors looked freshly vacuumed. Was he...expecting company?

Gabriel turned and looked Mew square in the eyes, who then rolled his shoulders as if to say "What?"

Gabriel placed his fist over his mouth and coughed to break the ice, "This is my first time in your house so I was just...admiring the decor."

"My bachelor pad's pretty snazzy eh?" Mew gleamed around at his house while Gabriel took a moment to look around some more.

"Where's Maria?" He wondered aloud.

"Ah, I accidentally fed her too many eggs for breakfast and she got a tummyache," Mew's voice softened up a little, "She's laying down and drinking some milk and honey I gave her. Even snuck in a couple medicinal herbs to help digestion."

Gabriel faced him and smiled, "I'll try and keep it down."

"Thanks," Mew smiled back then folded his arms against his chest, "Soooo, I'm guessing you aren't just here to say 'Hi'?"

There was a spark in his eye hungering for battle. Gabriel tried to let him down gently, "Its not what you think, Mew."

He explained the situation with Lady Auris and the events leading up to this point. Mew nodded along the way and when it was through, immediately snapped his fingers up and said, "I know just the thing."

He walked around him and down the hall to the door in the back. Gabriel overheard him saying to Maria, "I'm going to be playing with Gabriel for a bit, if you need me, ring the phone ok?"

Mew nodded a few seconds later and then quietly shut the door. He walked back with his hands behind his head and a curious glance towards him.

Gabriel was smiling from cheek-to-cheek, _"W__hat a good father..."_

Mew blinked twice and then dropped his hands to his sides, wandering towards the living room, "Follow me."

He pushed the table closer to the television and then got into the cabinet beneath the television. Fiddling around for a bit he pulled out two black devices attached to cords going into the cabinet. They had a rectangular shape with two curvy ends pointing downward, with two sticks, a directional pad, and four buttons arranged in a diamond with the symbols for "Square" "Triangle" "Circle" and "X" painted on.

The sticks showed wear and tear and the paint was fading on the buttons. Mew held one up proudly before him and said, "Go ahead and sit on the couch while I start this up."

Gabriel stared at the controller as he sat down on Mew's comfy couch, pressing and fiddling his thumb around on top of the left stick. It had smooth movement and could even be pushed down. The right stick responded the same.

The ends were easy to grip, even with his big hands. And this positioned his thumbs perfectly over the buttons.

"Fascinating!" He murmured, eyes widened in awe.

He pushed down, and his thumb pressed two buttons at the same time. He slowly lifted it off, and tried positioning it a little further down. The very tip of his thumb pressed the "Square" button too.

"No..." He succeeded on the third attempt.

"There we go!" Mew's sudden declaration surprised him. The boy hopped over the table and landed comfortably into the couch with his own device in hand and feet on the table.

The television turned on and he was greeted by a series of odd looking bars arranged in front of an azure backdrop.

_"Ah, this is a video game," _Gabriel nodded slowly, feeling a moment's hesitation creep up on him, _".__..Its not my style but_, _I'll give it an honest try."_

Mew guided a cursor to something called "Vs. Mode" and both of them had to guide an icon similar to their devices, which he called controllers, to separate sides of the screen.

Then following a brief fade to black, the game dropped an alarming white flash and they were brought to a new menu displaying even more icons shaped like hexagons, 35 in total he counted.

A tune that could only be described as heavy metal played as a pair of cursors hovered over two of the icons, causing portraits of two unknown figures to pop up off to the sides.

"What is this...?" He found himself muttering aloud, drawn in to the many colors and faces on display before him.

"Its BlazBlue: Central Fiction. An old classic, but one I come back to from time to time when I need to let off some steam." Mew promptly responded.

"Let off...steam?" Gabriel turned his head to him and raised a brow.

"Yeah its a fighting game," Mew sat up and gestured at the screen, "You pick a character you like and face off against another character in combat."

"Interesting..." Gabriel looked back at the screen and in response to moving the stick, the cursor moved as well. Hovering over different icons displayed different characters.

So video games can replicate even something like a one on one duel on the television screen, Gabriel felt an itch in his face from a smile beginning to grow, "I'll have to see how it compares to the real deal."

Yeah I figure someone like you can pick up the basics easily. Mew sank back into the couch and then locked his cursor onto someone called "Ragna the Bloodedge" He looked like a rough, unfriendly sort.

It was hard for him to pick someone he liked from the bunch. This game certainly had a thing for...barely dressed women, _"I__-I suppose this is just the modern day aesthetic..."_

But when his cursor drew over a figure in all white, goosebumps rose over his skin for a flash, "Lord...Hakumen?"

Mew pulled up and said, "Huh? You know who that is, Gabriel?"

Gabriel broke his usual stoicism to stand aghast towards what he was seeing, "I-I'm surprised you do!"

Oh yeah well... Mew rolled his shoulders and leaned back into the couch, "I know there's worlds based on video games...or, our video games are based on their worlds..."

While the point confused him for a moment he quickly got back on track, "T-The point is that me and Riku's travels helped us figure that out. But what about you?"

Gabriel stared at Hakumen's face and a fond smile glowed on his own face, "That's a story for another day, Mew. Lets just say..."

He pressed "X on the controller to lock Hakumen in and then glanced aside at his opponent, "I feel confident he'll carry me to victory."

Mew picked a song, then a stage, and after a brief loading period they were dropped into a battleground. And right after the counter went down, the moody shifted instantly.

Gabriel felt like a child dropped into a jungle, trapped beside a feral tiger. Mew left no chance for him to understand what he needed to do and went straight on the attack.

Assaulting him with aggressive blow after blow, Gabriel watched as a bar above his character plummeted down to empty in a matter of seconds.

He found his fingers scrambling across the buttons. It caused Hakumen to start drawing his sword, only for Ragna's attacks to stop it.

_"This isn't accurate at all. Such weak attacks wouldn't phase him!" _Gabriel's complaint was followed by his defeat in the first of three rounds.

He firmly grasped the controller in both hands and looked at the button, _"S__o the ones arranged in a diamond make Lord Hakumen attack." _

He stared at the screen, eyes steeled with determination, _"And__ the goal of the game seems to be to attack faster than your opponent can. I see..."_

He tried to press buttons to counter Mew's attacks, but Hakumen just seemed all-around slower than this...Ragna the Bloodedge.

_"Lord Hakumen's attacks were powerful but elegant. I suppose that doesn't translate well to this type of game..." _It **felt** like when he did land a hit on Ragna though, it took out a good chunk of his bar.

But alas, he lost another round, and thus the match. Mew stretched his hands up high and yawned, "Hmmm, you getting the hang of it ok there, Gabriel?"

Gabriel looked at his controller with a docile nod and Mew bluntly replied, "Good!"

He pressed "Rematch" without hesitation and they started another match. Gabriel tested the buttons some more and found that rotating the stick in certain ways changed Hakumen's attacks. But they were still a little slow.

After five more losses Gabriel tried to experiment with a button he hadn't tapped yet, the "X". When he clicked that Hakumen popped a shield and all of a sudden Mew halted Ragna's assault.

"!" Gabriel felt a twinge of nostalgia in his brain, _"Z__anshin!"_

A move that counters attacks. The defining trait of Hakumen's battle style, which Gabriel can shamelessly admit he copied partially off of.

_"So its not just a matter of offense. You must mix defense in as well." _Gabriel mixed in the occasional "X" button press with the others to keep Mew on his toes. He was still suffering losses but now he got more than a few good hits in.

But it seemed as though there was a counter to the counter in the form of throws. As unrealistic as it was for Ragna to lift the Susano'o Unit apparently the game was fine with that.

He was getting closer to figuring this out and felt a rush of adrenaline through his head, _"S__o you can chain moves together for extra damage. I wonder what would happen if I added additional motions to the stick when I press a button?"_

Suddenly the battleground shattered like glass and Hakumen raised his sword above his head, gathering in wintery energy to his blade, _"B__okujin: Shippu!"_

Mew sent Ragna right into it the attack and it took out the rest of his health, winning him his first round. Mew plopped back into the couch and gasped.

"H-Huh..." His eyes fluttered a few times before he got back up and remarked, "You finally won a round. But the match is far from over!"

He gripped his controller tightly and continued the fight. Gabriel lost the match but it was close. Very close.

Next match he found he could add the super move to the end of the chain of regular moves, creating this genuine flow of combat that was quite gratifying to behold.

However while his game plan continued to change, he noticed that Mew utilized the same techniques he started with.

Mew's eyes began to slant and the way he gripped his controller made it tremble. There was a clear and present lack of patience on his face.

Midway through a round Gabriel leaned over and gently offered advice, "Mew, did you know that if you push in the opposite direction your character's facing, you guard attacks?"

"Mrrr...!" He growled, right before losing a round to Hakumen's counter super move.

"If you had spaced your movements a little more carefully, you might've won that."

"MRRR...!" He growled louder.

A few more matches later and Gabriel found himself winning the majority and it got to the point where he saw no change in Hakumen's bar.

Upon his latest defeat Mew crashed back into his couch and the leather started to swallow him up.

"PERFECT!" Declared the announcer.

At this point Gabriel softly looked Mew in the eyes and said, "I feel you're not living up to your full potential Mew. Pressing Square and X while guarding allows you to spend meter to guard attacks more efficiently."

Mew stood up and threw his controller onto the ground while shouting, "Oh I JUST remembered! I got uhhh, company coming over in an hour and I gotta make dinner!"

He started shoving Gabriel by the shoulder until he stood up and made his way for the door. All the while he stared back with a blank expression. Finally as he stumbled out the door he looked back and remarked, "We'll have to play again some other time."

Mew's gaze sharply turned feral and he said dryly, "Don't count on it."

He then slammed the door shut and the shockwave from it grazed Gabriel's skin.

"Huh..." He uttered, rubbing his chin with a silent expression of confusion on his face, "Never would've taken him to be a sore loser."

He felt his hand trembling, the adrenaline rushing through his veins yet to have been quelled. He stared at his open palm and felt young, reborn.

_"So this is what it feels like to learn something new..." _He clenched his fist with vigor and gave an understanding nod, "I _see now what Lady Auris was referring to. Video games...I can see the appeal."  
_

With a more confident strut in his step, he returned to Sancturia and headed straight for Auris' home.

Upon politely entering he saw her sitting on the couch reading a magazine only to look up at him with a hint of surprise, "Back already?"

He walked towards the television and bent down before it, "Yes Lady Auris. Now, where is Shina's video game console?"

"I-I beg your pardon?" She replied with an uncharacteristic stutter.

He stood and faced her with his arm crossed against his chest and a smirk bright as can be, "I did what you asked me to and learned how to play fighting games from Mew."

Auris' eyes began to bulge as he continued on, "Your daughters gave me lip while we were at the mall. When they return I shall punish them accordingly on the field of electronic battle."

Auris slapped her forehead and rubbed her temples deeply with a groan.

Gabriel raised his brows and muttered, "L-Lady Auris?"

She sounded completely, utterly devoid of energy, "I feel as though I have made a grave error..."

And for all his wisdom, he could not decipher what she meant by that.

_Next Time: The Road to Success_


	57. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56: I'm a Failure**

The sun rises on another morning for the Dark family manor, beaming its bright golden rays through the crack in Alura's curtains.

The sun glistens off the back of her hair as most of her body lies curled up under a flannel, rosy sheet. As she turns in discomfort the sun finds an opening in her eyes and strikes without mercy.

Her eyelids scrunch up and with a light moan from her they open partway. She weakly wagged her hand towards the sun and mumbled "Go away" under her breath while trying to resume her sleep.

Her body then flinched as the piercing sound of her alarm goes off on the table behind her. She turned and flopped onto her back, throwing her hand down on top of the clock in the same motion, only to repeatedly miss the off button.

When that ear devastating noise finally ended, her arm hung off the side of the bed and she stared half-awake at the ceiling.

Her eyelids sagged, softly lulling her back to sleep...

"**Knck! Knck! Knck!"** Sounded the door off the rhythmic thumping of one Joe Dark's fist.

"Hey, Alura! Time to get up!" He hollered.

"Mmrrrr..." And thus Alura's eyes opened for the third and final time, and she slowly lifted herself upright.

As Joe Dark fled the scene she rubbed her crusted over right eye and murmured, "Jerk Dark..."

She patted her yawning mouth twice and then pulled the sheets off, lumbering out onto the carpet floor below dressed in her pinkish night gown.

"_Another morning..."_ She bemoaned. Its been two weeks since she got a job, but what Julius and Joe Dark neglected to mention at the time was that she was now required to get up early.

She already missed the days where she could sleep in until noon in the comfort of her bed. Now she was trapped, in a terrifying predicament that Julius gravely described as a "daily routine".

She was given an "alarm clock" to help her get up in the morning, yet Joe Dark would always come and make a bunch of noise anyways. So what was the point of the alarm?

"_Stupid Joe Dark..." _Feeling in a foul mood this morning, Alura dragged her feet over to her dresser drawers equipped with a big round mirror and stared at herself with a glazed over look in her eyes.

"Mmrrr..." Her hair looked bad again. She patted the loose strands down and then applied a bit of make up to her face, which she found added a little color to her cheeks.

Julius said it would help since she doesn't get out in the sun much, but to her, she thought it helped her look "sexy".

After exchanging her gown for a low cut skull and crossbones shirt she headed downstairs, letting out one last, cutesy yawn as she rounded for the dining room.

At least she'd get to enjoy breakfast. Julius was a great cook and she's gotten to try out tons of new foods. Thoughts of bacon strips dancing around her head brought out her first smile today.

At the dining room Joe Dark was already sitting at his chair reading from a magazine while Julius served food onto both their plates.

"G'mornin'..." Alura moaned, shaking the last bit of tiredness out of her system.

"Good morning, Miss Alura." Julius said in a welcoming tone.

"Morning sleepyhead." While Joe Dark was...Joe Dark.

As he turned to look at her his eyes suddenly widened and his face started turning red. For some reason he couldn't stop looking at her even as she sat down. The chair felt a little colder than usual today.

She stared back, trying not to blink. The color in his face continued to darken, and his mouth squirmed.

"Is this a staring contest, Joe Dark?" She widened her eyes and locked onto his eyes, "Staaaaaaare."

"A-Alura..." He stuttered.

"Hmmm?"

"Miss Alura." Julius coughed and she looked right at him. He was trying to stare at her face but it was hard not to given, well...

"Are your...affairs in order this morning?" He said in a delicate tone, contrasting the brutality that would soon follow from Joe Dark.

"Alura!" He shouted with immense frustration, "P-Put some goddamn pants on!"

"Huh?" Alura stared down and saw her bare legs and panties staring back. With a couple blinks she muttered, "Oh."

Failing to realize why this was so bad, she nevertheless returned to her home and put some pants on. Meanwhile, Julius gave Joe Dark a stern glare.

When she returned a plate full of eggs, bacon and toast awaited her. Oh, and a glass of orange juice too.

It was a quiet meal overall thanks to the awkward feeling Alura's negligence left hanging over the men's head. Afterwards she thanked Julius for breakfast and got up from the table.

A glance at the clock showed she still had an hour and a half until work.

"So, going to lay back and look at your tablet until work again?" Said Joe Dark in a teasing manner.

"Uh uh," Alura shook her head and stared into Joe Dark's eyes, "I want to go visit Mew."

"Uhhh, why?" Joe Dark said with a blank look on his face.

"No reason." Alura responded.

Of course, that was a clever lie she came up with.

Joe Dark had been teasing her constantly lately about putting on weight. Every time he did she felt madder and madder about it and she didn't know why.

But lately her stomach had been feeling a little jiggly and it didn't feel good. So she went onto good ol' reliable Google and looked up answers. Apparently when a human puts on weight, they can get rid of it through diet and exercise.

Dieting requires giving up bacon and ice cream though and that's simply unacceptable!

So she looked into exercising. Work-outs, training...It sounded like things Mew did normally in his daily routine.

Alura had felt good getting one over on Joe Dark when she got a job first. But now he had one too and that feeling was gone.

So she'll just get one over on him again by learning how to exercise all that extra weight off. She'll get so many "incredible gains" that he'll never get to call her "pudgy pudding" ever again!

Following a dull shrug Joe Dark opened a dark rift that'd allow her to go to Mew's house so long as she made it back in time.

According to the internet, 30 minutes of working out is all one needs. Perfect. Plenty of time.

It had been a while since she'd been at Mew's place. She didn't remember it being so...cold though. Her body shivered and her arms wrapped against her chest on their own.

But the house itself looked the same as always. Yet it felt smaller now, having lived in the mansion for a month.

She looked ahead and, conveniently enough, Mew was outside with Maria standing next to him bundled up in a thick jacket.

They were doing some stretches, confirming Alura's assumption on Mew's expertise towards exercise.

Mew and Maria synchronized pulling their arm across their chest and he raised his head with a quick remark of "Oh hey!" towards their guest.

Alura walked up to them and Mew stopped exercising to wave his hand out, "Haven't seen you in a while, Alura. How're you doing? Did you get a haircut?"

Alura nodded and then stared up at Mew's face, "Mew, I believe you're an expert in exercising, correct?"

Mew crossed his arms and said with a hint of curiosity, "Yeah? Why do you ask?"

"No reason." She replied.

Mew cracked a snicker and remarked, "Is it because of something Joe Dark said?"

Alura felt her heart skipping a beat and her eyes darted away on their own, "N-No..."

"Oh Joe..." Mew shook his head and then declared, "Well you came at just the right time, Alura! Maria and I were just about to go mountain climbing."

"That's a good exercise?" Alura said with a tilt of the head.

"Yeah, it'll really work your legs and cardio," Mew slightly shifted towards Maria and remarked, "I'm hoping this'll help boost Maria's stamina so she doesn't keep falling asl-"

"Papa, she doesn't need to know that!" Maria proclaimed before lightly slapping Mew's leg.

"Ha ha!" Mew looked at Alura and asked, "So? Feel like joining us?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here, Mew." She gave a straight-laced answer.

"I don't know papa," Maria shook her head, "I don't think she's tough enough."

"Maria..." Mew sighed with a reprimanding tone, "Its the effort that matters."

"She can't even wake up on her own." Maria's gaze was turning somewhat malicious yet, dominated mostly by her innocence, Mew failed to notice.

Alura pumped her fists up to her chest and stated, "I can do this! I can!"

Mew crossed his arms again and sighed longer, "I ain't gonna tell you no. We're doing a short walk anyways, just to warm up. Plus, Joe Dark would finally kill me if I let you be late for work."

"Thank you, Mew." Alura bobbed her head and then stuck her tongue out at Maria, making her flinch.

"We'll be climbing up that hill today." Mew pointed out to the right and when Alura faced it, her whole body trembled.

She craned her head back and saw a high slope that seemed to get longer and taller the more she pulled her head back. Her heart began to race, nearly louder than her thoughts.

"_This is a warm up?" _A deep breath cooled her heart and she clutched her fists in determination, _"I can do this! I'll conquer the pudginess in no time!" _

_A few moments later..._

"Ha...ha...ha..." Alura's mouth had to remain open constantly to keep a steady air flow in and out. Her legs felt like wood, and not the smooth kind either. This rough, throbbing sensation inside her legs must have been her muscles getting stronger to combat the fat, she thought.

Her body briefly got warmer, but now felt colder than when she had started. And now her body was feeling wet all over. This happened when she was on the beach too. Joe Dark called it "sweat", which sounded like "sweet", but worse.

Mew and Maria were a few feet ahead and stopped to look back at her, Mew in particular looking mildly concerned.

"Uhhh, Alura?" He stated quietly, "We're only a few feet up the mountain."

Maria took his opportune chance to say, "I told you she couldn't do it papa."

"This is probably her first time exerting herself physically. Right, Alura?"

Alura weakly nodded her head and felt her mouth getting drier, which made her breaths heavier, and a little painful.

Mew snapped his fingers out and said, "Maria, share some of your water."

Maria turned around and walked back down to Alura with a bottle of water in hand, wiggling it close to her lips.

Alura raised the back of her hand to the water and said, "I-I don't need your water."

Maria shrugged and popped the cap back on, turning around and remarking, "She's had her fill now papa."

Then she merrily pranced back up to Mew's side while looking over her shoulder and sticking her tongue out.

A spark went off in Alura's heart, pushing her further onward with steeled determination. But the farther she walked, the more agonizing it felt in her legs.

Her body forced itself to a stop and she hung over with her hands on her knees, drops of sweat falling to the ground.

Mew stopped again and said to her, "Are you going to be ok? We can stop if you want."

"I...haaa...I...haaaa...I'm fine...haaaaaa..." Alura lifted her head up high and immediately upon taking one step forward, tripped and fell face first into a puddle of mud.

"_...Ow." _Alura pulled her head out of the brown muck and was immediately assaulted by a cold, wet waterfall from above.

Maria was kneeling over her and dumped the contents of her water bottle onto her head, shaking out the very last drops.

Alura's head was cleaned, but it sure didn't feel like it.

Mew carried Alura back to her house and let her take a shower while he cleaned and dried her clothes. By the time they were done Alura was going to be cutting it close on getting to work.

As she hurried out the door Mew waved her off and said "Better luck next time" which was a little more than a bandage wound over an ever-growing scar.

She hurried through the dark rift to get back to the manor, where she found Joe Dark waiting for her in the living room.

"Cutting it close aren't we?" He remarked as he rose from the couch dressed in shirt and tie. If there's any bright spot to this morning so far, its that. He looks so goofy in that attire that it automatically brings a tiny smile to Alura's face every time she sees it.

They got their bagged lunches from Julius, waved him goodbye, and headed out the door. Joe Dark then asked, "So, you gonna tell me what you were doing at Mew's?"

"It was nothing important." Alura insisted upon.

"Ooookay?" Joe Dark raised his nose after a couple sniffs remarked, "Why am I smelling essence of peach all of a sudden?"

Alura found herself blushing while she fiddled hand through her hair and caught the scent on it.

Once they were on the bus to the city Alura leaned back into the routinely uncomfortable seat and thought to herself, _"Exercising was horrible. But its fine. I'll just have to beat pudginess another way..."_

Alura's workplace was the closest from the bus stop so once Joe Dark saw her off he headed on his way to be a cashier at Safeway.

"Metalheads" was the name of the music store, as she found out the day after coming here. This place is a "chain" that sells lots of "old records" that their "boss" tells them to as ordered by their "corporation". All those words flew over Alura's head but she memorized them cause they sounded very important.

The first day on the job was weird. The boss came in and had a long talk with Jeff Montoya and Stewart Bolt, looking even redder than Joe Dark on his most frustrated of days. There was a lot of yelling and shouting, but eventually Stewart won the boss over with an impassioned speech about something called "diversity".

And apparently this meant Alura could work here "full-time", which meant eight hours a day, and getting paid for every hour.

She's done a lot of sitting around while Jeff and Stewart talk to each other about some very odd things. And every hour of that puts 21 dollars into something called a "paycheck", which she's learned to deposit into a "bank account" from Julius.

And to think, Julius was saying that its tough to earn money.

"_I'm learning so much lately. It feels good." _Alura wore a proud, tiny smile as she opened the door and the bell above announced her entrance.

So far Jeff was the only one in, sorting some CDs in the boxes. But he took a moment out of his time to say "Hello" and "Good morning", much like Julius, which was nice.

"Good morning, Jeff Montoya." She said back.

This place had a bad odor and it looked like it was coming apart at the seams. There weren't very many customers per day and whenever there were, Jeff and Stewart handled them. All the while, Alura got to sit comfortably in her chair and fiddle around with the guitar, a privilege only employees like her could have.

She's been TRYING to figure out how to copy that beautiful melody Jeff made with it. She's picked away at it slowly, quickly, one string at a time, randomly, nothing seems to work.

Half an hour into work Stewart came stumbling in with his pants dangling close to his knees. After getting himself fixed up he sat down at the cash register next to a dumbfounded Jeff and the two passed the time staring out at the rest of the store.

Seeing as it was the weekend there were a few more customers coming in than usual. Around lunchtime though it quieted down for a bit.

Alura nibbled away at her ham sandwich with mustard and tomato on it while Jeff and Stewart had another one of their weird talks. Once again the subject was on women. They sure did like to talk about them a lot.

"So last night I was at a bar looking to hook up with a couple lucky ladies when all of a sudden this ginger walked up to me. She had a perky face, nice long legs, BUT..." Stewart dug his pointer finger deep into his right cheek, "She had this BIG OL MOLE right on her cheek. Talking like 'Taking up the whole city block' big. So I politely turned her down-"

"You did not." Jeff retorted bluntly.

"Dude I'm telling you, it was a biggun."

"Not THAT, the part about you turning her down politely."

"Well...that's what I vaguely remember doing anyways."

"Stewart, for the love of..." Jeff could barely take a bite out of his own sandwich without looking disgusted, "And you get on my case for not having a girlfriend? You're like a magnet set permanently on repulse."

"Hey magnets can attract AND repulse buster."

Jeff withdrew back to his sandwich for a few moments while Stewart leaned over the counter and remarked, "Hey, Alura!"

Jeff suddenly spat up part of his meal.

"If a man you were attracted to made a comment about your appearance you didn't like, how would you respond?"

"Ummmm..." Alura stared blankly at Stewart's face and tilted her head, "Attracted...to?"

"Yeah like, you've fallen in love with someone hot. Take for example..."

Jeff slapped his hand over Stewart's mouth and grumbled loudly, "Finish that sentence and I'm gonna slap your mouth off."

Alura hung her head and echoed those words a couple times in a whisper. "Love" She didn't feel anything like that towards anyone. But she did remember how she felt when Joe Dark told her she was pudgy: Frustrated, angry, the urge to punch him...

She gripped the sides of her sandwich tightly and murmured, "I'd call them a jerk. Jerk Dark..."

As Jeff peeled his hand away he told Stewart, "See? Even **she** knows better than you."

"Dude, low blow..." Stewart sighed and took a massive bite of his sandwich.

When lunch break was over Alura continued to work on the guitar. There suddenly came a loud noise from the back and Jeff leaned out of his chair towards the door.

"Oh, delivery." He got up and stretched his arms, then made his way for the door.

"Have fun Jeff, I'll just be right here wait-"

Jeff clamped his hand onto Stewart's shoulder and pulled him up, "**You** arecoming with me."

"Ow, fine! Don't have to be so grabby crabby." Stewart walked ahead of him, as Jeff had one last thing to take care of.

"Alura," He said to get her attention, "Can you hold the fort for a bit until we get back?"

Alura gave a brief nod and Jeff raised a thumb up. Alura stared at the back of the store and turned her head with a hint of curiosity. She hadn't been allowed to go back there yet, but the odor coming out was definitely worse, so maybe she didn't need to.

Alura stared down at her guitar and strummed away at it, making sound, but not THE sound. She tried to think about what she was doing wrong given what she learned from working here so far.

"_Some music have people singing too. Maybe that's what's missing..." _She pulled her head back and looked sad, _"I haven't sang in a while." _

Taking a deep breath, she settled the guitar pack over the center of the strings and recalled her favorite song, "I hear your voice..."

Before she could take the first strum the bell rang and she thrust her eyes open to see a customer walk in. He looked as old as Julius but with a bigger belly and no hair on his head. He too, must be dealing with the terrors of pudginess.

With a nice coat and tie he looked like a nice person. He wandered her way and raised his hand to say "Hello" and then immediately followed up by asking, "I'm looking for something fresh to get for my son's birthday. Do you happen to know what's fresh these days?"

He gently rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "I'm totally behind on the hip trends anymore, ha ha ha!"

Alura stared straight into the man's face like he was speaking an alien language, "Uhhhh...fresh?"

Flipping through her mental dictionary told her that "fresh" meant "clean". She stared at the crusty walls and raised a brow as she told the man, "I-I don't think you'll find anything fresh here."

"Oh really?" The man rubbed his big chin and looked around, "Well surely you have to have something hip and cool for the kids of this generation right?"

"_Hip and...cool?" _Alura flipped through the dictionary again and her manner of speaking started going the way of auto-pilot, "So you need to find something that's...hip?"

"Yeah." The man said with a sincere smile.

"So, something wide, like your hips."

The man's eyes began to slant and his smile was not so bright, "E-Excuse me?"

"Your hips are wide sir. But there's nothing wrong with that. I too, am inflicted with being pudgy." Alura poked her stomach with the guitar pick a couple times, unaware of the man's face wrinkling up in frustration.

"I'm just asking if you have a certain type of music in stock, there's no need to give me attitude young lady."

Alura stared him in the eyes and said stoically, "You need to be more specific sir."

"Specific?!" The man yelled, "You're a music store for crying out loud!"

"There's no reason to shout sir."

"You're right...!" The man grit his teeth and turned away, wagging one hand down hard as he retreated for the door, "Screw this, I'm taking my business elsewhere."

He shut the door with a sudden, hard slam that made Alura flinch. She stared at him marching away from the store wondering, _"I don't get it. I answered his questions, I called him 'sir'...Why was he so mad?" _

Jeff suddenly rushed into the room exclaiming "What the HELL was that noise?!"

Alura stared at him with a drawn out "Uhhhh" as he looked towards the door and then straight to Alura, "Was that a customer just now?!"

She gave a brief nod and he suddenly raised his voice "ALURA!" while grabbing the sides of his hair and dragging himself towards the floor a little.

"Ugh...! You can't scare off customers, we barely get any as is!" As he continued to raise his voice, Alura felt a sinking feeling in her heart and scrunched up against the chair.

"Mrrrr..."

Jeff threw his arms down by his hips and only let out a sigh before he sat back down in his chair.

The latter half of the day went by extra long. She left the store and was picked up by Joe Dark. He tried talking to her on the way back but she didn't feel like speaking up.

Something felt very, very wrong inside of her. Like...something was grabbing her heart and twisting it like a door knob. She didn't feel tired, just sick to her stomach and her head was throbbing a little too.

When they got home Alura just wanted to go lie in her bed. But it was dinner time, and her stomach wouldn't let her go to sleep hungry.

She dragged her feet towards the dining room and along the way happened to overhear a conversation between Joe Dark and Julius.

"You want to make dinner tonight, Master Joseph?"

"You've been working hard all day Julius, take a break."

"_Making...dinner?" _Alura wandered into the kitchen, drawn on by her curiosity.

Joe Dark was standing in front of the stove with some food on the counter next to him. Julius was standing by.

Not only was Joe Dark matching her in terms of having a job, but he was not pudgy and now also trying to make dinner.

That this was happening made the feeling in Alura's chest worsen, and against any sense of free will she found herself in the kitchen yelling, "Umm! I want to make dinner tonight!"

The two men immediately turned their heads with surprise plastered all over their faces.

"Alura...?" Joe Dark murmured, "What're you...?"

"Please! I have to make dinner!" She pumped her tiny fists before her chest and stared deep into Joe Dark's eyes until he gave up.

"You don't need to do anything except sit down and wait to eat. Relax, I got this." As Joe Dark faced the stove she stamped her foot down and shocked everyone, including herself.

"I-I insist!" She said.

"Master Joseph, just let her do this. I'll be by her side."

Joe Dark hung his hands and sighed, "Fiiiine."

He left the room without another peep and Alura wandered up right next to Julius, staring at the food gathered on the counter. There was hamburger, three kinds of vegetables, and something called "broth" in a can.

"Well Miss Alura, shall we make some beef stew?"

"Ok." She nodded and stared at the stove for a long while at it.

"First," Julius reached down to one of the knobs and gave it a turn, "We must heat our meat."

"Heat...our meat." Alura picked up the hamburger and put it onto the pan, then look at Julius. He smiled and nodded.

"Heh." She gave a tiny smile back and then reached towards the other ingredients.

"Ah!" Julius blurted out, "Wash your hands. Don't want to contaminate other food with meat."

After Alura washed her hands Julius handled chopping up the vegetables while leaving Alura to fill a pot with water for the broth. Meanwhile the meat sizzled and browned on the pan.

Eventually they got the water to a boil and put a broth cube into it, followed by the vegetables once the cube dissolved. All that was left was the meat, which Julius chopped up before adding.

"Alright Miss Alura, I'll leave the spices to you while I clean the pan." He took the empty meat pan and Alura stared up at the spice rack.

There were like 1000 different spices arranged in rows.

"Ummmm...!" She pre-emptively turned towards Julius but then jerked her head back towards the spices, _"I can do this!"_

She grabbed the one labeled "Cayenne" and started shaking it into the broth.

Meanwhile, Joe Dark sat at the table twiddling his thumbs and leaning back over the chair to peek into the kitchen.

He tapped along the edge of the table and let out a sigh, "Nothing's burning yet..."

He forced himself to turn away and rested his hands together on the table, "Relax Joe, she's got Julius there to help. She'll be fine."

His stomach was grumbling obnoxiously and he wound up muttering "God I hope so" as his anticipation and nervousness grew.

A few minutes later Julius announced "Dinner is ready" and came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of beef stew. Joe Dark caught a whiff of it and found it smelled..._nice_.

"_Huh, not bad so..." _A deeper, more powerful scent penetrated his nostrils and stung him like a bee had gotten in. With his head suffering a sudden recoil he stared down at the bowl placed before him.

The meat and vegetables looked fine but the broth? It was bright red and bubbling over like a light form of lava. He hesitated to turn his head to the right and found Alura had snuck up on him with her eyes staring with a subtle eagerness to them.

Meanwhile he panned up and saw Julius arching his brows, basically saying "Take a bite" without any room for disagreement.

Joe Dark grabbed his spoon tight as if his life depended on it and then scooped up part of the stew. His hand was shaking, bits of the hot liquid dribbling onto the table as the spoon went towards his mouth.

The powerful scent burned his nose and made him sweat before he even tasted it.

"_I am going to die," _He thought bluntly, _"Sorry tongue, you've been a good friend..." _

He closed his eyes and forced the spoon in. The tenderness of the meat and vibrant flavors of the vegetables quickly gave way to this overwhelming spiciness that set his mouth on fire. His face turned bright red and broke into a sweat, as he forced the stew down his throat in one quick, mighty gulp, longing for the sweet release of death to take him at last.

Yet it failed him yet again, as he pulled his head back and with a powerful gasp, found himself breathing new life into his body.

His hand shook as he clutched the spoon and brought it to the table with a ringing sound. He then forced a grin and turned towards Alura, telling her with a staggering degree of restraint, "T-This is good...!"

Alura's eyes widened and started wobbling. Then, he caught the glimpse of a rare sight, an omen of what was soon to come. Her brows began to arch downward, her face turning bright red. Her mouth began to open, giving him but one second to brace his ears for the incoming glass-shattering wail.

"SHUT UP!"

It was an instant that lasted ten seconds, as evidenced by the ringing in his ears. When he came to his senses Alura was gone, stampeding her way up to the second floor, where he heard a door slamming shut hard enough to loosen dirt from the ceiling above him.

He fluttered his eyes and felt aghast from what he'd just heard.

"I-I don't understand..." He stammered out.

"Haaaa..." Julius hung and shook his head shamefully, "Honestly Master Joseph..."

"What?" He turned with his eyes wide open, "What?!"

Julius pierced him with a gaze as white and cold as snow, "You'll stay right here until I return. We have a **long** discussion ahead of us tonight."

Joe Dark remained stiff as a statue while Julius wandered away to the stairs.

Up in her room, Alura had thrown herself atop her bed and buried her head tightly under a pillow. Her heart was in terrible pain, like it wanted to break free, and she felt wet all over her face.

Despite her situation being what it was, she nevertheless heard the door open and the voice of Julius calling out to her, "Miss Alura?"

"Go away!" Her voice came out all muffled.

Julius inched closer until he could kneel down beside the bed and lay a hand on her pillow. When he tried to lift it she pulled it back down with a hard tug.

"Leave me alone..." She groaned in sorrowful loneliness.

"Miss Alura, the stew wasn't that terrible for your first time. Why, your choice of-"

"I don't care! I don't care I don't care I don't care!" She rambled uncontrollably, "I can't get up on my own, I'm bad at exercise, I sucked at my job, and I failed at making dinner! I'm a failure at life!"

Julius placed his hand on the edge of the bed and leaned in closer, "You've had a really terrible day, haven't you?"

"I'll never be good at anything...! I'm worthless...!" Through her pained cries came a string of hard to hear whimpers.

"So, you'll let your entire self-worth be defined by one bad day?"

"I tried and I tried but I couldn't do anything right!"

"So what?" Remarked Julius bluntly. In two words, he had masterfully brought Alura to silence.

"Then you simply have to keep trying." And with but a few words more, her grip on the pillow began to loosen.

He reached out and helped take it off. Underneath her eyes were red and starting to dry, while the rest of her face looked pink and frail.

"Sit up." He said softly, scooting up onto the bed beside her. She pulled her knees up to her face and didn't look him in the eyes as he spoke.

"A wise man once said 'Failure is something we make, success is something we earn'."

"...Who said that?"

"Why, Master Joseph's father, of course."

Alura poked her head up slightly to look at Julius, as he looked to her with a smile, "You see, Miss Alura, we are not born knowing everything. But we have the ability to learn, if we so choose."

"But knowledge isn't a free gift. It sometimes comes with struggles. Loss, pain, anger, frustration...Even through great hardships do we learn valuable lessons."

"Have you ever struggled, Julius?"

Julius paused and turned away to reflect upon his past, his answer somber but relaxed, "Yes, I have."

"I have lost loved ones, and taken loved ones from others. My body has been nothing but a loaded gun, aimed at my enemies..." Julius reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a golden watch, "I never got married, or had kids. To be honest, I don't know the first thing about being a parent..."

He put the watch away and looked her straight in the eyes, "But my years on the battlefield have given me plenty of knowledge to pass on to others. And I can't think of two better souls deserving of it than you and Master Joseph."

"...Why?" Alura murmured.

"I look into your eyes and see them gleaming with curiosity for the world around you. Every single new thing you see and hear about that catches your attention, you just HAVE to learn about it immediately."

"Why, take today for example. You went and tried to go exercise all on your own. That shows incredible independence and a powerful sense of initiative, Miss Alura."

"So what? I fell face first into mud..."

"But until then, didn't it feel good to try?"

"..." Alura glided her hand across the side of her hair and muttered, "Yes."

"And when you made dinner, didn't it feel good then?"

"Until _Jerk Dark_ said that horrible lie..." Alura squeezed her fists against her legs.

"Ha ha ha, that's his problem, not yours," Julius laid back against the head of the bed and put his hands on his stomach, "Honestly like he's even one to talk."

"Huh?" Alura tilted aside to look at him.

"Why, remember that burnt turkey a few nights ago?"

"It tasted really bad." Alura stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"That was him." Julius said with a wily smirk.

"That was him...?" Alura's interest was piqued.

"Indeed. Master Joseph has a **terrible** sense of flavor balance. Like..." Julius' face turned cross as he muttered in annoyance, "Honestly, who puts that much salt on a turkey skin?!"

Alura smiled and giggled.

He looked her way and said in a softer tone, "You're both learning. There's a lot of potential inside you both that has yet to be tapped into."

Alura looked at him, keeping that smile going strong as he continued to speak with the wisdom of a sage behind his voice, "You can't take every failure as a sign to give up, but as another step forward. And you're not alone. You'll never **be** alone. So never be afraid to ask any of us for help."

He smiled one more time and then reached out, stroking the fine strands of Alura's silky hair between his fingers, "And, if I may say...You have a beautiful smile, Miss Alura."

Alura's heart felt different now. It was like hundreds of tiny wings fluttered inside. Her smile widened, and with a gentle nod she said, "T-Thank you, Julius."

He pulled his hand away and chuckled, "Now, why don't I order us some take-out? We'll have a good meal and then once I've given Master Joseph a stern lecture, we can go over what happened today and see how you can improve on it tomorrow."

"Ok. I'd like that."

Julius left the room in short order and the rest of the night went by like a breeze after...

_The next morning..._

Joe Dark wandered across the second floor halls to knock on Alura's doorframe as he passed by, "Hey c'mon sleepyhead, wakey wake..."

Something was off though. No alarm going off for one. But then he peeked into the room and saw the lights were on and Alura was standing in front of her dresser mirror, fully dressed, and combing her hair.

He stood there mouth agape and muttered, "You're...up?"

Alura turned with a clean, lively (for her) looking face and tilted her head.

"Yes." She said nice and plainly.

"...U-Uhhh, ok then."

As he turned away Alura suddenly said his name so he had to look back. She stared down and remarked, "Your pants are loose."

"..." He stared down and saw a bit of his underwear slipping out, "Shit."

He pulled his pants up and quickly wandered away while Alura giggled.

The two of them went down to have another of Julius' wonderful breakfasts. When it was over, Alura approached Joe Dark with a request, "I'd like to go visit Mew again before work."

Joe Dark blinked a few times and tucked a hand into his pockets, "Maybe I should come with you and say 'Hi'."

"No!" Alura blurted out, "I want to go on my own!"

"Alright fine!" Joe Dark sighed and held his hand out to open another dark rift for her to go through.

As she was about to head through...

"Miss Alura!" Julius proclaimed, tossing a water bottle straight to her, which she turned and expertly caught with a leap.

"Thank you, Julius!" She waved him off and headed into the rift.

Joe Dark stared where she stood and then back to Julius, who cracked a smirk.

"Are you two hiding some sort of...secret party from me or something?"

Alura wandered out into Mew's front yard and found him and Maria doing some more morning stretches. Mew immediately turned his head up and remarked "You're back!" in a completely surprised tone.

"I'm ready this time, Mew."

Mew crossed his arms and remarked, "You don't have to try so hard, Alura. If you want to come back later I-"

She pulled out the water bottle and shoved it in Mew's face. Once he'd been caught by surprise she then turned the water bottle on Maria and wagged it right against her face.

"You're serious about this." Mew said softly.

"I know what I did wrong last time. I will climb this mountain, and conquer my pudginess!"

A few minutes later Alura was climbing up alongside Mew and Maria. Utilizing proper breathing through her nose and mouth, she was able to last a bit longer than before, with the occasional drink adding a bit more time to her walk.

But she only managed to get about a few hundred feet from the ground before she ran out of water and started to feel exhaustion.

When she dropped her hands on her knees and finished panting she lifted her head up and told Mew, "I-I think I've reached my limit..."

Mew stared at a watch on his wrist and remarked, "654 feet, talk about a major improvement!"

He gestured at her and said, "Need me to walk you down or can you manage?"

"I-I'll be fine. But thanks."

She made her way down with plenty of time to spare towards cleaning the sweat off her face back home. Then her and Joe Dark went off to work.

Along the way Alura fiddled with her tablet to try and find some information on how to play the guitar. There were plenty of tutorial videos to watch, so she picked one and listened in.

This made time go by quickly before she had to arrive at work. She felt a little hesitation going on, but steeled her nerves and opened the door gently.

Jeff was organizing the albums as usual, and this time Stewart was actually at the counter.

"Good mornin' Jeff Montoya."

Jeff faced her and stuttered, "H-Hey...morning."

Alura tucked her tablet away in her bag and walked up to him. He rubbed the back of his head and started off saying, "Listen I...want to apologize for yesterday."

"Hmmm?" Alura stayed quiet and listened.

"I raised my voice at you and that wasn't right. It was because well..." Jeff waved his hand out and admitted sincerely, "I was frustrated at myself and I took it out on you instead. I made the bright decision to hire you without really thinking how you'd be able to a job. B-Because honestly, I thought you were kind of..."

He dropped his hand and with a blush in his cheeks sighed heavily, "You know what, forget it...I know the pay's good and all but if you don't feel comfortable working here then-"

"I love music," Alura remarked softly, "And I want to learn how to talk to people."

She closed her eyes and gave a feathery shrug, "I think this is the best place for me to be."

So looked at his dumbfounded face and asked, "So can you teach me how to talk to people today, Jeff Montoya?"

"Y-Yeah, absolutely!"

Jeff taught her a few very important things: Maintain eye contact, listen to what they have to say carefully, and most importantly, don't mention anything about their bodies even if they're mean.

Sadly it was a quiet day so she didn't get to put any of this into practice, but she felt more confident about herself by the time the day was over. AND, she got some nice guitar practice in to boot.

Now there was only one thing left on her list to attempt again...dinner.

Right upon returning home she ran straight for the kitchen and intercepted Julius setting up food to cook, "I'm ready to make dinner again, Julius."

Joe Dark audibly groaned at the doorway.

"Just let me handle dinner tonight."

Julius smiled and chuckled, "All you must do, Master Joseph, is sit down at the table and wait to eat."

"But I-"

Julius' white eyed glare returned in full force, silencing him without a word. Joe Dark meekly tucked his hands into his pockets and walked to the dining room in a slump. Along the way, he snuck the Chinese take-out menu into his back pocket for safekeeping.

He sat and tapped his fingers on the edge of the table while peeking into the kitchen, "No burnt smell again..."

But the memory of that powerful spice necessitating many cups of milk to overpower was..._burned_ into his memory forever.

"I still don't get what I did wrong last night but..." He squirmed out of a subconscious remembrance of Julius' lecture, "I'd rather fight Dracula again than endure another lecture..."

The meal preparation seemed to take longer than it actually did and thus caught him by surprise when Julius walked the plates of food out with a proudly display.

An unnecessarily grandiose display for simple cheeseburgers...If they'll even be able to be called that. They might now have to be renamed "hotburgers" given Alura's handled them.

Joe Dark sighed as the plate was placed before him, and Alura took a seat adjacent to his. She leaned against the table and stared at his face, making him feel uncomfortable wanting to eat anything.

"Staaaaare...!"

He ignored her and the chill crawling up his spine from Julius' gaze behind him and focused entirely on his meal. A nicely cooked patty of meat was wedged between a seedy bun and covered in melted cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, the works.

He didn't _smell_ anything off on initial examination, but he nevertheless grabbed the burger with the cautious approach he'd save towards his worst enemies.

He brought the burger to his mouth and took a bite with all the ingredients entering his mouth at once. His mouth twitched, his tastebuds dancing in delight as the multitude of flavors combined forces into one powerful decisive attack.

"Ungh...!" His smile was forced to surface between his stuffed cheeks, and soon after came the long, drawn out swallow.

"I-Its good...!" He uttered sincerely.

"Ah...!" Alura's eyes immediately lit up like a firework sprinkler.

"I-I mean...!" Joe Dark lowered the burger to his plate and tripped all over his words, "I mean yeah its edible but its nothing fantastic or anything. I-I've had better burgers at McDonald-"

"You said it was goooood." Alura sang-song in a soft, teasing tone.

"I-I said your stew was good last night, what's the difference now?!" He exclaimed, turning to face her with a pissed off look in his eyes.

Alura suddenly held up her tablet and tapped the screen.

"_I-Its good...!" _Joe Dark horrifyingly endured the echo of his own voice.

Alura tapped the screen again.

"_I-Its good...!" _

She lowered the tablet and Joe Dark's jaw dropped all the way. With a perky smirk she said, "I got you this time, Joe Dark."

Curling his fist, Joe Dark glared over his shoulder and exclaimed, "JULIUS!"

Julius whistled innocuously under the doorway.

"W-Why are you teaching her stuff like this?!"

Julius kept his motives locked behind his wily smile, forever out of Joe Dark's reach. Alura, meanwhile, smiled a little wider than her norm and giggled.

"_I'm not a failure. I just gotta keep trying, and maybe someday..." _She stared at Joe Dark's face and felt that strange fluttering feeling in her chest again, making her hide all but her eyes behind the tablet, _"Y-You'll be the one relying on me, Joe Dark."_

_Next Time: Double Date Dilemma_


	58. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57: Doubles Troubles**

_One rainy night at the Bombbrew Bar..._

Solaris sits at the counter having finished off his second drink for the night, with Samantha eyeing him on the other side.

"So? What did you think of that one?" She said, licking her lips with anticipation.

Solaris tapped the glass on the counter and rubbed the dribbles onto his sleeve, "Eh, its fine I guess."

"Just..._fine_?" She curled her brows upward.

"Yeah, like..." Solaris hard trouble putting the flavors he tasted into words, "It felt like my tongue wanted to curl up and die."

"That sour eh?" She stood up and socked the edge of the counter gently, before leaning on it with her elbow "Damn it! Guess I should swap out the lime for lemon."

As she tapped her fingers against her cheek Solaris leaned his crossed arms onto the counter and looked her in the eyes, "Is this gonna go on the menu or what?"

She wagged her fingers out and shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. Kinda ain't feeling it with this brew."

She put up an uncharacteristic pout for a moment. Then a patron shouted "Yo Sam!" and she slapped her hand down on the table, immediately springing back up to her spry self.

"Eh screw it, I'll come up with an answer later!" She ran towards the opposite end of the counter while hollering, "Comin'!"

Solaris stared at his reflection in the glass and swirled the remaining droplets around with a smile on his face, _"Can't believe I've been a regular here for two months already." _

His smile turned prideful with a smirk as he bumped his chest twice, _"And I haven't gotten drunk since!"_

Samantha zipped back over and remarked, "Guy just needed a refill on mustard."

With her eyes alight with inspiration she gave a classy snap of the fingers beside her face, "Mustard! I wonder how that'd go in a beer..."

"Quit getting your panties in a bunch over this," Solaris said with a hard chuckle, sliding the empty glass into her hand, "Business has been great and the beers you got now are part of that."

She smirked and slapped the backs of her fingers towards his face, "Oh look at you, Mr. Bar Sage, tryin' to impart their wisdom on the bartender."

"While you've been sitting behind the bar letting your tongue get dull mine's been sharpened by countless beers."

"Oh ho ho is that a challenge?" Samantha crossed her arms and turned to the side, "Cause **I **distinctly remember your record against me when it comes to challenges."

"Oh please you bring that up every time I come here," Solaris barked back, "Get some new material."

"Heh!" She cracked a smile and straightened herself towards him. She then bobbed her head towards her watch, followed by waving said hand up by her face, "Hey, boss, time for me to clock out!"

"That time already?" Zeke said coolly with a smile, "Enjoy your time off, Fire Fist, I got this place under control."

Solaris perked up, ears and all, in interest, "Time off?"

"A-yep!" Samantha vaulted over the counter and landed on her feet away from the stools, "Every year on Veteran's Day I'm required not to work here. Boss' orders."

Solaris leaned back and remarked, "So I'm not going to get to see you tomorrow?"

Samantha turned and leaned out with an upper lip pout and kiddy tone, "Awwww, are you gunna miss wittle ol' me?"

Solaris wagged his hand towards her and stuttered, "A-As if!"

She stood upright with a cheshire's grin and narrowed eyes then remarked, "What about you? Got any plans tomorrow?"

"Not really," He replied, "You?"

She grabbed her chin and bobbed around in place, "I don't know..."

She then snappily snapped her fingers and remarked, "Hey I got an idea! How about a date?"

"A...date?" Solaris said, looking like a confused little kitten.

"Yeah, you and I on a night on the town. I think that'd be fun, wouldn't ya say?"

"What would we even do on the town?"

"Hmmm..." She brushed her hand away from her face, "I'll surprise you."

"You're nothing if not full of surprises." Solaris said, his sigh aging him ten years in the moment.

"And hey! You should bring your sister along too, make it a double date!"

Solaris' eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, "M-My sister?!"

"Yeah I've really been itching to meet her!" Samantha then ignited a spark in Solaris' dull brain with one sentence, "So does she already have a boyfriend or...?"

After a few clicks in his brain Solaris' eyes widened immensely, _"Boyfriend?! W-Wait are dates supposed to be...romantic?!" _

"Is that buggy look in your eyes meant to be a yes...or a no...?"

He drowned all that out and stared straight into her fiery eyes, _"Hold up. If she's asking ME out on a date, then isn't that the same as her declaring that I'm...HER boyfriend?!" _

It seemed even he, of such dull mind, had gotten a couple things about romance hammered into his cranium.

But the longer he looked at her piercing eyes the more his thoughts sounded dumber than usual, _"Wait no she ain't the type. That mushy flowery shit's the kinda stuff Lunis eats up!"_

Samantha started knocking on his forehead like a door and said, "Yo, Sol, your brain gone outta orbit or something?"

He roughly brushed her hand away as he flinched then remarked, "D-Don't give me that. You want to see my sister fine! Her and her boyfriend'll be happy to join us!"

"Sweet!" Hollered Samantha as she backed away towards the door, "A meet up on Market St. at 4:00 PM sound good to you?"

"Yeah. We'll be there!" He said, giving the final word in a blunt and confident tone.

She flashed a smirk and then was out the door in a flash. Solaris sat there, arms crossed stiffly against his chest. Then, like a speeding bullet, his brain caught up with his mouth and realized what he just said.

"Aw shit." He uttered fearfully under his breath.

_One trip back to the moon later..._

"So you see what the problem here is?" He said under the surveillance of his sister and Riku, currently both laying beside each other on the bed to read a single book.

But right now Lunis found his plight to be a far more intriguing story, "She asked you out on a date! I'm so proud of you, Solaris!"

Riku's attention was more dully aimed and his tone humored in contrast to her excitement, "I honestly think you're pulling our leg here..."

"Shut up! Both of you!" He set his body aflame for a moment, "Are you ignoring the part where I said she wants you to come along with, Lunis?!"

Lunis froze briefly and then rapidly shook her head, her current ponytail trailing behind her, "N-Not at all! I'm actually really excited to meet her too!"

She laid a hand upon her cheek and melted into a sickeningly sweet state of bliss, "Oooh, any girl who can tame your wild heart must be a joy to be around!"

"You wanna run that by me again, **sis**?" Solaris narrowly glared at her from across the room until she sprung upright, clasping her hands atop her pressed together knees.

She then swung her fists up and declared, "You can't tell me you're not excited at all about this, brother!"

"Pffft, maybe if this was just her and I," Solaris started scratching irritatingly at the side of his face with a scowl, "But as usual you women gotta go and complicate things!"

"Are you worried I'm going to embarrass you?" Lunis said with another sickeningly sweet smile.

"You WEREN'T paying attention after all! I told you..." Solaris thrust his pointer finger straight at her, "She thinks you'll be coming with a boyfriend, which you totally don't have!"

Lunis' eyes widened as she mustered up a stuttering, "O-Oh...right."

Riku sat upright and gestured towards him, "You could always get someone to pretend to be her boyfriend. I'm sure one of our friends would be willing to help."

"That's not a bad idea actually," Solaris crossed his arms and then with a firm nod proclaimed, "Ok, Riku, you can be Lunis' boyfriend!"

"W-What?!" Riku jerked upright in a flash and shouted, "Why me?!"

"Y-Y-Yeah...!" With her face bright red Lunis' eyes bounced back and forth like two ping pong balls over a table, "W-W-Why h-him?!"

"What? You think I'm going to have her tag around with that horndog brother of yours?!" With a blunt gesture Solaris then remarked, "I know you won't try anything funny."

Riku started to blush ,"I-Its just..."

"SO SUDDEN!" Lunis squeaked, slapping her hands down on the bed before her with her pupils completely shrunk.

He gave them a brow-raising glance and said, "Who cares, you'll just have to pretend for one night."

The two paused and looked at each other in silence while, with a mighty groan, Solaris rolled his eyes and then swung his hands out at the ground, "Come on please?! I'm already in a tough enough bind as is!"

Riku looked at him and said softly, "You really want this to work out with her, don't you?"

"Don't get the wrong idea!" Solaris exclaimed in a huff.

"Awww..." Lunis rested her hands on her cheeks and said in a bubbly voice, "My brother's just wanting to impress the woman he loves, that's so romantic!"

"SHUT. UP."

Lunis turned towards Riku and grabbed him by the hands, "Come on, Riku! We got a lotta stuff to read on dates before tomorrow evening!"

A smile smeared across his face after he sighed, "A-Alright, I guess this could be fun..."

"Yay!"

Solaris turned away from them and let out a big breath of relief, _"Well hopefully that's one problem solved...4 PM tomorrow right? Guess I'll get some sleep..." _

So he headed off to bed while Riku and Lunis planned what to do practically all night long. When Veteran's Day arrived Solaris spent most of the day just pacing around the palace worrying about every little thing that could happen that he almost lost track of time.

He went on ahead of Riku and Lunis, who had to finish getting dressed, and arrived in the city a few minutes earlier than anticipated. Fortunately by now he had learned to navigate the streets and found where Samantha had wanted to meet up.

There were light clouds but a good amount of sun. He **may** have fiddled with the weather a bit there.

He caught Samantha leaning up against the signal post staring at her phone. She was wearing a slightly tattered, faded tye-dye shirt with a mix of bloody reds and deep browns and blacks along with dark gray sweat pants. She had black dusted onto her eyelids and a spiked collar around her neck.

It was his first time seeing her outside the bar and she was dressed about how he expected her to.

Him personally? He just slapped on the first t-shirt and pants he could find in the closet and oiled his hair back a bit.

She popped her eyes away from the phone for a moment and peeled away from the pole with a pleasant greeting of "You came! Awesome!"

After he was done crossing the street he decided to tease her, "What, were you dying to see me?"

She nudged him in the hip with her elbow, "Yeah right."

She then tucked her phone away and leaned around both his sides, "Soooo, where's your sister?"

He crossed his arms and scoffed, "Those two are lagging behind, give 'em a few minutes."

"I'm in no rush," She shrugged and went back to leaning against the pole, patting the empty space beside her, "C'mon, we can count cars until they show up!"

Solaris shrugged too and leaned back against the pole, posing their gazes towards the streets. Traffic was busy and gave them plenty of cars to count up. She called dibs on red so he had to settle for white.

All the while he looked around the streets wondering, _"What's taking them so long?" _

After ten minutes of this Samantha suddenly remarked, "Heeeeey, check out the fancy schmancy couple over there!"

She waved her hand due north and the moment he decided to care well, there was suddenly a **whole **heckin' lotta reason to care.

That "couple" was Riku and Lunis, and they were walking down the street wearing a tuxedo and tie and form fitting sheath dress respectively. Lunis had bound her ponytail in pearl strings and put on a gold chain necklace. Riku's short hair was gelled over and worst of all, he had his arm under Lunis', the son of a bitch!

"_What the FUCK?!" _Solaris pulled down on his hair and let out an anguished hiss, _"Why?! Where?! How?!" _

He quickly got a hold of himself and pulled back into the pole, pretending to whistle, _"No its fine. Just distance yourself from them and it'll all go..." _

"Heeeeeey, brother!" Lunis cheerfully declared, waving her hand up in the air.

"_GOD...damn it!" _He squirmed and turned to the face the inevitable approaching disaster, immediately catching Samantha's attention.

"Oh SHIT!" She said with a hearty laugh, "THAT'S your sister?!"

Solaris crossed his arms and grumbled, "Unfortunately..."

Samantha grabbed her chin and began to hum, "Heh, I was expecting a rough and tumble gal like you, not this tall glass of water."

Samantha licked her lips and murmured, "Maybe I oughta switch teams..."

"Wha...?"

She nudged him in the hip and shouted, "Well come on! Aren't you going to introduce me?!"

"_Ha, better to just get this over with..." _Solaris walked forward in a slump with Samantha by his side, meeting the "couple" in the middle.

He stared deep into his sister's face and saw she had put some kind of glittery make-up on too. But she was simply bubbly with her smile, acting innocent the whole way through.

So he instead eyed Riku, who caught a glance back and subtly shrugged his shoulders.

"_Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the horny tree!" _Solaris grit his teeth in a scowl momentarily but then shifted right into a shocked expression as Samantha extended her hand out between the two.

"Name's Samantha!"

Riku shook first and introduced himself, then Lunis followed up, but as she began to open her mouth Solaris realized something.

"_Shit...! I forgot to tell her not to use her real-"_

"Hi, Samantha! I'm Luna!"

"_-name..." _Solaris let out a sigh of relief.

Samantha continued to grip Lunis' hand and shake it a few seconds longer, "Wow, your skin's so smooth, Luna."

"Well thank you!" Lunis' gracefully replied.

As Samantha withdrew her hand she turned aside and propped her hands on her hips with a chuckle, "What's with the fancy suits tho?"

"Yeah," Solaris firmly crossed his arms, "You trying to audition for the ball or something?"

The "couple" stared at them with a few doe-eyed blinks as Samantha reached out, grabbed Riku's tie, and undid it in a single tug. Then she dug her fingers into the hip of Lunis' dress and tore the fabric off down to the foot.

"C'mon! Don't be so stiff and formal! We're here to have fun!" After she casually tossed the materials over her the "couple" stared at each other for a short while. After which, Lunis got a big grin and then grabbed and yanked the tie off her ponytail, letting her hair hang down below her shoulders.

"Woo! You go girl!" Shouted Samantha, pumping her fist in the air.

Riku then gestured his hands up by his shoulders and undid the buttons on the top part of his tuxedo.

"Nice! You get it!" Samantha gave her approving thumbs-up.

Lunis then stared at her and wondered aloud, "So ummm, what ARE we gonna be doing on this date, Samantha?"

"I dunno," She murmured back, "We'll take my car, see what we can find."

She turned and started walking down the sidewalk, so the three of them followed. Around the corner she walked up to a red Sedan with some wear on the bottom side and traces of dirt on the windows, and gave it a nice slap on the hood.

"Ain't she a beauty? My dad got it for me after I got back from the war."

Lunis leaned over the hood and was in awe of its appearance. Samantha meanwhile pulled out her keys and unlocked the door with a "Chirp" coming from the car itself.

"So who wants to sit up front with me?"

Lunis shot right up and threw her hand in the air like a child wanting attention in class, "I do! I do!"

Samantha clicked her tongue and said, "Alright, Legs, you got it!"

Lunis suddenly jumped and slid across the hood to get to the other side, causing Samantha to recoil in laughter, "Ha ha ha! Look at this girl go!"

Solaris couldn't believe that the two seemed to be getting along so far. It worried him. From what he heard girls tend to gossip with one another and Lunis would just **love** to spill all of his embarrassing secrets.

After the four somehow all managed to fit inside the car, Samantha got on the road and started driving them towards the less busier outskirts of town.

Along the way Samantha and Lunis happily conversed with one another about pretty basic stuff, so far anyways. Solaris was kept cramped in the back with Riku, rubbing shoulders with the antsy way he had his arms folded.

"Mrrr..." Solaris had to get his mind off this dumb girl talk and thus turned to Riku for help.

"Hey!" He whispered, "What's the deal with these fancy clothes anyways?"

Riku seemed to have been meditating cause he reacted with illicit shock. He then looked at Solaris and said, "I-It wasn't my idea."

After his heart calmed down he better explained himself, "Lunis got really deep into dating guides last night and decided she wanted to wear fancy dresses on our date. So we went to Auris for help and she gladly bought us these clothes."

"_That conniving granny...!" _Solaris grit his teeth, imagining Auris looking down on him with a mischievous grin.

He then turned his ire onto Riku once more and said, "And was wrapping your arm around hers was Lunis' idea too?"

"A-Actually..." Riku started averting his eyes when Solaris' anger forced him still.

"Who said you could touch her?!"

Riku bit his teeth down and hissed, "You told me to pretend, so I'm doing my best here!"

"So if you need to kiss my sister too are you going to just do it without hesitation?!"

"Eeep!" Squeaked Lunis, exposing that she'd been listening in, much to Solaris' dumbfoundedness.

Samantha leaned her head slightly and asked, "Something the matter?"

Lunis' beet red face shook rapidly as she declared, "N-N-Not at all!"

"Ah." Samantha gave a genuine not-genuine response and continued looking at the road.

Solaris crossed his arms back together tightly and threw the occasional glare aside at Riku, who had a lingering blush in his cheeks.

A few minutes of driving around later Samantha perked up and activated the turn signal, "Hey there we go, the bowling alley's open today!"

She turned the car into the parking lot of a building with two big white bowling pins crossed above the front doors and a bowling bowl wedged between the top of them, using interchanging colored lights in the holes to draw people in.

After rolling up close to the front the four of them got out and Lunis craned her neck back to stare at the towering pins on their way to the entrance.

As Samantha guided them through the doors Solaris leaned towards Riku and whispered, "Hey, has Lunis ever read up on bowling?"

"I don't think so," Riku remarked but remained confident throughout, "But I recall my brother showing an interest in it a couple times. I know the basics of the game if you need them."

"Yeah, hurry it up. I want to do this right."

In the few seconds transitioning between the outdoors and indoors, Solaris learned the goal of the game and how its played, feeling confident he could take on Samantha afterwards.

As they entered the bowling alley the three newcomers were surprised by how quiet the place was, save for the occasional loud "Crack" from the balls hitting the pins. There was this...cold feeling in the air contrasting how warm the lighting was. There were twenty lanes and most of them were filled with groups of friends of all ages having fun, or trying to beat their best scores.

There was a counter to their right with a man in his thirties standing between them and a bunch of shoes, along with the price ranges for entry here. Further down from there was an arcade mainly for children, and then a small food place beyond that.

Samantha strolled right on up to the counter and the man perked up with a smile, "Hey, Sam. That time of the year already?"

"Yep," She replied, leaning forward and slapping her arm down on the counter, gesturing over her shoulder, "I brought some friends along for the ride today though."

"Shoes for four then?" The man started to turn back and pick shoes off the racks, while Samantha turned around and leaned back against the counter.

"What's your shoe sizes?"

"I'm a 12." Solaris said.

"I think I'm 10 ½?" Followed Riku.

"12 too please!" Lunis said in a chipper tone.

"Damn, making me feel like a dwarf here!" Samantha said in a humored tone as she turned back around, "You know my usual chief."

The guy got all four pairs of shoes lined up on the counter and then went to the cash register to tally it all up, "Is Lane 12 ok with you, Sam?"

"Sure, why not." She began to reach into her pocket to pull out some change when suddenly, she glanced at the cash register and remarked, "Eh? I think you got the price off a bit there."

"Consider it a discount." The man replied warmly.

"No no no, you don't need to do that," She reached out and pushed a few 20s right along the counter, "I'm willing to pay in full."

The man gently pushed her hand back and smiled, "Keep it. I insist."

Samantha paused and then coolly withdrew one 20 off the top with a sigh, "Alright, you wore me down."

The man took the money and then, after calculating change, handed her some coin back and allowed her to give the shoes to everyone else.

After some struggles on Solaris' end and curiosity on Lunis' they somehow got their shoes on and made their way to their lane. There were plenty of different colored balls on the racks for them to use, each a different weight.

"Oof!" Lunis was briefly dragged to the ground by hers, "These are...heavy!"

Samantha manned the console in front of the lane with her expertise while the others stood idly. After tapping some buttons she slid away from the console and remarked, "Alright I split us off into teams of two."

She gestured towards Lunis and shouted, "Legs, you're with me!"

Lunis perked up and said "O-Ok!" while Samantha moved towards their little group.

"We'll alternate who plays from each team. I'll go first, then you Sol, then Luna, then finally Riku."

She then propped her hands on her hips and asked, "Any questions?"

Lunis raised her hand and asked, "Yes, how do you play bowling?"

"I'll show you the ropes on your turn. For now, just sit back and watch a pro go to work."

Samantha picked up the fiery looking ball while the rest sat down on the chairs and watched. The pins were set up at the end of the lane and she walked up to the line, raising the ball to her face with her other hand bracing her wrist.

She lined up her shot, swung the ball down, then flung it straight down the lane at a breakneck pace.

The pins were all knocked down with a resounding clap, and she didn't even stick around to see them fall. Walking back with such brisk confidence, she cracked a smirk and thrust a thumb over her shoulder, "Alright Sol, lets see you top that!"

A Strike...The perfect knockdown of the pins. It couldn't BE beat, only matched. Solaris grit his teeth and rose to the occasion, picking up his own ball and walking past Samantha with a competitive smirk.

They roughly bumped shoulders and then he made his way to the lane thinking, _"A strike?"_

He swung his ball up hard and mimicked her posture perfectly, _"Not even a challenge."_

He swung the ball back with all his might then lined up his shot down the center of the lane. His ball went slightly faster than hers, nearly breaching the wall behind the pins after knocking them all down.

He clenched his fist til the knuckles cracked and whispered "Yes!" on his way back to the others.

Samantha leaned back comfortably in her seat and yawned, smacking her lips as her outstretched left arm wrapped around Lunis' back and pushed her to stand.

"C'mon Legs, lets show 'em how its done!"

"Oh...ok!" Lunis wore a smile but looked a little wore down doing so. She picked up a foggy silver ball and walked up to the lane with Samantha by her side.

"Need some help?" She offered.

"I **think** I understand what to do..." Lunis started to raise the ball up like the other two did but ended up grabbing the bottom of her elbow that held the ball.

Samantha shook her head lightly and reached out to gently grab her arm and raise it towards the wrist, "See, you got to do it like this."

Samantha took his opportunity to pull herself in closer, her stomach pressing against Lunis' firm butt. As Samantha gently stroked her hand down Lunis' back, the silver-haired girl rose up and seemed to get a little looser.

"Yeah, there you go. Stand tall and look straight down the lane. See those pins?" Samantha gestured towards the lane and Lunis nodded, "Destroy them. Crush them. Grind them under your heel."

"Grind them under my heel..." Said Lunis hypnotically.

Samantha patted her on the butt and it made her flinch upright, "They're all yours, sweet cheeks!"

"Hey!" Shouted Solaris.

Samantha flinched upright and casually walked back throwing her hands in the air, "Sorry, just being friendly."

Solaris' eyes narrowed and tossed a side glance at Riku, _"I wonder if its not you I should be worried about."_

Lunis took aim and rolled down the lane at a slower pace than the two prior, only managing to knock down five pins.

"Awww," She turned around with a minor pout, "Sorry, I didn't do as good."

"What're you moaning about?" Samantha brushed her hand out a couple times, "You still got a chance to knock down the rest!"

"Really?!" Lunis' eyes lit up and she turned to find the others pins still up, prompting her to pick up her ball from the rack and go make a second attempt.

But she only got three more pins, and she turned with an awkward grin, "Sorry..."

"That's alright," Samantha huffed out a sigh, "I'll just have to carry your tall ass on my back."

Now it was Riku's turn, but as he went to pick up his ball Solaris followed him up and whispered in his ear, "Alright, Riku, we got a chance to take an early lead. You think you got this?"

"Seems this game requires expertise in control...I think I can manage." Riku wandered up to the lane and raised the ball to his face...

"No no NO!" Solaris walked up to him, "That pose is godawful! Here..."

He forced himself onto Riku, smothering his backside with his pecs while attempting to fix his posture. Riku squirmed and pulled the ball away from him shouting, "W-What are you doing, get off!"

"Oh quit being a baby and let me help you grasp your ball!"

Samantha and Lunis sat back and laughed, Samantha practically recoiling behind her seat in doing so.

She then leaned out and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout, "Hey boys, should we leave you alone?!"

"Shut up!" Solaris replied, making her laugh even more.

Lunis gave a tiny giggle and remarked, "This has been a little of fun!"

Samanth settled down and folded her hands behind her head, "Enjoying yourself, Luna?"

"Oh absolutely! I've been meaning to get out more but gosh, there's so many books to read!"

"Book lover eh?" Samantha eyed Lunis up and down and mentioned, "Yeah, you seem the type. Fit as a smooth fiddle too."

"Oh I'm not THAT fit." Lunis shyly remarked.

"Girl," Samantha stated plainly, "I know Olympic **gymnasts** who'd KILL to have your body."

Lunis pressed her hands on her blushing cheeks and looked towards the ground, "P-People are always complimenting my body and I just don't know how to respond...!"

"Own it, Luna!" Samantha waved her hand out, "You could have any guy or girl you want with what you got going on! I mean shit...An athletic book nerd who used to be a soldier is pretty niche around these parts!"

Lunis sat up and said dryly, "Soldier?"

"Yeah your brother said you used to perform stealth operations."

"He...did, did he?" Lunis closed her eyes and sighed internally, _"Darn it Solaris..."_

She then sighed externally and chuckled, "Y-Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was tasked with assassinating key figures in our enemy's strongholds."

She turned the volume down and muttered, "I'm...not very proud of my work though."

"Yeah, shit sucks." Samantha murmured back.

"I was told all the people I killed were bad but...They had families."

"..." Samantha's eyes began to sag and her hands plopped onto her knees. She then brushed her hand up and remarked, "Can we talk about this later?"

Lunis stared at her and she popped up with a smile, "Sorry if that's rude I just...You..."

The sound of the pins being knocked over was so sharp that it broke their concentration. Riku and Solaris walked away patting each other on the back.

"Look at you, first time and you got a strike!" Solaris said like a proud father.

"I'll admit, your weird way of helping made it possible." Riku replied with a smile.

The two stared at their opponents with a brief smirk and then sat down, crossing their legs. Solaris gestured his hand out to the lane and remarked, "Sure you gonna win now, Ms. Fire Fist?"

Samantha stared long and hard at his face and then slapped her knees and stood upright, "Oh its ON now!"

She turned to Lunis and swung her arm towards the lane, "C'mon, Luna! Lets kick these boys' ass!"

Lunis stood up and pumped her fists to her chest, "Yeah! I'm fired up now!"

The battle got really heated up but while Solaris and Samantha stayed even with consistent Strikes, Lunis and Riku's scores fluctuated all over the place and their "coaches" weren't cutting them any slack.

Soon their match was becoming a spectator sport for other players gathered around in the back. It started getting neck and neck close to the final frame. Samantha and Solaris ended on perfect 300s, while Lunis' last roll landed her score at 137. Riku was currently at 135 and needed to bowl all three of the pins remaining to win. They were all arranged in a diagonal line going left. It was going to be an easy win and Samantha knew it.

"Grrr...!" She growled subtly.

Solaris leaned back in the comfort of his chair and smirked, "Oh yeah, victory's ours."

Lunis leaned in towards Samantha and remarked in a pleasant voice, "I tried my best, sorry..."

Samantha suddenly faced her and an impish smile crossed her face, much to Lunis' confusion.

"You know..." Samantha gestured towards her stationary legs, "You've been sitting like that for a while now. You should cross your legs just to give 'em a little exercise."

"Oh, you're right!" Lunis obediently did just that, exposing the entirety of her right leg out in the open.

Samantha grinned and leaned back into her seat with a chuckle. Lunis fell in line to the rest of her scheme just by being herself, "Good luck, Riku!"

Solaris caught wind of that and remarked, "See even your ally's-"

His eyes darted straight towards his sister's exposed leg and then locked onto Samantha's leering eyes, catching her with a devilish smirk.

He immediately turned towards Riku and saw him slowly pivoting his head back.

"Dooooooon't doooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiit...!" Solaris felt the world going in slo-mo as he desperately tried to avert fate.

But the future had been written in stone, and Riku's eyes immediately locked onto the sight prepared for him by the tempting devil clad in red. His eyes looked pale white and his body was shaking.

He tried to turn back to the lane to focus but it was too late.

The game was going to be lost thanks to his horny genetics.

Solaris blacked out, completely exhausted during the entire period where Riku threw the ball down the lane and only hit one pin.

Samantha and Lunis rose to celebrate and clapped each others hands while Riku dragged his feet back over to Solaris, squirming his eyes shut.

"I...I'm sorry?" He half-heartedly apologized.

Solaris daftly raised his head and all emotion had vacated his eyes, "I am going to kill you...and then kill you again."

He received a pat on the back from the **CHEATER** formerly known as Samantha. **CHEATER** looked him square in the eyes and said in their **CHEATING** tongue, "Aww don't feel so bad. Better luck next time!"

Solaris was about to raise a confrontation right then and there when suddenly **CHEATER** rubbed her belly and chuckled, "Boy, that worked up an appetite!"

She winked and started to turn away, "You hungry too? I know a good pizza place around the block, my treat!"

"..." Solaris continued to glare until his motivation for anger turned glacial and he reluctantly said, "Yeah, pizza sounds good, I guess."

So the four of them left the bowling alley and took a car ride around the block to a one-story building titled "Rad-violi's Fiery Pizzas". There were a few cars lined up outside given it was dinner time but they had no trouble getting a table for four.

They ordered two large pizzas, one all-meat and one pepperoni with mushrooms. They came out looking nice and saucy with plenty of cheese OOZING off of every slice they picked up, with the toppings threatening to cascade off the sides if they weren't careful.

Lunis chowed down on the slices, covering her mouth in sauce. Samantha looked on in utter awe, barely managing a bite of one of her own.

"I'm learning a LOT about your sister, Sol." She said with a humored tone.

"Same here." Solaris replied, gobsmacked.

Lunis reared her head up high and moaned as she finished her third slice, "MMM! This is so delicious!"

Samantha shrugged and remarked, "Heh, ten guesses where all that fat's gonna go."

"Riku, you're one lucky S.O.B." She then said with a sly wink.

Riku tried to calmly eat his pizza without a word regarding that.

"So what's your story anyways?" Samantha locked her eyes onto his and leaned in for emphasis, "Sol talks about his sister but never her boyfriend."

Solaris eyes Riku in dire anticipation that he'll manage to not bone this entire night on a bad story.

Riku set his pizza down and looked Samantha straight in the eyes, "Well where do I begin?"

He sounded like a gentleman, so suave and confident in himself, "I met Lunis on the battlefield five months ago and we fell in love immediately from a shared love of nature and books. After we were finished being deployed we decided to pool our resources together and live under one roof. Sol's lives with us too, but...he tends to do things his way."

It was such a well-crafted lie that Solaris nearly fell for it.

"Another soldier fresh off the battlefield eh?" Samantha was caught, hook line and sinker, into their little web of lies, "You look so damn young though."

"He's just 16," Solaris didn't even let one second pass before correcting his error, "AT HEART!"

Avoiding Riku and Lunis' panicked glares in the process...

"Heh, I always feel that way too." Samantha began patting Riku on the shoulder.

"So what company were you?" She went on the offensive asking.

"Marines." Riku promptly answered.

"No shit? So how'd you manage to run into Luna when she was performing stealth missions?"

"Well..." Riku stared straight into Lunis' eyes and remarked with a dry chuckle, "I'll tell you another time, Samantha."

Perfectly evading the topic until he can come up with a feasible story. Guess those booksmarts are good for something after all...

"You know, you two are kinda similar actually," Solaris mentioned, "Riku's got a prosthetic too!"

"Whaaaa?" As Samantha's interest skyrocketed Riku turned and glared at Solaris. Samantha then started being Samantha and invaded Riku's personal space in search of the prosthetic, clanking her metallic leg against both of his and rubbing his biceps thoroughly.

"Where? I don't see or feel anything!"

Riku grunted and then held his right arm over the table towards her, "Its this one."

She went right for it and started to vigorously rub Riku's arm up and down, "Ooooh, I feel it now."

She pulled up his sleeve and then let out an eager gasp, "Whoa! I can feel metal underneath but the arm still looks like skin!"

"I thought my leg was badass but yours is in a whole other league! Who got you yours?"

Riku paused in a dumbstruck fashion and that gave Samantha time to add more to the conversation, "My dad pulled some favors to get me mine. I've felt a lot stronger ever since, like I could take on the whole world!"

"Oh yeah," Riku commented, "Sol mentioned you're pretty strong, I was wanting to ask you a few questions about-"

He suddenly flinched the exact moment the door opened and turned towards it with a glance of caution. Solaris turned around and saw a man in a ragged coat and scruffy facial features entering with shifty eyes.

"Something the matter, Riku?" He whispered.

"Nothing just...I thought I sensed something dangerous." Riku returned to face Samantha who was waiting around patiently for him.

"What did you want to ask?"

"Well..."

The conversation was interrupted with the arrival of that man in the coat bumping into their table. The four turned to face him. He had bags under his eyes and no show of emotion in his pupils. There was this dark, unsettling vibe he portrayed that put Solaris' body on edge.

"_This guy is..." _

"Hey bud, you drunk? You're looking a little shaky there." Samantha said with a mix of joking and concern.

Without warning the man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, firing it up towards the ceiling. As the bullet shook debris from the ceiling the four sprang up from their seats while screams filled the room from the patrons. The gun was then immediately trained onto Samantha, who stood there frozen in place.

"NOBODY MOVE!" The aggressor shouted in a deep voice, instilling stillness to the screaming many, but doing little temper to their whimpers of fear.

He put his finger on the trigger and his aim was steady.

Riku was cautiously surveying his options while Lunis was eyeing the utensils on the table. Solaris meanwhile felt no fear in the eye of danger, and stared the gun man down with irritation.

"Just who the hell do you think-"

"Shut up!" The man shouted firmly, thrusting his gun further towards Samantha, who continued not to move.

Solaris grit his teeth and looked at her confidently, _"This guy's nothing to her. She'll kick his ass and..." _

He saw an entirely different side of her just now. Her eyes stared forward like deer faced with headlights, the pupils completely shrunken as her arms and legs trembled.

Solaris gasped and then turned his attention towards the man as they were milliseconds away from firing, "After all your father's done, you're going to burn in Hell, just like he is."

Solaris grit his teeth and tightened his fists, swinging out independently of any sense of rhyme of reason. With a bitter roar he caught the gunman completely unawares and clobbered him across the face. But the gun man took aim and fired.

In that very instance Solaris grabbed the gun by the barrel and **crunched** it shut, the bullet exploding and bombarding the assailant's chest with bits of shrapnel.

He then run forward and hoisted the man up by the collar of his coat so they could meet eye-to-eye, his glare now completely feral.

The metal in the assailant's chest left him too weak to do anything but breathe, and ragged those breaths were.

"Fuck off asshole, we're on a date!" Was the final word given on the matter before he tossed the man to the ground and the impact knocked him out.

Solaris then looked at his hand and saw tiny scraps of metal lodged into his palm. As he shook it off he looked around at everyone staring at him in awe and remarked, "Ok people, get back to your pizzas!"

"RAAAHH!" With a lion's roar Samantha suddenly ran around the table and punted the gun man in the side of the head in a mad sweat.

She then swung her hand down and screamed "FUCK YOU!" at the top of her lungs.

Some grunts, growls and pants later, she collapsed forward and grabbed her knees tight. She then got closer to Solaris and leaned her head against his chest, panting until she had completely calmed down.

Of course as much as they would've liked to go back to dinner the police had to come and clean up the mess the gun man made. Everyone involved were asked questions but fortunately all the patrons were too scared to clearly explain how the gun got broken.

The time between the attack and the police arriving gave Solaris and friends time to fake a story about what went down to cover Solaris' raw display of anger.

After that was done they finally got to finish off their now cold pizza and decided that was enough excitement for one night.

It was an abysmally quiet drive back to the city. Riku and Lunis were let off where they had met up and said they'd meet Solaris back at the house.

He stuck around at Samantha's insistence as she took a slow drive through the quiet streets, ultimately parking outside a two-story apartment complex with dim lights and rickety walls.

Solaris was getting sick of the silence at this point and as they got out of the car he said, "What's up with you? You've been quiet ever since we left the pizza place."

She walked around the hood and stepped up in front of him, standing underneath a flickering street light with her hands in her pockets.

"I really like this planet. If aliens are real, who cares? I'd live here over anywhere else without question."

"Whaaat?" Was really all he could reply with.

"Dad fought really hard to keep people like us safe and the planet healthy," Her smile was shaky, and her fists clenched tighter in their pockets, "He...was a good man, right? That shooter was just...a terrorist, trying to cause chaos...right?"

Solaris calmly heard her out.

She gripped the side of her head and shook it slowly, "He died in a fire...People die in those all the time but it just feels...wrong like, I don't know..."

Solaris felt an ache in his chest and looked down at his hand, subtly summoning flames that were crushed in his fist the moment he heard her speak up.

"Heh," She murmured, "Every year no matter what he was doing or where he was, would spend time with me on this day."

She craned her head back towards the sky and her smile was weak, "...I bet he's still here now, watching over me."

She dropped her shoulders with a sigh then walked on up to Solaris and bumped her right knuckles against his chest, "Hey, seriously, thanks for going out with me today."

Her arm rubbed up against his chest and she leaned her head up closer to his face with a sparkle in her eyes, "And what you did to that gun man? That was pretty cool."

She stood on her toes and began to pucker her lips. Solaris' heart was left racing faster and faster as she was centimeters from his cheek.

She then made a popping sound with her lips and withdrew in an instance wearing a big grin, leaving a fluttering mark on his heart.

"So, usual time tomorrow?"

Solaris gawked at her, "U-Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Heh. See you then!" She turned around and made her way into the apartment.

Solaris put his fist over his chest and remarked, "Yeah...see you then."

His heartbeat slowed down to normal and he stared down at his fist. Then he looked up towards the same stars she saw with a forlorn glance.

"...Are you watching me too, father?" He raised his fist towards the sky and tried to smile, "I'm going to be fine, I promise. I...don't want to lose this feeling."

And with his solemn remark left said, he wandered the streets until he felt ready to return home, for a long night's sleep...

_Next Time: Round 2 at Grade School  
_


	59. Chapter 58

Morning has dawned once more on the Aurora household, but today the family has a new visitor joining them for breakfast. Little Maria Whiter has been making more frequent trips up to Sancturia to spend time with her mama, including spending the night before school days.

Thus has the family had to adopt new routines to account for her time here. Auris has accepted Kairi as the new lunch maker, Shina helps keep Maria's backpack neat and organized, and Kairi has helped her learn how to clean herself and perform good hygiene.

Today after getting up bright and early and having breakfast, Kairi frantically worked on preparing lunches for the two of them as time was running short on them to get to class.

Maria hustled to the door with backpack swung over her shoulders, running in place and doing the occasional hop to see her mama perform in the kitchen.

Kairi's hair was flying every which way as she sprinted around the kitchen sacking the lunches in paper bags. Nearly slipping on the floor on the way out, she brushed her loose hairs back in one hand and tossed Maria her lunch in the other, then went back to pick up hers.

"C'MON MARIA HUSTLE HUSTLE!" Kairi said, working up a sweat.

"Buy you two, have fun at school today!" Said Auris, waving from the couch.

Shina slid down the stair rail, grunting slightly in pain as she landed.

Kairi turned and said, "You've got to stop doing that, seriously!"

"N-No way!" Shina replied with a hand on her aching back.

Kairi patted Maria on the back to hurry her out the door and Shina followed, shouting in a humored tone for all to hear, "Hey! Maybe you ought to be having this baby, sis!"

Kairi spun around and shouted back with red cheeks, "W-What are you saying that for?! And...in your dreams, Shina!"

Shina chuckled and Kairi turned around, gently pushing Maria to run one more time. Maria didn't understand any of this, as no one wants to tell her why Shina's been puffing up like a balloon lately.

It was a mad dash through Sancturia to get to school. As classmates from all grades horded towards the entrance, there was one guy who personally exempted himself from the halls of learning.

"Papa!" Shouted Maria to the brown-haired man standing around between them and the entrance.

"Mornin' you two!" Mew hollered and waved his hand as they pass by.

The two waved their hands but suddenly Mew remarked, "Ah!"

And Kairi turned and froze in place, running there with a frantic look in her eyes, "W-What is it, Mew we don't have time for any-"

Mew closed his eyes with a wily smile that turned to a smirk, then gestured his hand up to summon an apple from out-of-nowhere.

"You forgot this in her lunch bag again, 'mama'."

"D'oh!" Kairi grunted and caught the flung apple above her head, throwing it into Maria's backpack in seconds.

"Remember, an apple a day keeps the doc-"

"Bye, Mew!" Kairi bluntly proclaimed, racing for the door.

Maria looked back and whispered "Bye, papa!" as she looked over her shoulder.

The two shoved their way through the front doors and Kairi dashed to her side of the school on the turn of a dime, throwing her hand up behind her to say farewell.

The school bells were ringing down the halls as Maria ran towards her class. She'd gotten used to the size of this place. It wasn't so oppressive now. And classes and homework? Not so bad when mama's and auntie Shina are so smart.

Suddenly she heard a whipcrack and froze in place, as something tightened around her right leg and hoisted her off the ground. She went from looking at the ceiling to staring down at the floor as her body dangled around in mid-air by an aura rope.

A few feet away were her fellow classmates all lined up outside the classroom for the teacher to take their attendance. And standing out among the rest was that big bad meanie, Kris.

Kris...the most vile, vicious 5th grader this side of Sancturia's School system, feared by many for her ability to sit on little kids' faces with her big fat ugly butt. She's got a mean streak as big as her belly and is wanted for crimes of fart ballooning, gluing butts to chairs, and throwing boogers into mashed potatoes.

And this rope wrasslin' event was just another of her many jokes aimed at her newest prey.

Kris pointed her piggish fingers up at Maria and started laughing, "Nice underwear, polka dots!"

Most of Maria's classmates and some of the students from other classes laughed, and laughed, and laughed as Maria felt very red in the face and shoved her floral skirt up trying to cover her polka dotted bloomers.

All the while she squirmed, and felt terrible, _"I chose the wrong time to wear a skirt..." _

Eventually her teacher wandered out of the classroom and her assessment of the rioting laughter was to stare at her with a disapproving glance and shake her head.

"Oh, Maria..."

The authorities were none the wiser to Kris' antics. She was a chameleon with two chins, a liar, a thief, and a meanie.

And if the law could not take matters into their own hands, then an **out**law, could. A storm's abrewin' in the OK Corral, and what happens next...ain't gonna be pretty.

**Chapter 58: Maria vs. The Bully**

The first few hours of school went by without any further incident. Maria sat down, learned, and then went to the cafeteria for lunch.

Her backpack had gotten thrown around, bruising her apple and crushing her potato chips. Fortunately the sandwich mama made had been protected by a plastic container.

So after sprinkling her dusted chips into the sandwich she went to take her first bite only for a friendly face to slide on in next to her.

"Hey, Maria!" Shouted Nikolas, the first and only friend she'd made her in school.

He had brought his own bagged lunch with mac and cheese, tuna fish and crackers, and an orange juice. As he took the items out one-by-one he pointed at her meal and asked, "Oooo you brought an apple!"

He picked his orange juice up and shook it around, "Trade ya!"

The two casually exchanged food and Nikolas chomped down on the apple with a grin, "Mmmmrrr, yer papa shure does make a gfood apple!"

He's so sloppy but he does it with so much enthusiasm that Maria can't help but smile at him. But it only lasted a moment, for she then stared down at her sandwich with a forlorn glance and sighed.

Nikolas stopped stuffing his cheeks and set the apple down quickly to say, "You still agonizing about what that bully Kris did to you this morning?"

Maria softly nodded back.

He stood and slapped the table so hard it banged like a drum, "Well then just sock her in the face like you did before! I'm tellin' ya, she'll get the message this time!"

She shook her head and remarked, "I don't think so..."

"Then you just gonna let her walk over you?!"

She stood up and furiously arched her brows at him, "No! She's a mean ol' butt face!"

"Then you gotta pay her back somehow!"

Maria felt empowered by the prompting her friend gave, but quickly cowered her fists towards her gut and said, "I could easily beat her up, but we're not allowed to fight outside of class..."

"Yeah, your right..." Though Nikolas' enthusiasm deflated he wrapped his arms against his chest and tapped his toes on the ground, "Gotta pay her back without making it obvious to the teachers..."

Maria echoed his stance and hummed loudly, "Gotta pay her back..."

They snapped their fingers and faced each other in perfect unison to shout their ideas.

"We should prank her back!" Said Nikolas.

"We should steal her money!" Said Maria.

Nikolas' arms recoiled back and he stuttered, "W-Whoa settle down there, Maria! Don't ya think that's a bit too soon?"

Maria flinched while Nikolas waved the back of his fingers out at her, "That can be Plan C!"

She perked up with a nod and said, "You're right! Your plan is much, much better!"

The two clapped their hands together up high and shouted "Yeah!" as a confident call of their victory. They then went back to their lunch in high spirits...Perhaps too high of 'em.

"Ughhh..."

The two rubbed their sore bellies on the way out of the cafeteria, having eaten faster than a hummingbird on a Dragon's Beard flower.

"Augh, I'm gonna be feeling this in the bathroom later..." Nikolas groaned, Maria nodding sympathetically in approval.

She then bobbed her head up and saw her mama standing by at the door, clearly moving towards her the moment she herself locked eyes with her.

"Maria, there you are..." She said softly, her eyelids sinking in concern.

"Oh hey there, Ms. Kairi!" Nikolas replied, proceeding to dart along ahead while waving back at Maria, "I'll see you after class with some notes written up!"

Kairi followed his departure with mild interest, turning to look across her shoulder at Maria to ask, "Notes? Do you have a test coming up?"

"Ummm, yeah!" Maria quickly nodded, knowing it'd keep her face from giving anything away.

Then Kairi's solemn expression returned, and she turned towards the door in a floaty manner, "Can I walk with you for a bit, Maria?"

Maria hesitated to stick by her mama's side as they walked through the student filled halls. So much unintelligible chatter was going on around her that it made it easier to focus on what mama had to say.

Kairi was having trouble looking Maria in the eye, which wasn't too unusual. Papa's always saying that mama's learning how to communicate with people again, and the toughest part for her is being honest with her emotions.

She's having that struggle right now, saying one word and then clamping her mouth shut, just to say another word and start over again.

It was a long walk back to class but not "infinite" long.

So Maria decided to be a good little girl and give her mama a little helpful nudge, "What's wrong, mama, cat got your tongue?"

Kairi grimaced and spurned her wilder side to the surface for a moment, "N-No! Its just...!"

She grit her teeth and finally mustered up the words she wanted following a sigh, "I-I heard...about the bullying."

Maria pressed her chin against her chest and frowned. Kairi immediately asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"..." Maria didn't know what to say.

"...How long has this been going on for?" Kairi asked in a docile tone.

"Since the first day of school." She said very much under her breath.

"That long?" Yet Kairi not only heard it, but was outraged by it. So much so that they risked being late to class by stopping then and there, "Maria..."

Maria looked her mama in the eye and stood her ground, "I'm fine! I can take care of myself!"

"You...!" Kairi flinched and then bent down, putting one hand comfortably on her shoulder as she whispered, "You're a tough girl, I know that. But this is completely new for you. You don't know how to handle a bully."

"And you do?" Maria said, scornfully looking away from her mama.

"Yes. I **do**." Kairi replied firmly, her assured voice lulling Maria's gaze back against her will.

"I faced a lot of mockery when I was a few years younger. My classmates, even the teachers, their insults burrowed into my head and made me so, SO mad..." It seemed just thinking about it was enough to make Kairi's teeth shake. She took a deep breath and relaxed, looking Maria in the eyes.

"And I responded in kind with violence. I BEAT up whoever I could get my hands on. And it felt good. **Really** good."

Maria gazed into her mama's eyes and started to remark, "So I should-"

"No!" Kairi was suddenly raising her voice and shaking her head, pleading to her with all her heart, "Don't you ever, EVER think violence is the answer to insults. If that bully ever physically hurts you then fine, fight back. But you'll never be able to take back the blood you draw onto your knuckles..."

The bell rang through a thick air of tension between them, and the sorrow that resounded in Kairi's voice gave way to a dull, emotionless tone as she stood up and said, "I'm sorry, Maria...We can talk more about this later..."

She turned and stared down at Maria the whole while, then sprinted for her class, leaving her daughter to grip her arms against her chest and feel a tightness in her heart.

"_You're wrong, mama," _Sowed the seeds of rebellion in her young, developing mind, _"The only way I'm gonna stop a meanie like her is beating her at her own game." _

With a narrow stare she walked back to class, planning, plotting, for the start of her payback...

When she got out of school she went back home with Nikolas to "spend some time studying", which wasn't really a lie. They were studying. Studying REVENGE!

Nikolas had drawn up a crude outline of the school's layout during class and used it to point out where that mean ol' Kris tended to go.

"So first she goes to her locker, then she'll..." As Nikolas expertly crafted their plan, Maria chewed down his mom's delicious, chewy cookies with a nod and a smile.

Their plotting went on like this over the weekend since they wanted to make sure that their plans were foolproof. Maria got all giddy just thinking about the humiliation on Kris' piggy face once she's been got.

Then the next week rolled around, and this time it was papa's turn to take her to school. After going through the not-so scary dark corridor and arriving outside the schoolhouse, Maria waved her papa goodbye and was prepared to head in for class when...

"Hooooold it young lady." He kept her held back, much to her surprise.

He gently turned her around and bent down to look her in the eye with a knowing smile, "What's in the bag?"

She peeked over her shoulder and then gripped the straps of her backpack tight, trying to look away from papa's eyes, "I-I-Itching powder...?"

Mew's face lit up and then he remarked firmly, "And who's the itching powder for?"

"I'm...trying to stop a bully." She whispered under her breath.

Mew suddenly went and patted her gently on the shoulder, giving his nod of approval forthright, "Atta girl, way to stand up for yourself!"

After mama's lecture she knew she could count on papa to understand her side of things. He rose to his feet and told her "Good luck!", giving her a lift in spirits that made her sprint into school like she was light as a feather.

She met up with Nikolas at the doors and in his hand was a plastic bag full of deflated balloons. He snickered and sneered, pinching the bag between his hands with pride.

"You brought the itching powder?" He whispered.

"Mmm hmm!" Maria pulled her backpack off and pulled out a plastic bottle of itching powder she'd gotten cheap at the store with her allowance.

"Perfect! Now, remember what the plan is..."

A few minutes later the two slammed a locker door shut and hardly contained their giggles as they hid behind the row of lockers, waiting for their prey to spring their trap.

Kris walked up not long after and grabbed a hold of her locker door. The two little schemers' laughter nearly gave them away and made them retreat further behind the lockers.

When they poked their heads out again Kris had begun to open the door, where four inflated balloons floated out to greet her.

Her confusion was immense, and in that moment she tried to poke one of them. Nikolas whispered "Now!" and Maria thrust her hand out with joy.

The gas she had contained within the balloons expanded and caused them to pop. Kris screamed for a moment as elastic scraps and a whole lot of white powder was showered all over her body.

Kris started spinning around in place, scraping her arms up and down to try and throw the powder off. But her body was already being thrown into an itching fit with no end in sight, and her continued spinning tripped her up and made her fall onto her back.

"Alright! Who did this?! Come out and show yourselves!" She was spinning on her back, trying to open her eyes only for the itching powder to irritate them.

"Ah my eyes!"

Nikolas and Maria pulled out and threw their hands up to clap, "We did it!"

"I recognize that voice!" Kris shouted bitterly.

The two masterminds flinched and turned to run away to class, while Kris spewed venom like a feral cat, "You little shits! This isn't over!"

Maria enjoyed class immensely after that. Kris eventually got cleaned off and returned to class looking irritated as all get out.

As lunch time rolled around Maria went to pick up her backpack and noticed it suddenly felt a lot heavier. Nevertheless she put it onto her back, only to hear a soft, sticky sound coming from there.

Her body began to get dragged down backwards and when her backpack hit the ground she was left bobbing back and forth like a helpless turtle.

She struggled to stand, but the backpack was stuck to her and refused to let go.

"Nnn...! NNN...!"

The class had mostly vacated so the embarrassment could've been worse. But that wasn't important. Kris was hovering over her looking upside-down thanks to Maria's current predicament.

"That's a nice look for you, freckle face," Kris smirked and then spit on her face, walking away full of laughter, "Later loser!"

"You pig faced meanie!" Maria tried to take a swing but that just kept her body teeter-tottering away.

She freed herself eventually with some clever use of her aura and dumped the heavy books out, but now her backpack was in bad shape and once again, her lunch had paid a terrible price.

At the cafeteria she stared at a crushed paper bag and dully pulled out her dead sandwich and mushed apple.

"Haaaa..." She was forced to eat this if she wanted to survive.

"Hey, Maria," Nikolas nonchalantly came walking up, his underwear somehow pulled up to the back of his skull, "She got you back too?"

Maria softly nodded and after snapping his underwear painfully back into his pants, Nikolas sat down and pulled out his relatively intact lunch.

"I reckon the plan wasn't very effective after all..." He said with a sigh.

"Uh-huh." She nodded again.

Nikolas turned and pumped her fist excitedly, "That's A-OK! That was just Phase 1!"

Maria turned and shouted "Yeah!" leading to Nikolas declaring, "She won't see the next one coming! Literally!"

The two huddled together and Nikolas whispered in her ear, "Ok, so after class Kris likes to..."

The rest of the day was as tense as ever, as the air of anticipation was thick in the classrooms between the three schemers. Kris eyed Maria and Nikolas, Nikolas pointed at his eyes and then to her. All of this going under the teacher's notice.

When the class was over Nikolas signaled Maria that he was going to run on ahead to prepare, and to "act" when he gave the signal.

Maria cautiously examined her backpack for anymore sabotage and put it on comfortably. With a heavy sigh she tried to act natural walking out of the classroom, with Kris having gone on ahead, just as planned.

She had a particular route she liked to take that wasn't a straight line to the doors. Maria snuck up on her tippy toes and reached into her backpack's pocket to pull out a pair of scissors she picked up in the classroom.

As the moment crept closer Maria saw Nikolas' hair poking out from behind a corner separating Kris from the exit out. There were other students heading out. A perfect crowd for the perfect act of mischief.

Suddenly Nikolas stampeded out from behind cover and leaped through the air, throwing up both his middle fingers while shouting, "FLASH DRIVE!"

A bright flash of light exploded from his bracelet and completely overwhelmed Kris and all the other students. Maria squeezed her eyes shut and dashed ahead, using her aura senses to keep track of Kris.

Her ability to see was underdeveloped and blurry, but she was positive she had found her target when she started rapidly snipping the scissors up the back of their shirt.

She then grabbed the back of their pants and pulled them down, running ahead to help Nikolas up so they could hide and watch the magic unfold.

The flash faded and the moment Kris tried to move she tripped over her own pants and fell towards the ground. She was still half-blinded and was madly swinging her head around looking for her aggressors.

"Where are you?! I know you're out there!"

Nikolas and Maria were in a giggling fit as Kris unknowingly stood up and her shirt slid off at the sleeves, leaving her in only her underwear and a training bra.

The rest of the students turned and gasped, their eyes alit with shock. Kris swung her head around and eventually noticed the cause of their sudden laughter. Turning pink in the cheeks, picked up her clothes, crossed her arms over her chest, and ran the other way to the bathroom.

Maria and Nikolas fell over and teeter-tottered from the sheer laughter they were experiencing.

"I can't...I can't even...Breathe!" Nikolas was losing it the most.

"That'll show her!" Maria exclaimed confidently.

Oh, but if only it were that easy...

The next day the two mischief makers were off to gym class. Today they were going to be practicing dodging projectiles by playing a game of dodgeball.

The students had all gathered inside ready to play. Nikolas and Maria got to be on the same team against Kris, who didn't look too upset after yesterday's antics.

"I think we got her!" Nikolas whispered in delight as he picked up one of the balls and prepared to play.

"Uh huh!" Maria remarked merrily.

The two teams of students lined up in a row to face each other down. But Kris, however, remained stuck to the wall behind her team crossing her arms with a smile.

The gym teacher blew the whistle before anyone could remark. A second of paying attention could've averted disaster just now.

"YAHOO!" Shouted Nikolas as he began to run to throw the ball.

His legs suddenly started spinning around out of control and he toppled over onto his back, sliding around like a hockey puck.

"Nikolas!" Maria paid more attention to her surprise than common sense and ran after her friend, only to start pedaling her feet against the ground and falling flat on her face when she tried to move.

This started a domino effect of other students moving and slipping on the ground, and even the teacher wound up suffering the same fate. Everyone was slip sliding around, bumping into each other and continuing to cycle around the room for a good five minutes.

All the while Maria tried to look at Kris, only to find the bully hooking her right eye duct down and sticking her tongue out.

Eventually after more teachers came in to stop the chaos, a few students were sent to the nurse's office to mend injuries but no one could determine who the culprit was...somehow.

Nikolas and Maria went off to lunch with a hand supporting their sore backs. They stretched before sitting down at the tables. Fortunately, their lunch had survived the day.

"Augh, if that went on any longer I'd be walking with a cane before my grandpa!" Nikolas groaned.

"My butt's sooooore..." Maria groaned.

After arching his back with a groan himself Nikolas shook his head and remarked, "So maybe she didn't get it yet..."

"You think?" Maria snapped at him briefly.

"Its ok!" Nikolas had his spirits still high and confident, "We still got Phase 3 to look forward to!"

"Phase 3!" Maria was really excited for that one.

Nikolas shiftily looked around and then leaned in towards her, whispering in her ear, "Ok so I already put powdered laxatives in Kris' mashed potatoes. So all we got to do now is..."

A short time after finishing their lunches up, Nikolas and Maria rushed to the girl's restroom. He was forced to stand outside while she put in all the work inside.

They then hurried up and hid inside a nearby locker waiting for Kris to come running in. She did so a few moments later clutching her stomach and her innards audibly gurgling.

"Ugh, I ate too many potatoes...!" Kris hurried on her way into the bathroom and, nearly exposing themselves with laughter, Maria and Nikolas snuck out and glanced into the bathroom.

"Which one did she go in?" Nikolas whispered.

"I dunno, I can't tell," Maria shook her head, "But I put one in every toilet, so..."

"Well whaddya waiting for?!" Nikolas shouted, "Blow 'em all up!"

Maria thrust her hand out and concentrated on the gas balls she'd stuffed down each toilet pipe. With a little bit of science she picked up from Catherine's blabbering she's learned how to turn them into miniature bombs.

The pipes exploded, water shooting out like geysers as Kris suddenly wailed in shock.

"AAAAAAA!"

She got blown out of the restroom covered in fecal matter and pee, which was quickly filling the room and painting the ceilings.

The two masterminds stood and clapped their hands together in celebration, "YEAH!"

However, they were suddenly hoisted up by the collar of their shirts by the burly lady janitor, who stared at them with vein-y eyes and muttered, "Ooooh you little troublemakers are gonna get it now."

Nikolas and Maria stared at each other and gulped.

A few minutes later they, along with a drying Kris, found themselves in the Principal's Office as the grumpy old man stood over his table and shouted at them all.

"Detonating the toilets! Running around half-naked! Fiddling with the cafeteria food! Your terrorizing antics are getting way out of hand you three!"

"B-But-!" Kris tried to raise an objection only for the principal to slap his hand on the table while taking a seat.

"Not a word out of you, Chrysanthemum." The principal picked up some papers and slammed them on the table. He then huffed out a sigh and leaned back into his chair looking very wrinkly in the face.

"You're all suspended for two days and I'll be contacting your parents after school. This is not up for debate."

There were no words to say for the three defeated schemers as they waddled out of the principal's office shaking in fear.

Nikolas dug his fingertips in his hair and grunted, "Ugh this SUCKS! My mom's gonna kill me!"

He turned and watched Kris wander down the south hall, then cupped his hands around his mouth to yell, "Hey! This is all your fault your big pig! I hope you're proud of yourself!"

She didn't respond with even the smallest biting remark.

"Hmph!" Nikolas threw his hands down to his hips and said, "This isn't over..."

He then looked Maria in the eye and said, "Well I gotta head home and deal with my parents. See you tomorrow at my place?"

Maria gave a dull nod and Nikolas ran off the opposite way. Maria, unfortunately, had no choice but to go the same way Kris was to go pick up her backpack.

The bully was looking down at the ground and seemed shaken by something. Maria's natural pace caught her up to the sluggish meanie so she could overhear her talking to herself.

"N-No, no...I can't be suspended...What'll they say? What'll they DO?" Her words were full of fear but none of which Maria herself cared about.

In fact she wallowed in the misery that meanie was suffering from now more than ever, and stood by her side to say bluntly, "You deserved this you jerk."

As Kris froze and slowly panned her head to face her, Maria closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, "Maybe this'll teach you not to pick on other people."

Silence turned to calm. Calm turned to ire. Ire...turned to burning rage.

The next thing Maria knew Kris was lunging at her and had her pinned to the locker with her arm against her chest. Maria coughed loudly and stared into Kris' now feral eyes.

"This is all YOUR fault! You got me in trouble!"

Maria impatiently glared back and remarked, "Y-You were picking on me! I never did anything to you!"

"Liar! Stupid headed...JERK!" Kris shoved her arm against Maria's chest again and it felt horrible on her lungs.

"Augh...!" She moaned in pain.

"Stop looking down on me you dot-faced LOSER!"

The kid gloves were off. Maria's fight or flight response made her heart boil over in rage, and she responded to the bully's aggression by summoning a giant gas fist and smashing it against the lockers beside her.

Kris froze, watching as the fist reeled back and unveiled a huge dent in the metal.

"Y-You..."

"Get..." Maria pressed her tiny feet against the locker behind her with all her strength and pushed Kris' stunned body forward, "OFF OF ME!"

The two fell towards the ground where they grabbed and rolled around, alternating who was top and bottom. Maria grabbed Kris' hair and pulled hard while Kris fought through screams just to tear the braids off Maria's pigtails.

Kris grounded Maria and tried to throw a punch, only for her to roll far out of the way and get to her feet.

Maria then lobbed a huge gas fist into Kris' body, blowing her a dozen feet through the air. But Kris landed on her feet and snarled, acting more primal than human. And with a strength unfitting her size, she grabbed hold of one of the nearby locker door and TORE it right off, throwing it at Maria.

Maria ran and slid under it just barely, then rose and kept on running. She winded her real fist back, blood curling in rage and leaving her as blind as a bull.

The next moment was like a blur, through which all Maria heard was a loud "Crack!" before Kris went crashing down to the floor on her hip.

Maria stumbled a couple steps forward and then gripped her knees tight, raising her head and panting tiredly. Kris stayed down, barely supported by her elbow.

Maria walked one step forward, spit on her foe's body, and then left her in her wake.

It only took a few more steps beyond for her to hear whimpering from behind. She looked over her shoulder and saw Kris placing her hands on the floor and tears dropping to the floor along with drops of blood from her nose.

Maria turned and continued to walk away, but the whimpering just wouldn't stop. It sounded like it was strenuous for her too.

She looked at her hand and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw blood smeared along her torn knuckles. All she heard after was the pounding sounds of her heartbeat against her chest, not from excitement, but fear...

She looked over her shoulder at Kris again and frowned.

Quickly sprinting along ahead to pick up her backpack, she carried it back to the fallen girl and bent down, pulling a tissue from her emergency supplies.

"Here." She whispered to get Kris' attention.

Kris raised her head and then quickly grabbed and stuffed the tissue to stop her bloody nose. Then she looked Maria in the eye and asked, "...Why?"

"I dunno." Maria dully replied.

Kris wiped her tears on her sleeve and muttered, "T-This doesn't change anything..."

So Maria looked her directly in the eyes and asked, "Why do you hate me so much?"

Kris grit her teeth and said, "You want to know why?"

"Yeah, that's why I asked." Maria replied.

Kris had a brief, unhinged fit of laughter and shook her head, "You're one of the Planetary Aurians, that's why."

Maria's eyes widened as what she took away from that is, "You believed what I said back them...?"

"Of course I did!" Kris shouted, "You guys are in all the Aurian history books, nobody would be dumb enough to claim they're one of them as a lie!"

This just raised further questions, "I-I don't understand...?"

"Of course you don't! You're so naive..." Kris lowered her head with a twitchy scowl, "You've gotten to be a big hero and go on big adventures. Everything in life comes easy to you while the rest of us can try our hardest, do everything we thinks right, and still be stuck on this dumb floating city!"

"You had to come and announce yourself like that to the whole class and look down on us like were nobodies!" Kris curled her fist and punched the floor, "And the grown-ups eat it all up cause you look so young and cute...!"

She punched the ground and screamed louder, "I try my best darn it! But I ain't that strong, I ain't that smart. But mom and dad keep telling me 'You're gonna be a star someday!', 'You'll get a great job and marry into wealth!', and 'You WILL keep doing your best dear!'"

"So I try, and I try, and I try, but its so hard, and nothing I'm gonna ever do will ever compare to the likes of you! You're just gonna breeze on by through school and leave the rest of us losers in the dust!"

"And it made me so, SO mad...!" She grit her teeth and growled right in Maria's face, "I HATE you!"

"I hate you I hate hate HATE you!" She repeated until her face was beet red.

Maria's heart felt tight and she looked Kris right in the face, knowing now that her tears were truly real. Yet as she saw her face reflected with scorn in the bully's eyes, Maria didn't feel a single shred of hate in her body.

She silently reached into her backpack and pulled out a few pieces of paper to hand off to Kris.

"W-What are these...?"

"My homework from last week," Maria pointed to the top, marked with a big red "C", "See this? Those're the kinds of grades I'm getting. A bunch of 'Cs' and 'B-'."

Kris grabbed the papers out of her hand and stared long and hard at them.

Maria patted her hands atop her knees and murmured, "School's really hard, isn't it?"

"You're not...a genius?" Kris stammered.

"Nuh-uh. That's Catherine's job," Maria remarked, "I was a floating ball of gas for two-thousand years."

Kris blinked a few times and Maria tilted her head, "That jerk Gravitus didn't put that in any history book, did he?"

Maria closed her eyes and remarked, "I don't know much about anything, but papa and mama and all my teachers are teaching me a lot. Every day I learn something new."

"I ain't ever felt special. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But you sound like you've got dreams of your own, Kris...So why would you want to throw them all away by hurting other people?"

Kris turned away biting her lower lip into a firm pout, "I-I don't know...Mom and dad said I got to always be on top, so I thought..."

"Adults say really confusing things and I don't know why," Maria interjected, "My mama and papa especially say a lot of gibberish and fumble over their words when near each other."

"But I think...parents'll always have our best interests in mind, even if its hard to understand them. Your parents are like that, I think."

Kris got on her knees and looked straight at Maria's face with her wet eyes, "Then...when they're pushing me, its cause they love me?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And when they yell at me, its out of love too?"

"Yep!"

"So even when they paddle my butt, that's also out of love?"

"Uhhh..." Maria raised her head and rubbed her chin, "I don't know actually. But I can ask Granny Auris, she might know!"

No. It wasn't.

The moment Maria relayed this information to Auris the tension in the Aurora household was thick to the point of suffocating.

Auris ended up stampeding out of the house on a one-way warpath to Kris' parents with Kairi and Shina following close behind to hold her back.

Maria heard only of the aftermath.

It was a tiresome, two-hour long confrontation involving much yelling, crying, hitting, more crying, more yelling, followed by even more hitting.

Apparently Kris' parents were left broken and drowning in tears and Kairi and Shina were completely pale in the face afterwards.

Ultimately it turned out Kris was getting verbally abused by her parents and the paddling thing was a very recent but frightening addition. Confronted with the consequences their actions were having on not just their daughter, but also the entire school, Kris' parents had a long talk with each other in front of Auris discussing their own pasts and the cycle of abuse they were passing on to their child.

So to nip that in the bud, Kris' parents agreed with Auris' suggestion to start going to therapy to try to be better parents.

And thus for Maria, a week passed by very quickly without much further incident...

She joined Nikolas at their usual lunch table where Nikolas pointed out to her, "Haven't heard hide or hair of that meanie Kris for a while now, have we?"

Maria slowly nodded her head as she pulled out her sandwich.

Nikolas crossed his arms proudly and proclaimed, "Guess we sure showed her after all! Ha ha! We'll never see her again!"

"Oh yeah?" Shouted Kris behind them.

Nikolas froze and sucked his lips in with a high-pitched squeak as Kris took her hand out and suddenly patted him on the back, then moved over to rustle Maria's hair.

"Hey squirts, what's up?" She went and wedge herself between the two with a tray of cafeteria food in her hands.

Nikolas shoved back against her shoulder and remarked, "Hey! This is for friends only!"

"Yeah well, I'm Maria's friend now!" Kris declared.

Nikolas nearly recoiled off his seat and shouted "WHAAAAA?!"

Maria leaned over and remarked, "Yeah, its true."

"When did this happen?!" Nikolas replied.

Kris wrapped her arm around Maria's back and shoved her close to her chest with a big grin, "Just last week, Nicky Boy!"

Maria struggled to get her voice out there, "W-We had a long talk..."

Nikolas settled back upright and crossed his arms in a huff, "W-Well just cause Maria's forgiven you doesn't mean I will!"

Kris responded by reaching into her backpack and tossing an apple at Nikolas, who caught it with a bit of fumbling around. He then raised his head up high and murmured, "Apology...accepted!"

As he started chomping down on the apple the other two ate into their lunch a bit, during which Kris poked her fork up and suggested, "Hey you know what these last few months've taught me?"

"The value of friendship?" Maria replied.

"That you gotta lose weight?" Nikolas remarked, receiving the blunt prodding of Kris' fork cause of it.

"You wanna get physical shrimp?!" She said with a fiery grin, then retracted the fork and remarked, "Nah to either of you! Its that pulling pranks is fun!"

Nikolas perked up and said, "Oh yeah, you're right!"

Kris glanced back and forth at the two and said, "So I got a proposition for you both! I'm saying we should work together and keep pulling pranks on the other students!"

"That sounds like fun!" Nikolas shouted, "Whaddya think, Maria?"

Maria didn't have to think much about it, "Sure! Just so long as we don't hurt anyone in the process."

"Boy you don't have to tell me twice," Nikolas shuddered, "I'd rather dunk my head in the toilet than hafta go to the principal's office again."

"That's fine! Hurting people is hurtful anyways!" Kris remarked.

"Actually," Maria spoke up, "I know somebody we could go and prank right now!"

The three huddled up as Maria whispered her newest scheme.

Meanwhile, Kairi calmly walked through the cafeteria to sit down and enjoy her lunch. She glanced across the room and saw Maria sitting happily with all her friends, bringing a smile to her face.

"I'm glad it all worked out..." She could sit down in peace...

"SPLRTT!" Only for her butt to meet with a thick, creamy fate.

She quickly rose and found a cream filled pie stuck to her butt, which slid off onto the ground in seconds. Suddenly there was a lot of laughter filling the room, starting with the giggles of a certain Maria and friends...

Kairi narrowly glared at them from across the room and then closed her eyes, patiently taking a breath as she sat back down and sighed.

"They're only kids, Kairi...They'll outgrow this eventually..."

_Next Time: A Viral Shadow Lingers_


	60. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59: Justice's Mask**

The Orbotronical, Aurian Saturn's personal space station. One of many, mind you, but if asked what she thought of them the rest would be just floating masses of metal she banged together in her spare time. This place, however, held some sentimental value to her.

Call it her home if you must. She wouldn't disagree. It is where she does most of her science-y deeds after all. Like today. She's examining a rare blue sun as a possible energy source for some new ship she's planning to make.

But as it tends to go these days her other occupation as coordinator for C.O.G.S. (Coalition Overseeing Galactic Security, cool name right?) had lead to some minor interruptions. But when it comes to her skills, multitasking is her number two specialty.

So while fiddling away at her tablet in one hand, guiding a highly heat resistant probe to scan the surface of the sun, she had a drone on standby acting as a screen between her and one of the leaders of C.O.G.S.

The whole while she was wandering to-and-fro through her garage to check-up her beauties. Three tasks at once and it didn't even require the use of 25% of her big, cute brain.

"_So that is the predicament we find ourselves in, Catherine," _Said the fishy alien with tentacles clasping over his fanged mouth, _"Kriken swarms will land upon our world within days. With our armies off world we have no way to fend off such numbers."_

"I hear you loud and clear chief! I've already got some back up drones on the way with area sweeping lasers. Kriken love to swarm together so it'll clear out most of their numbers before they get wise about it, then you can clean up the rest in no time!" As she made her declaration of victory known she swiped her finger across the tablet to pull up another window to complete the drone order.

"_Oh thank you, Catherine. I don't know what our world would do without you." _

"Probably be roasting alive for a buffet line for some greedy carnivores!" Catherine faced the drone head-on with a smile and shouted, "But instead the fires on your side! The fires of JUSTICE!"

"_Grghhhh..." _The alien groaned, wagging his finned limb at her, _"I will see you at the meeting tomorrow."_

He then hung up and the drone bobbed its head, departing towards one of many swiss holes in the ceiling.

With the probe still hard at work Catherine took a moment to pull her head back and smile, "Aaaaah. C.O.G.S. is off to a good start if I do say so myself! We've got 46% of that old carbon copyright infriger's worlds on our side, and reclaimed another 22% from hostile forces!"

She then gave a light sigh and remarked, "Too bad the other 32% ARE the hostile forces. Some of the roughest, toughest, meanest races across the galaxy trying to vie for the empty throne Gravitus left behind..."

She threw out a heavy shrug and shouted, "Oh well! They'll get their due soon enough!"

She then stared back down at her tablet licking her lips as the anticipation of further scientific endeavors danced giddily in her head, "Blue solar fire will especially bolster our response times exponentially! Just got to examine every detail perfectly. Everything's gotta be perfect...!"

"**BWEEEE! BWEEE! BWEEE!" **An alarm started blaring throughout the ship that put her slightly on edge, while a dark red tint filled the air.

"**ALERT! UNWANTED COMPANY HAS INFILTRATED THE SPACE STATION! ALERT! UNWANTED COMPANY HAS INFILTRATED THE SPACE STATION!" **

Catherine's tablet shrunk down to a bar and she stuffed it in her pocket then threw one hand around with a huff of cockiness, "Yet again, one of my arch-nemesis' is dropping in to say hello!"

She crossed her arms and proclaimed, "They'll get a greeting alright...Right on the heel of my JUSTICE KICK!"

She faked a kick in the air and then took a few steps forward shouting "MONA TOR!" causing a big flatscreen monitor to float down beside her suspended by photon jets.

"Do you wish to see the intruder, Miss Catherine?"

"Sure why not!" Though she had a suspicion as to who it was. A hunch? No. A true heroine just simply knows these things by heart AND soul.

Still, she humored the intruder by glancing aside at the monitor to find the camera examining the very bottom of the station's outside. There they saw nothing except a small hole punctured in the bottom.

"_Knew it." _A mite was crawling through her vents. No that's not meant to be demeaning, it was quite literally a **mite** in her vents.

"_Born on the Planet Mitecro, Minitevus Yulk grew up as youngest of 50 siblings in his family. His life was normal until one day, he was introduced to the greatest evil of all...TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT. It changed him forever, corrupting his pure mind into a mind of PURE EVIL. Swearing to see the end of all technology, he donned a suit of armor and forged an oath of brotherhood with his lance, the Anti-Technogius, becoming...!" _

The vent below her popped open and a creature no bigger than her hand popped out high into the sky. It had a perfectly rotund body wrapped up in metal plated armor, with a solid glass visor shaped like a cross and two inverted horns curled towards the cape on his backside. In his hand was a lance far bigger than himself whose tip throbbed with dark green veins.

Catherine confronted the armored warrior by standing firm and crossing her arms, "THE TECHNOMITE KNIGHT!"

"Techubus, we meet again! For the final time!" Brave and powerful words...proclaimed with the tone of a kindergartner inhaling helium.

He landed many feet away and thrust his mighty lance towards the mountain he came to conquer. The mountain laughed back, bolstering her indomitable peak.

"I was wondering when you'd roll into town again! What mangy beast's fur did you have to climb onto to escape that jungle planet you trapped yourself on?"

"After a foul incursion upon the mane of a harriot, I-" The Knight then suddenly bashed his lance against the ground and shouted, "You cur! I will not monologue for you! My purpose is as clear as my armor's sheen! You will face defeat today, Aurian Saturn!"

"Ha!" Catherine nudged her glasses up to give them a sheen and smirked, "That's literally the 54th time you've said that!"

"And it holds as much weight now as it did the first time!" The Knight thrust his lance up into the air and then swung it in an arc around him, registering as a breeze to one of her leg hairs.

"Years of going unopposed have made your corruption fester and your arrogance grow! Lulled are the many by the song of your machines, each wire the ivy upon which you grip and drag your prey to a garden of sin, Techubus!"

"Are you STILL going on about that?" Catherine shrugged, "At least my other enemies love to shake it up a bit. Couldn't you like, try to get mad about something else? Like the fact that I've kicked your butt 53 going on 54 times?!"

"You look down on me cause I'm small, while your ego has bloated you bigger than a neuron star!" The Knight poised his lance to attack but instead merely thrust it into the air, "C.O.G.S...truly your latest and greatest advancement...IN DECEIT!"

Saturn rolled her eyes, knowing the mite couldn't help himself now. She snapped her fingers out and had a drone cook her some popcorn for her to eat while he ranted.

"You call yourself a savior, but you're nothing but a false prophet! Technological advancement...BAH!" The Knight spat at the ground, "Your machines aren't protecting anyone! They corrupt them with sloth, and stifle their potential!"

Catherine's cheeks were stuffed with popcorn, _"This would've gone nice with some cheese powder."_

"You tell the world that you're bringing them 'hope' and 'justice' but we all know you're just deceiving them with acts of innocence! Your purpose is far more sinister, devil in human skin! And 'til my last breath, when I am but dust in the wind, shall my lance oppose your corrupting regime!"

"_I wonder if Jupes is gonna be busy later, there's a moon I need to break up a bit for samples..." _Saturn's gaze lied elsewhere.

"YOU AREN'T EVEN LISTENING!" The Knight's sudden scream shifted her gaze back towards him and she took another bite of popcorn to fill her cheeks.

"You're just saying the usual evil villain lines, Minitevus. Can we move on to the part where we scuffle, I throw out a few one-liners, bust out a new suit, beat you with a new finishing move, then we can rinse and repeat a few months later?"

"No...!" The Knight's voice turned sinister, and he tightened his grip on the lance, "Your status quo has reigned long enough, Aurian Saturn. Today will be the end of it all...! Your deceit, your corruption..."

He bounded twenty feet off the ground and pointed his lance downward, "ALL BROUGHT TO A KNEE, BY YOUR HUBRIS!"

The moment he impaled the floor Saturn scoffed...not knowing that it may be the last she'd ever give.

As the Knight's lance throbbed with an agonizing glow, a thick, blue liquid goop began to push out of it and onto the ground. And it stuck there, not like glue. No, this wasn't possible...The goop was eating, consuming, absorbing the metal around it and growing in size.

Catherine's pupils shrank and the popcorn kernals in her hand dispersed onto the floor, sliding from her frozen palms. Uttering only a gasp, she could only watch as the Knight let himself become one with the goop around him as it began to lift him up like a god surrounded by his angels.

"_Thump!" "Thump!" Thump!" _

Catherine's heart pounded her chest like a hammer to a forge. Louder, harder, shaking the confidence off her smile bit-by-bit. She backed away slowly, hiding her hands behind her and secretly fiddling rapidly with her bracelet.

"C-Come on now, really?" She tried to act herself, "A-As if some fungus excrement is gonna scare me!"

After her fingers worked their magic a bit, she swiped her typing hand out and shouted "HA!" towards the growing mass. It paused, only for the top carrying the knight to lurch forward, casting its shadow atop her.

"But this is no mere fungus, _is it_?" The Knight boasted, his voice carrying the pulsations of raw, throbbing power within.

Saturn's face began to turn pale, her arms going limp by her sides.

"See, I did my research. I know all about this little...virus, and how you'd try to disable it," Even behind such thick protection the Knight's smiled burned through, hotter than hellfire, but colder than the devil's heart, "So I removed the shutdown program."

Saturn's heart gave one massive beat before she gasped quietly, "What...what have you done?"

"I have beaten you. Now...and forever," The Knight commanded his growing viral mass to rise then slam her down, "Accept your sins AND PERISH!"

Saturn's heart skipping a beat commanded her body to move entirely on its own. She leaped back and reached for her bracelet, hesitating to grip it for a second.

"S-Slicing Suit!" She declared upon touching the bracelet.

In such close proximity to her station the suit was warped directly onto her body and wrapped her up tight. The visor this time was a trio of downward crescents.

She hastily open a slot on her wrists and pooled her aura through it, repeatedly firing paper thin blades towards the growing mass. Though successful in slicing through it, the Knight himself weaved out of the way and continued to advance upon her.

"I've played all your devil games, Techubus! There is nothing you can do to surprise me!"

Catherine pulled her hands back and looked around, dodging the slams of the mass just narrowly. She aimed her slicers at the ground and began a relentless barrage underneath the mass.

"**WARNING! AIR PRESSURE BREACH DETECTED!" **Yelled the intercom as the floor gave way underneath the mass, dragging it out towards space.

Catherine put her arms down and caught her breath, her cold sweat pressing against the skin of her suit. The station's auto defenses slid plates into place before she got dragged away too.

The floor beneath her feet quaked and put her on edge. She looked down and watched in horror as the floor started to be consumed by that viral mass.

She leaped away as a pillar of the stuff shot up into the air, solidifying as a hill-shaped lump with the Knight proudly part of its peak.

"There is no escaping me!" He yelled, voice pulsing with power, "I will hunt you down and destroy your architects of sin, Aurian SATURN!"

The viral mass devoured all in its path as it made its way towards her, growing larger and larger by the second.

Catherine zipped around trying to avoid the mass' ravenous touch and continued to fire blades towards the Knight's body. But it was starting to become difficult to make out his presence among the thick goop.

"Hahaha! You're a fool! A FOOL! I am untouchable now! I have given my entire being towards the purpose of destroying you!"

Catherine cursed under her breath "You fool!" then clicked her teeth together and forced her suit off. She began to swing her to fist forward, but hesitated right as the mass prepared to crash on top of her.

"_I'm sorry!" _She commanded her suit to fly into the center of the mass and explode, the blast radius big enough to send her tumbling along the ground.

Shaken in both body and mind, she struggled to press her hands on the ground to stand. The viral mass thrust through the smoke, its reach now encroaching upon the nearby ships.

Catherine screamed "F-Freeze Suit!", nearly forgetting to touch her bracelet at the same time. The snowflake visor suit appeared over her body and she thrust her fists towards the viral mass. Aura shot forth and froze everything directly in front of her in a thick, white sheet of ice.

She rose to her feet on shaking knees and shook her head, "That's not enough...!"

The mass would break free, the ice was already trembling. This was to time run. To survive.

But her legs stiffened like fresh concrete. Her genius mind had devolved into that of a child. And her instincts could only carry her so far now...

The first cracks appearing in the ice shook her heart and pumped her adrenaline like crazy. She turned towards the elevator and sprinted towards it as fast as he feet could carry her. The mass continued to grow beyond the ice behind her, consuming its way through every ship she made here.

All that pride and effort she put into construction each and every on of them, gone in an instant. They were like her children, and she was abandoning them to the slaughter...

She crashed into the elevator and bounced off onto her knees, scrambling to tap the buttons to the next floor. The mass shattered off the ice and immediately turned towards her. The doors felt like they were taking forever to seal shut, her survival was in question.

She looked to her children with pained regret and rapidly started tapping away at her bracelet shouting "I'm sorry" over and over.

Many of the ships turned on and levitated off their perches, locking their sights upon the viral mass. As about an inch of the mass prepared to reach the catatonic heroine, it was pelted by a massive flurry of laser fire. So thick, in fact, that the sounds drowned out the mass' screams.

The elevator sealed shut, her heart beating heavily upon her chest as it rose to the next floor. She stood, but stiffly, both in stance and in gaze. Her eyes narrowed down upon the garage as the mass thrust itself across the room, attaching more and more ships to itself.

She pressed her hands against the glass and watch progress being undone. The mass was climbing, and it may be possible it'd reach the next floor before her...

"_The garage! I got to detach the garage!" _Came an answer born of panic, not brilliance.

She hastily pulled out her tablet and tapped away, missing prompts and repeating steps a few times over, "Come on come on COME ON!"

The tablet made a fierce scraping sound, covering everything in static. The Knight's masked face appeared on the monitor and she dropped it immediately, pinning herself to the back wall.

"_There's nowhere to run, Techubus. I know you inside and out. Every plan, every machine, every step you take, every breath you make!"_

The mass slammed against the glass behind her, and her eyes forced her to look back.

The Knight was right there, devouring more and more without any end in sight. His armor, his body, all was one with the virus.

"I told you...You. **Lose**."

He took his corrupted lance and attempted to stab her through the skull. She rolled out of the way and crushed her tablet under her weight. The mass began to push through, dripping towards her feet.

She crawled up to her rear end and slapped her hands on the ground, freezing the entire elevator to a stop. With the viral mass halted for a few moments longer she looked up and rocketed off the ground, smashing her way out.

She flew two floors up and smashed through the door. Then immediately upon discarding her suit she tapped the bracelet to summon another. She was running low on breath. She needed to relax. There was no way TO relax.

Closer. Closer. The virus would consume her. She was not safe, no one was safe! This would be the end of everything...

The suit she armed herself with had a visor resembling an explosion. Her body moved on instinct and backed away from the elevator as the viral mass latched onto the edge. She ejected a huge salvo of mines from her suit, blasting apart the elevator shaft and throwing the viral mass into a pained frenzy.

It retracted towards the garage for the time being. Catherine lowered her arms, they felt like anchors on her shoulders, and caught her breath.

"**pitter, patter, pitter, patter..."**

Her body tensed up as she felt something dripping on her right shoulder. She couldn't bear to confirm that the virus was touching her. It had to have been rust off the vents. Or humidity in the air...Anything else, PLEASE anything else but that!

There was a creaking, crunching noise on her suit that was approaching her neck. She squirmed away from it and in doing so, her gaze panned towards the viral mass filling the vents, with the Knight's body prominently at the front.

"I **see** you, devil!"

Catherine threw her suit off in and instant and set it to explode. Her pale screams overwhelmed her sense of reason and she raised her fists to start blasting pure aura into the viral mass. It tried to push onward, the blasts making it rain upon the ground around her.

She spun her head around and then leaped back as the mass tried to gather upon her location. She then created and shoved a huge platform of aura up to slam the mass back into the vents.

"You're just delaying the inevitable." Said the Knight's voice, blaring over the intercoms.

"S-Shut up!" She screeched, attempting to put on a brave voice, "I...I got so many plans up my sleeve I don't know where to start!"

She panted motionless and hung her head shouting to herself _"Think! Think! Think!" _as a motivator, and failed.

The mass was encroaching upon her location again. It was time to move, again.

She curled her fists and hurried up the broken and battered elevator shaft, dropping mines in her wake to delay the mass' approach.

She rose through floor after floor, no longer able to see the mass behind her through all the explosions. Her heart beat slowed, for all the good that meant now.

She sped on by the garden and then paused, looking down at the prison cells within there. Her mind stewed with an idea and acted upon it immediately. She forced the doors open and tumbled out onto the floor.

The noise disrupted the slumber of her sole prisoner, the devious and calculating Pluto. She hurried to his cell and tapped her bracelet. The cell had its own separate power source impossible for the Knight, or anyone for that matter, to hijack.

But the specifics didn't matter now. The cell bars deactivated and Pluto rose from her sleep still chained on all limbs. He sat up and stared with a groggy tone to his voice, "What is the meaning of this, Catherine?"

She undid his shackles with another swipe along her bracelet and then repeatedly clapped her hands towards him, "Up and at 'em, its time for community service!"

Pluto did not bark back. His eyes instantly perceived that her mannerisms were off-balance. She was smiling, but her soul was not.

He stood on his feet and embraced his newly regained freedom by rubbing his sore wrists and staring her bluntly in the eyes, "Do not play games with me. There is something very, VERY wrong going on here..."

Her smile immediately wavered when before, not even death could claim it.

"...Catherine." Pluto said in a stern tone, brows arched downward.

"**KRSSSH!" **The sharp sound of shattering glass turned their attention towards the elevator shaft.

The viral mass was using a small tank as a hammer to try and bash its way inside. Bits of glass scattered across the floor, while the Knight peered its head through the tiniest whole. He looked wholly corrupted, the only discernible feature being his visor.

"YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME, AURIAN SATURN!"

Pluto's eyes widened slightly and he muttered, "What in the name of all the divine hells is THAT thing?!"

Catherine narrowed her eyes and her whole body twitched. Pluto then took a couple steps forward and muttered, "Wait...Minitevus?"

He glanced at Catherine and remarked in disbelief, "You're having trouble with THAT flea?"

"SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING UNLESS YOU WANT TO JOIN THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE IN DEATH!" Catherine's shrill cry of panic turned on something in Pluto's nerves he hadn't felt in a long time...Pure. Primal. Fear.

He swung his hands down to summon his swords like the edge hadn't been worn off his skills. He brushed the blades together to test their wear and then lashed them at the ground, comfortably smirking towards his foe.

You're a fool for attacking this stronghold so brazenly, little flea! You face the power of the future King of the Universe!

He charged forward and the mass followed suit. He bravely slashed his blades against the oncoming tidal wave as though it was but a breeze to be diverted. Every cut he made slowed its advance and shrank it down to a more manageable size. In time he managed to push it back to the elevator shaft, where he summoned his magic chains in a tight, coiled stream to shove the thing down further into the depths.

Only then did the full extent of what was happening occur to him.

He drew away from the shaft with a pale look in his eyes and saw Catherine hung over, having trouble breathing.

"Just...how much of this station has that_ thing_ consumed?" He inquired.

"I...I don't know..." She gasped.

"Do you have a plan to stop it?"

"No..."

"No?" Pluto ruffled his mangled brows and scoffed, "Surely you're joking, Catherine. Why else would you have freed me?"

"To stall for time..." She admitted without emotion, "Nothing you can do will put that thing down."

Pluto raised his brows and curled his bottom lip, "Why do you speak with such..._familiarity_ towards this monstrosity?"

She stood up and feverishly shook her sweating head, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I've never seen that before in my life!"

"Lying does not suit you, Catherine." He said with a chuckle.

She pursed her lips and mumbled, "I should've just kept you in jail."

"We both know you couldn't do that." He said.

"_**Ha ha ha ha...!" **_An echo of laughter grew throughout the room, bringing goosebumps to both their skins.

The viral mass bloomed like fungus beneath their feet, forcing them to take flight. Then it erupted all at once as a giant manifestation of the Knight's body, complete with a lance.

Pluto crossed his swords as the mass took a swing at him, blocking perfectly with the help of his Drive. The lance continued to swing and carved up the garden on its way to Catherine, who erected a barrier of aura to stop it almost too little, too late.

Pluto assaulted the mass with a plethora of chains while remarking, "Impressive. You managed to overcome my blade's power. Not bad, for a fungus."

The Knight's voice echoed throughout the tumultuous chambers, "Aurian Pluto...! So you have aligned yourself with this devil girl!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I have," Pluto stated confidently as he parried another of the mass' swings, "This seems far beyond your pale, tiny man of such tiny ambitions..."

"Says the King of nothing." The Knight said scornfully.

"And yet my throne shall forever rest above you, as you delve further and further into Hell, flea." Pluto swung his sword out to repel along thrust of the lance, then summoned golden chains from the ether to bind the viral mass all over.

Shockingly this seemed to still its movements temporarily, as it became completely solid.

Pluto scoffed at the foul beast and then dove past it to approach Catherine, grabbing her forcefully by the wrist and shouting, "Come! We'll head to higher ground!"

She was pulled off her feet and dragged past the mass, which tried desperately to ensnare her by her lab coat. It tugged hard, eventually succeeding in ripping it off.

Failing to catch her it let out a roar that echoed throughout the entirety of the space station.

"**ALL TECHNOLOGY SHALL BE DEVOURED, AND **_**WE**_** SHALL HAVE VENGEANCE UPON YOU, AURIAN SATURN!" **

The echo rang as the two frightened souls ascended to the very, very top of the elevator shaft, depositing them in a tightly locked room complete with dozens of computer consoles and enhanced wiring spread throughout the rest of the station. On the east side, there was a lone escape pod.

Catherine collapsed on hands and knees while Pluto used his dark magic to layer the shaft with dozens of magic glyphs to slow the virus' advance. Now, for certain, this would give them time to think.

"Ha...ha...ha..." Catherine gasped for air, her fragile state leaving no mark on the elven king's bitter heart.

"What did that thing mean by 'We'?" He uttered in a foul tone.

"I...I don't..."

"Feigning ignorance at this juncture, Catherine?" Pluto said with a brutal scoff, "Either you're sincerely that ignorant or you value your pride over your life! Neither answer suits my opinion of you..."

When she met his critique with silence, he burrowed further into the personal hell she was experiencing, "There's more to that virus than the surface suggests. Its consuming not just Minitevus' body, but overwriting his will, bit by bit...IT is alive, and IT knows **you**."

"...I-I just, stopped a dangerous virus at one point." She immediately retorted.

Pluto silently walked past her to turn on the computers and immediately activate what few cameras had yet to be consumed.

The mass was contorting into a violent sea of viruses with seemingly no end in sight. It was merely ten floors below them, and rising fast. Even the seals seemed like they'd do little to impede its progress.

Now there was nothing to discern the Knight. Instead a menacing face, hollow in its eyes and mouth, scraped to the surface screaming and shouting to rattle the space station.

"WHERE ARE YOU?! WHY DO YOU RUN FROM ME...? WHY ARE YOU ASHAMED OF ME...?! ANSWER ME! MO-"

Catherine fired a blast to destroy all the monitors at once, then hunched over panting madly.

Pluto leaned over his shoulder with a dismissive gaze as Catherine bit her teeth down and slowly approached the console.

She weakly pushed Pluto out of the way and started typing away at the keyboard like her life depended on it.

"What are doing now?" He asked, on the edge of his patience.

"..."

He slammed his hand down on the console and shouted, "Enough of this! Reveal the truth or I will strip it off your tongue!"

"There's no need for that..." She said, devoid of emotion while her hands were shaking, "I'm...I'm going to activate the self-destruct."

"..." Pluto closed his eyes, coiled his fist and muttered, "So that's it then...?"

Before Catherine could even turn and blink, Pluto punched her square in the jaw to knock her away from the console and dislodge the glasses from her face. As her mouth dripped blood he shook his cracked knuckles around and remarked, "Of all the brash, inconsiderate options you could have taken...!"

He walked on up to her, dropping his swords so he could grab her by the collar of her shirt and beam his rage straight into her eyes, "I'd have expected this kind of cowardice from any other self-proclaimed genius, not YOU!"

Saturn grit her teeth and with her eyes wide in a panic she said, "T-There's nothing we can do! You'd rather I let this thing devour everything in sight?!"

"I'd rather you not let this one major adversity turn you into an irrational charlatan!" He shouted back, "Have you abandoned your justice?! Your hope?! Your dedication?! What little value did all that hold to you if your pride so easily consumed it all?!"

"What do you expect me to do?!" She screamed in a high-pitched wail.

"I expect you to think! That's what you're GOOD AT!" Pluto gripped tighter and shook her about, "Activate a shutdown code! Think of a weapon that can neutralize it! You cannot tell me that you, of all people, don't have a plan to deal with this thing!"

"I DON'T!" Catherine shouted so loudly it left a deaf ringing in the elf's ears.

With a brutish scoff, Pluto tossed her off his hand and she fell to her butt scraping her fingernails across the ground.

"There is no shutdown code. No weapon that can stop it...The only way to defeat it is to destroy it completely," Catherine picked up her glasses and applied them to her face as she stood, her eyes beginning to water, "I know this because...because..."

She turned and hung over, hands flat on the control panel, as the first tear drops fell, "I created it."

Pluto closed his eyes and grumbled, "I suspected as much."

"Ha, ha ha...!" Her hands squeezed into fists and she gently punched the keyboard, "Its gonna happen again...I'm going to lose another home because of my mistakes!"

Her body, fraught with trembling, went silent beyond the occasional weeps, while Pluto processed this information with a hint of intrigue in his expression.

"Ah, now it all makes sense..."

Pluto leered at her backside and said, "There were tales tossed about long ago of a planet of supergeniuses who ran the most technologically advanced society in the universe. And how one day, they were simply wiped out, consumed by some devilish manner of creation of unknown origin, as if a force of nature had just randomly happened upon them..."

"They said that there were no survivors, but that was never true, was it? There was one who survived," He gently pointed at her and remarked, "The one responsible for the end of Planet Farad. You, Catherine."

_Next Time: Creating the Mask_


	61. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60: Until Karma Catches Up, Let Justice Burn Bright**

A thousand hours. A thousand days. A thousand nights. A thousand months. A thousand years.

How long has it been since this body has known what its like to sleep? To dream? Pressured by the weight of guilt, hounded by nightmares, this body has been forced to stay awake, lest the insanity catch hold.

But it was all for naught, wasn't it? Sins are a shadow on a person's back. Always attached, never departing your side. It was silly to think that she was the exception to the rule.

Destruction. Consumption. Absolution. This living virus rocks the cradle of his mother's home, screaming for the acknowledgment it shall never receive.

And all its mother can do is hang over, the guilt edging the back of her neck like a sharpened guillotine, and laugh.

"Ha..." It starts small, as all things do.

"Hahaha!" Then louder it grows, carrying a hint of insanity.

"Hahahaha!" Is she feeling joy? Or sorrow? As she pulls her head up and the laughter grows, not even her perceptive company can say for sure.

The laughter drops, like a curtain to the end of a tragic play. And with it, the girl bites her lower lip and wipes a single tear off her cheek.

"...That's right. You got me," Catherine turned to Pluto with her arms crossed and the fakest smile possible, "The Coolest. Smart. Bravest. Cutest girl in all the cosmos..."

She took off her glasses and stared at the ground, "Is also one of the biggest murderers in the known universe."

Pluto kept his mouth shut as the girl laid her glasses on the console and stared at the back of her hand, "On Planet Farad, every child is born a genius. Even the dumbest of us were smarter than the average human. But even among our peers I was especially gifted. I had built my first supercomputer at age five, and by the time I was ten I had made this space station."

"I didn't have any friends. Wasn't particularly interested in having one. My mind was 120 percent devoted to science, and improvement. I was so invested in improvement that I wound up coming up with a brilliant idea...One thing our planet was lacking was an efficient way to build technology, as we didn't have any construction workers."

"So I toiled hard in my space station to come up with an AI that could build technology and increase development of our world. And I succeeded! ...Or so I thought."

"I let the AI out into the mainframe without thoroughly combing over its routines and subroutines. I had made one tiny, tiny misstep, and cost the lives of billions. Just ONE bit of coding was inputted incorrectly, causing it to become an AI that could CONSUME technology and increase development of ITS world."

"I was unaware of the monster I had unleashed until I had returned home from a metal excavation on a nearby planetoid. My precious AI, a gift to my home, had grown immense, consuming the entire planet whole in a matter of hours. Its terrifying face stared at me from the comfort of its home and called me 'mother'. It asked if I was proud of it for completing its mission."

"I was too scared to say anything. The virus interpreted my silence as disappointment, and assumed it needed to consume more to satisfy me."

"As it continued to grow it would continue to learn more and more, including of its termination program. But I wasn't considering that at the time. I just shut the whole virus down in an instant out of fear, and then fled my lost home on my space station in cowardice..."

Catherine punched the keyboard lightly and went deathly silent, upon which Pluto took this new information and continued onward in the timeline.

"And so you devoted yourself to heroics out of a sense of need for redemption. A need which Gravitus exploited perfectly, as he did to all of us..."

Catherine's fists curled and shook. Pluto turned to her and sighed, "It does all make sense now. The bombastic heroism, the meticulous planning, the need to build so many machines..All a mask to hide the greatest pain of all."

He gestured his hand towards her and scoffed, "It has been more than two-thousand years since that day. How long must you seek redemption until you're satisfied? Is that one moment so anchored in your mind that it invalidates everything else you've accomplished?"

"...Why are **you** saying this?" Catherine said, devoid of feeling in her body.

"Hmph!" Pluto closed his eyes and lightly turned away, "Don't get the wrong idea. It is merely the duty of a king to assess any worthwhile future subjects."

He just gestured his hand up by his shoulder and remarked, "You've never been one for bluster, Catherine. You have backed up your claims of being the smartest among us time and time again with astounding confidence. Though I find the concept of justice appalling, nevertheless, your views on it have never wavered in the face of sheer adversity that's been thrown at you constantly."

He faced her and pointed straight at her face, "When Gravitus fell, was it not you who rallied many of his worlds to unite in a common cause? Where would that loyalty be if not for the example you've led for them?"

"How many lives have you affected? How many villains have you put down or put away? That you choose to linger on the lives lost instead of also the ones saved is a disservice to them both. Whether by intention or not you **have** become the great heroine you call yourself."

He cracked a minor smile and told her, "And you'll make a great subject in my new kingdom."

Catherine lifted her head slightly and the station began to shake, bobbing her around. Pluto remained motionless and turned to glare at the elevator shaft, "But this shall all be for naught if you let this virus end us both here."

Catherine slapped her hand down on the console to keep herself steady. She stood there, her heart pounding against her chest and making her eyes squeeze shut.

"_Its no use! There's __**nothing**__ we can do! Its going to happen all over again, and the whole universe is going to pay for it!" _She could see the virus having grown into a cancerous blob with many technological adapt worlds engorged in its mass. Having grown so big that other, prehistoric worlds, accidentally got stuck to its body like zits.

Growing, and growing, until it WAS the universe...

Catherine curled her fist and wanted to scream, her heart now fatally pounding against her chest, _"I'm sorry Seth! I'm sorry Jupes! I'm sorry...everyone!" _

Pluto suddenly pressed her, "Come on now, surely you know of SOME weakness this virus has that doesn't end with us bursting into flames?"

"I...I...!" Her hand was starting to motion towards the keyboard to activate the self-destruct when suddenly, her eyes froze in a stare that grew wider and wider.

The rattled cogs in her brain began to turn, carrying along the particular choice of words the elven king declared, "Burst into...flames?"

She rapidly recalled prior encounters with the virus. Every time the virus had gotten onto her suit she got rid of it completely via explosions. Not just that, her mines had had a similar effect.

She stayed there, hands flattened on top of the console, and once her heartbeat began to slow...She smiled.

Clutching her lovely glasses, she propped them back up on her face, the lens fogging up when she nudged them with her pinky.

"Of course! It was SO obvious!" She boldly proclaimed, her confidence returned.

Pluto faced her in silence and let her genius work its magic. She rapidly tapped away at her keyboard until one of the spared monitors flickered on. A drone was launched from the consumed space station and flew outward until it could get a good luck at the outside.

"HA HA HA!" She suddenly shouted, staring at the active thrusters on the station's backside, "Take a look at THIS!"

She pointed it out to Pluto, who caught the meaning instantly, "I see, the virus can't withstand intense heat."

"Makes sense right? Technology's made primarily from metal and that's what it eats to grow."

Pluto shook his head and sighed, "I feel like the court fool for not realizing this sooner. Could've spared myself this little psychology session too."

Catherine leaned down and continued to tap away at the keyboard, much to Pluto's confusion, "So what's the plan now, Catherine?"

She stuck the tip of her tongue out and remarked, "We're going to burn this whole thing down and give ourselves plenty of time to escape!"

On the outside, they watched as the space station began to turn, positioning itself...towards the blue sun!

A smile of pride crossed Pluto's face, but that didn't stop him from being his usual, mocking self, "So you've finally returned to us, o'great heroine Saturn."

She giggled like wild and proclaimed, "I never left to begin with!"

A few more keyboard taps later and the space station started to move, only to swiftly jerk to a standstill. Catherine pushed her glasses back on and stared feverishly at the screen, "WHAT?!"

A big red bar flaring "Auto-Pilot Disabled" appeared across all the screens, causing her to pound her fist upon the keyboard in frustration, "Ah come on, really?!"

"Hmmm..." Pluto hummed beside her, "Now it seems someone is going to have to stay behind to pilot this station."

"...You're right," Catherine slowly hunched over, her hands shaking over the keyboard, "And its got to be-"

"Me." In one swift moment Pluto grabbed her on the shoulder and tossed her into the escape pod chamber. He used a magic chain to stab the control panel and force the door shut before she could crawl out.

"What're you doing?!" Her voice muffled behind the glass as she pounded the door with her fist.

Pluto calmly walked up to the door and bent down with a smirk, "Your inability to sacrifice other pieces on the board has always been an admirable if not frustrating trait to deal with, Catherine."

His aura began to glow holy white as he stated the facts bluntly, "Think logically for a moment, girl. My Divine Drive will keep me from succumbing to the pressure and heat of the sun, while your justice will ensure that I am safely returned to my prison cell to endure punishment."

Catherine stared wide-eyed at him as he stood and walked back towards the console. The room started to fill with chains to reinforce the defenses.

Catherine felt the pod shake and prepare to move. But Pluto had one declaration left to make.

"Your story has just begun, Catherine of Planet Fadar! Do not let this blight mar the legacy you've built up!"

Her pod rocketed out of her space station, which was now 90 percent consumed by the viral mass. It let out a roar that shook the space around them, and roughed up her pod a little too.

She stayed glued to the window as her home went further and further away from her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them onto her shirt with a sniffle.

The station advanced towards the sun, where both her pasts, good and bad, would meet their finally, fiery end.

"_**MOOOOOTHEEEEEERRR!" **_Suddenly the virus screeched in outrage, as the space station began to change shape.

The outer ring on the bottom was crunched inward, carrying the thrusters closer to the center. The mass began to expand outward near the top, forming a pair of thick, crusty arms utilizing the ship's sectors as four, sharpened fingers. The thrusters were pushed towards the bottom of newly formed legs and feet, while the remainder of the mass formed an elongated abdomen and head. The only thing that remained normal was the peak where Pluto was fighting a valiant, but now seemingly fruitless battle. As the virus' twisted face appeared at the top, it spread its excess down its back to make a large, if not thin, cape.

It looked like an abominable corruption of humanity's frame with a thorned crown.

Once again it was evolving, adapting to its weaknesses. It was a stubborn one to put down, just like its creator...

"_**Why are you not proud of me? I have done everything you've asked me to! You continue to run and run. And I won't let you run anymore!" **_

The giant viral entity began to stretch its vile hand out towards the escape pod. She was defenseless. Alone. She had tried to fight bravely one last time. Now she'd go down, like a whimpering-

"_zzzCzzzatzzzz!"_

"_zzCazzztzz!" _

-coward?

Catherine thought she heard something coming over the radio. Must've been a fear-induced hallucination...

The shadow of the virus' arm drew closer and darker, consuming her frail, cowering body completely in shadows.

"_**You'll become part of me, mother..."**_

"_CAT!"_

Catherine's eyes widened and embraced the worried cries in her ears with a gasp.

The space around her was rocked by two mighty forces colliding overhead. Peering out the glass, she watched as the virus' limb was shoved back by a titanic metal fist wrapped in aura.

The fist then slowly unfurled and scooped up her pod, bringing it back towards a hole opening in the chest of a gargantuan five-mile high machine shaped like a human body on the outside and made of a mix of shiny platinum, steel and poly-fiber.

The moment she was secured the door sealed shut and her body was enveloped in sparkles. Before she could blink she had been teleported off to somewhere else. A place brighter, more familiar, and more hopeful than before.

Surrounded by a warm pearl light, she struggled to open her eyes and see herself sitting on a chair surrounded by electronic equipment.

There were three tiers to this contained room that lied in the chest of the machine. And on the two below here were her two allies, Mars and Jupiter, suited up in their Galaxy Rider outfits.

"Catherine, are you alright?!" Mars shouted in a panic from the bottom tier, his arms sealed up firmly in gauntlets attached to the console before him.

"What the heck's going on?!" Jupiter followed, "We were wrapping up a mission on another planet when we suddenly got a distress signal from your station and hurried on over to find THAT thing nearly eating you like a snack!"

Catherine rested back in her chair dazed and confused, "Y-You guys...?"

Her little heart started racing with happiness, allowing her to assess the situation around her a little better. From the comfort of this cockpit she looked at the thin glass window to the outside and saw the viral entity screaming in frustration.

She stared at her hands and then down at the gauntlets before her, then up at the viral entity once more. Her fists tightened, her eyes narrowed in rage, and then she shoved her arms right into the gauntlets as one of her suit wrapped up over her from the chair.

"Here's the situation you two so listen up!" With a fire lit under her butt she wasted no time getting down to the matter at hand, "The Technomite Knight infected my space station with a virus of my making. Now its nearly consumed it whole! Pluto's doing his best to stave off the consumption but if it manages to completely consume the station then it'll use its warp drive to ride off consume other technologically advanced worlds!"

She thrust her hands deeper into the gauntlets and her aura was channeled through it, sending a multitude of purple lights riding throughout the inner wiring of the mech.

"We need to use everything we've got to shove that virus into the sun! You hear me?!"

They had no questions to give. Their loyalty spoke enough, "YOU GOT IT!"

They faced forward and shoved their fists deeper into the gauntlets, sending pulses of red and orange throughout the machine. Catherine arched her brows as her face became covered by a star-shaped pane of purple glass, and purple light throbbed through her suit like veins.

"OPERATION: VIRUS SUN COMMENCES NOW!" The machine's engines whirred full of life enough to power a planet, and she grit her teeth and shoved her head forward energetically towards her enemy, "AURA SOVEREIGN...ENGAGE!"

On the outside the mech lit up with all the colors of its pilots. Red at the legs, orange at the abdomen and arms, then purple from the shoulders to the head. Arming itself with spiked gauntlets, grieves and triangular sunglasses made of aura, the Aura Sovereign raised its right arm towards its towering adversary and gestured all fingers at itself. With a gleam of starlight off its glasses, a flaring cape became draped off its back comprised of a gradient of the three colors ignited on its body.

Basking in the azure light of the sun, the viral entity crossed its arms and stood tall all on its own and declared, **"I am your greatest creation, and you WILL acknowledge me, MOTHER!"**

"You think just cause you can stand you can fight?" Catherine clenched her teeth and shouted, "Humans are able to learn, adapt and grow from their mistakes! They're alive and beautiful in so many wonderful ways!"

"You're just a program following bad orders! And now..." She commanded the mech to press a fist against its palm and squeeze it tight, "I'm gonna shut you down permanently you SON OF A BITCH!"

"Whoa!"

"Jesus Cat!"

Shouted Mars and Jupiter respectively.

"What?" She said, blinking her eyes.

"I just...don't think we've ever heard you swear before!" Mars said all flabbergasted.

"Heh heh heh!" Catherine giggled and leaned forward happily, "I love you guys so much! You're awesome!"

Mars and Jupiter stared at one another and then smiled themselves, poising themselves at their enemy with a fire in their souls.

"Well if she's this fired up...!" Shouted Mars.

"Then we'll just have to match her!" Jupiter said, shoving her arms all the way into the gauntlets ready to battle.

The mech's arms swung out and the thrusters engaged on its back, sending their cape fluttering up behind them. They aimed their sights on the enemy, who unfurled their arms and roared.

**Unholy Union of Plague and Machine: VIRAL ORBITRON – Devourer of Worlds Form**

The two charged at one another with fists raised, but Catherine's team struck the first blow square in the virus' neck. A shockwave rippled across space like cracked bones, but the enemy hardly seemed affected.

It retaliated with a fierce uppercut to the mech's chest. The mech crossed its arms and was knocked higher on contact, but used the momentum to put distance between them.

The aura kept the virus from making contact but every move still had to be planned out accurately. There would be NO missteps. The universe couldn't survive a single mistake.

"Leave this to me!" Jupiter took the lead and the mech's colors shifted to an overall shade of orange, the gauntlets growing twice their size.

The mech pushed forward and took a swing at the virus' chest, and in turn it grabbed onto the wrist before the knuckles could burrow into its body.

It was shoved closer to the sun, just as IT wanted. Even if it couldn't consume through the aura, its mass stuck tight around the mech's fist and allowed it to start spinning around.

Slowly but surely dredging a trench of air through empty space, it would toss its prey towards the sun eventually.

Just what we wanted! Catherine proclaimed, firing the foot thrusters at max power.

The velocity of their spin rapidly increased, dragging in some of the solar flares off the sun's surface near the edge. With their body burning hot, the virus let go and sent them hurtling far, far away.

Catherine made them brake and then resumed firing the thrusters to return back to their enemy, where she delivered a haymaker to its face.

The head cracked all the way back and the whole thing was pushed closer to the sun. It stood upright and roared, then floated forward and took a swing at the mech's head.

The mech weaved to the left and blocked the swing on its gauntlet, raising the other fist to uppercut and smash the virus' jaw into where its nose would be.

They then grabbed the legs when they were high enough and brought the whole thing down atop a thick platform of aura.

While it was pinned down they punched it a few times in the gut and chest. It rearranged its arms towards its gut and grabbed one of the fists, digging sharp talons to try and get through the aura.

The mech detached its aura and the knuckles rode up the virus' body to clobber it in the jaw, dragging it off the platform further towards the sun.

The virus scrambled to raise its thrusters to the back so it can stand and avoid the heat of the sun beating on its back.

It swung its right arm down and crunched it into a fist with a growing smirk on its face. As it began to spread its fingers out, elongated lasers fired from every tip.

The initial surprise from this light show allowed the lasers to cut into part of the mech's left leg before its pilots could get a shield up.

The strength of the lasers shoved their shields away from the body, and allowed the virus to inflict further damage.

The cockpit rocked and alarms went off, but Catherine stood still and concentrated heavily on the front, "Engaging full frontal protection!"

The mech's lights turned purple and all her aura went towards the front, creating a bubble shield that protected them from all harm.

She then charged at the virus and wound up a punch. The virus pushed all the lasers together into one mega laser aimed at the center of the barrier.

The mech flinched back into stationary position, watching as the barrier heated up white hot in the center, radiating further towards the edge every second.

The white heat burned inside the cockpit, its three pilots grasping on for dear life as the machine shook.

"If that thing makes it through we're toast!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"No! This is exactly what we need!" Catherine uttered confidently.

On the outside she moved the mech a little ways back and detached the bubble shield from the rest of the body. She then gestured the mech's right hand out and the barrier fired against the energy like a projectile, shrinking down and eventually enveloping around the lasers.

It shoved the energy into the virus' hand so hard the whole thing exploded off. The titan reeled back, its roar reaching far into space.

The mech braced against the vibrations to charge in and attempt punch number two. It bashed its knuckles into the jaw and got its face all twisted around to the back.

As the mech backed away the virus grabbed its head and pulled the face back to the front, shaking itself off afterwards. It then pushed forward and started swinging at the mech, and despite its sizable girth it weaved around the punches and jabbed the virus in the gut.

Having to put some of its mass into creating a new fist slowed the station's corruption, but they were currently sitting at 99 percent corruption. Too dangerously close for comfort...

But it was a newborn. It could throw a punch, but it didn't know how to **land** a punch.

After bobbing around some more and firing a few more jabs into its body, the virus started glowing much brighter and unleashed a massive burst of energy to shove it away.

The mech shook and electricity spurted from its joints. As the power resumed in the cockpit Catherine braced her comrades with a warning, "He's starting to fire off EMPs! This baby can handle a few of 'em at least!"

The virus took advantage of the strain on the mech to charge in and punch it in the gut. They just managed to focus their aura there in time but the blow still sent them stumbling back and undid some good progress.

The virus kept pressing onward with feral swings and precise uses of aura kept the infection away. They threw in a few jabs, gaining and losing ground back and forth with no forward momentum seeming to be made.

The virus started to glow again with plenty of energy gathering in the center of its chest. The mech turned red and started wielding a set of nunchucks.

"Leave this one to me!" Mars proclaimed, commanding the nunchucks to lash at the glowing core repeatedly.

The energy dialed back a lot, giving the crew ample time to build up strength in the arms and lash with one powerful motion.

The nunchuck slashed a beautiful scar through space and broke the glowing core. The virus hissed and staggered back, the explosion after adding further distance.

The mech then clasped then nunchucks together and waited out their next move. The virus flailed its arms and shouted, _**"W**__**hy do you hate me?! Why must you hurt me?!"**_

"I DIDN'T PROGRAM YOU TO FEEL PAIN!" Catherine wrenched full control of the mech from the others and as it exploded with purple light she gathered aura into her fists until it was as bright as the sun.

"BUT I AM GONNA POUND THE FEAR OF GOD INTO YOU, SO GRIT YOUR FUCKING TEETH!" She punched him across the face with explosive force, shoving him a great distance towards the sun.

When it stabilized it immediately motioned its left hand up and fired off lasers from the tips, this time immediately going for the combined form.

The mech raised its defenses hard and continued to get pushed away, with the virus advancing on their position to increase the laser's burn.

The mech fired its thrusters to maximum and shoved against the beam to ram straight into the virus the moment the barrier shattered.

The arm was pulled away and the laser sliced through a nearby moon. The mech then gained a sword on its right arm and cut through its wrist.

That's the last of the laser defenses! Catherine said confidently.

The virus' body began to blob up in its lower region, causing Jupiter to lean out and question, "What's it doing now?"

The blobs popped like zits, spewing out the hundreds of ships Catherine had made, now under its command.

The ships formed a field around the virus and offered protection with a combination of streams, rapid-fire lasers, and missile salvos.

Though little more than ticks by their lonesome, the combined forced covered up their line of sight and started wearing away at their aura.

"This isn't good!" Mars shouted.

"Augh! I never armed the Aura Sovereign with projectiles!" Catherine shouted angrily.

"What's the plan, Cat?" Jupiter looked over her shoulder.

"Charge forward and onward! We can't give an inch!" She commanded the mech to press on through the relentless assault and wound their right fist back.

Only for the virus to charge forward through the smog and bury its hand over their face. They got aura up in time but the virus stiffened its talons to try and pierce through.

The cockpit rattled and shook as the three braced themselves for danger.

"We're going to be fine!" Catherine exclaimed as the cockpit rattled extra hard and the power flickered off momentarily.

"Are you sure about that?!" Mars hollered.

"Yes! This is our moment!" The day we seize our future! Catherine exclaimed, thrusting her head madly towards the enemy.

Explosions started going off all-around the virus, the many flames engulfing the virus and causing it to pull away. Many of the ships were going down around it, bombarded by intense laser fire.

As the mech lifted back up it found itself surrounded by an armada of battleships of different shapes and sizes from across the galaxy.

The monitor in front of the three turned on, revealing the alien with the tentacles over its mouth sitting inside of the one of the ships.

"Back-up has arrived, Aurian Saturn." He stated firmly.

"Ha ha HA!" Jupiter hollered, pulling her arms up out of the gauntlets in cheer, "I can't believe you guys made it in the nick of time!"

Another monitor popped up showing a one-eyed cat man with combed back mane, "Of course we did! This is what your whole damn organization's made for!"

Catherine swerved the mech's head around. So many ships, from so many worlds. Just seeing the sheer numbers made her tremble at the knees and want to cry.

"I...did this..." She was humbled by their help, and thus refused to let the tears show in this moment of triumph.

"ALL SHIPS!" Her voice hollered throughout the cosmos as she aimed one finger at the staggering virus, "CONCENTRATE FIRE ON THAT ABOMINATION UNTIL ITS BURNING IN THE SUN!"

"YES COMMANDER CATHERINE!" Shouted the two aliens on the monitor before shutting down.

The skies were alight with laser fire from both parties, as the two titans met in the middle of it clashing fists. Pounding away with all their might, Catherine's merry group punched off large chunks of mass from the virus' fists and started to aim for its chest.

Its body weakened, even as the mass was reaching complete saturation of the station. Its gurgled and spewed in anger, weakly lashing out at the mech as its armada fell in droves, littering the galaxy with scrap and dust.

Catherine grabbed the virus' weak attempt at a punch and crushed the fist in one go. She then shoved the virus with one vigorous thrust and finally, the surface of the sun was grazing its cape.

The viral mass became inflamed and it let out a scream, flailing in one last desperate attempt at survival.

_**"WHHYYYYYY!" **_It screeched.

Catherine firmly arched her brows and used the mech to grab onto the top of the virus shouting, "Hey Pluto! This might hurt a little!"

She ripped the command center off without any excess viral mass getting on them and then stored Pluto safely in the mech's chest.

She then kicked the virus straight in the chest to pin it against the sun's surface. It burst into flames all over, but struggled nevertheless to break free.

_**"NOOOOO! MOOOOOOTHER!"**_

Catherine closed her eyes to the beast's screams and when they had passed, she widened them back up with a fire burning in her pupils.

_"Today I let go of the past...AND PRESS ONWARD TO A BRIGHTER TOMORROW!" _Billions of lives flashed and flickered out of her mind in an instant, the weight of them no longer burdening her, but instead pushing her forward with all their hands on her back.

She shoved her hands deep into the gauntlets and her partner's followed suit, all of them letting out a mighty roar.

The mech crossed its arms in front of the opposite shoulders and a massive star-shaped symbol appeared over them. The star then gathered between their hands as they were cupped beside the left hip. All their aura channeled into the star, making it burn extra bright, brighter than the brightest star.

The three held their heads high with feverishly vigor and screamed one after the other:

**"ROARING!"**

**"FUTURE!"**

**"STAR CANNON!"**

_**"FIRE!"**_

They thrust their hands forward and the star shot out of their hands, piercing through both the virus' chest and the entirety of the sun in an instant, only to burst apart with a flash of energy greater than a supernova on the other side.

The virus creaked its head back and let itself be consumed by the flames without another word. Silently, it went out into the night, as the searing of its body crackled in the ears of those who stood victorious this day...

The mech crossed its arms and floated among the armada. Catherine pulled her head back, smiled, and let the tears run down her cheeks...

_**Aftermath...**_

_With the virus, and my old home, gone forever, I have relocated to a new, smaller station. Of course I miss the old girl! But...sometimes you've got to know when to let things go._

_"I've already started work rebuilding some of my old ships and coming up with new ideas along the way! Science doesn't stop just cause it ran into a major roadblock! ...I do owe Pluto a bit for helping me see that. I knocked a few years off his sentence as a reward. He didn't seem to mind. In fact he returned to his jail cell with a bit of a smile on his face. Will he reform...? Nah! Villainous scum don't tend to do that!_

_...Ok, maybe I should dial it back a TIIIIINY bit on the justice stuff. I ain't fighting this fight alone anymore. I know that for sure now._

_I put on a mask to hide the pain, but what that mask represented is something I truly believe in. There's a lot of mistakes in this universe that need correcting. And I can't start to fix them until I fix myself, as they say._

_After we dealt with the attack on my space station we took a Planet Cracker to my old homeworld to ensure that no one would ever be able to exploit the virus again. It was a hard decision to make, saying goodbye to my old world like that. But, the way I see it...That place was never my home. Here, there, anywhere, as long as I got my friends around, that's home to me. _

_And we've got a long fight ahead of us. Plenty of organizations to dismantle, oppression to uproot, and lives that need a bit of hope to brighten their dreary days! We don't just have to save the world by fighting. We can provide food, homes, and money to them too. Maybe it'll take forever. Maybe it won't even happen at all. But in these trying times the worst thing we can do is make enemies out of each other. We got to stand together, hand-in-hand, and help each other fight for this righteous cause._

_Cause if we don't do it, who will?_

_Heh, I kind of rambled on a bit there but this is my first time really writing in a diary. But I got to do this. My past life, and the trauma that came with it, is over...This is the start of a new chapter in a new story. Hmmm, I think I'll label this..."_

**Chapter 1: Saturn's Origin Story**

_"Short, sweet, and to the point!"_

_Next Time: White Christmas_


	62. Chapter 61

_A silent night, with a black sky filled with falling, fluffy snowflakes. Truly, this is that most wonderful time of the year, where most of the world rests at home, warmly embracing friends and family under snug blankets, listening to maritime songs, and stuffing their bellies with cookies._

_That's what normal people do though. You might be asking, "How does our favorite crew of lovable, awkward idiots handle this time of year?"_

_Well, I won't keep you waiting. This is a magical night for some, a first-time experience for others, and a wonderful gift-giving opportunity for the rest. This is..._

**Chapter 61: Christmas Nights**

With a winter shroud falling over his warm home, the hibernating Mew pulls open his wooden barricade and strolls out onto the crunchy layer of snow laid before his doorstep.

He cranes his head back towards the sky and watches the snowflakes glide down from a pitch black sky. Holding a hand over his brows like an umbrella, he cracked a smile.

"Talk about a rare sight..." He said fondly while stepping further out onto the snow, hands tucked neatly in his pockets.

He glanced at his garden and saw his bountiful sprouts wilted and buried halfway under the snow. He stretched his hand out towards them only to curl the fingers inward and sigh.

"I'll let 'em rest until Spring."

He then looked back up and felt stoked to go flying through the snow-filled skies, _"I haven't enjoyed a good flight in a while. Weather's perfect to keep me hidden too."_

He kicked off the ground and took to the skies quietly like a speeding bullet due North. The snowflakes battered against his face but they felt soft like little icy cotton balls.

He kept low to the ground at first cause he wanted to check on a certain someone nearby. A glance down found him passing over a manor with all the windows lit up and some Christmas lights strung up on the bushes beside the road.

"Oh good, they got the decorations up in time,"He cracked a smile and chuckled, "Bet it was all Julius' doing. Joe's still working on that lazy streak of his..."

He reflected on something that happened a couple days ago with his lips puckered, "And Alura, well..."

He spread a grin from cheek-to-cheek, "I hope I didn't overwhelm her too bad by dropping the concept of Christmas on her at the last second..."

He then looked up to the right, at the big, full moon hanging above. The snow emphasized its fullness, turning it into a true white diamond in the sky. It couldn't get any more beautiful than this, it was scientifically impossible.

Mew used his fingers to make a "box" around the moon, then clicked his tongue and smiled. He then faced forward and hung his head in a sigh.

He was thinking of his other brother and what he must be up to tonight, "Riku's never had a Christmas before either. I wish he came with me but...he insisted on spending his night on the moon."

He then shook his head with a sigh, "Can't imagine it going smoothly with Lunis and Solaris up there too..."

He continued to fly without pause, enjoying a conversation with himself. The snow slowly got colder, and thicker, but it didn't affect him any.

"Like I'm one to throw stones about first Christmas' though..." He whispered. Why? Not even he could tell.

"We're all enjoying Christmas apart from one another in our own ways. I hope though that someday, all of us can enjoy Christmas under one roof."

He perked his brows up and gasped, "Oops! Was about to fly right past it!"

He wore a chipper smile and swerved to the right, heading towards the floating city of Sancturia. The snowstorm didn't get inside at all, but not in a way that'd expose the city to satellite gazers refusing to take the night off.

As he landed in the city he stretched his arms out and looked at the view around him with laughter, "Ha ha! Its like I'm in an inverse snow globe!"

He took a stroll through the city and caught a few carolers wandering around. He whistled along with their tunes but kept to his destination. There were lights strewn over the huts and little props at the doors.

But he couldn't imagine there were any trees in these homes. Finally, something this city couldn't rip-off from Earth.

"Oh!" He perked up and snapped his fingers, "THAT reminds me!"

Right before he arrived at the Aurora household he curled an arm above his shoulder and performed a little "Christmas magic" to create a pine tree in his grasp.

He then knocked a couple times on the side of the door and peeled back the curtain door to announce, "Hey guys, I'm here!"

He walked in to find the furniture rearranged to provide more room to move around. And standing in the center of all this empty space was Gabriel in his regular clothes, arms stretched out, and a bunch of Christmas lights and tinsel wrapped around his arms and legs.

He creaked his head back with an exhausted frown and sighed, while Maria floated up before him and placed a golden star decoration atop his head.

"There, all done!" She said all bright and cheerful.

Shina then popped up behind him, wearing a thick blue-green polo Christmas shirt while holding a light switch, "You were born for this, Gabriel!"

"Truly, this was my destiny..." He replied, barely moving a muscle when he sighed.

Shina flicked the light switch and Gabriel was light up with red and green lights. Maria landed and clapped her hands quietly, with Shina diving down to scoop her up in a celebratory hug.

"We did it!" Shina rubbed cheeks with her and Maria fought against it the whole way, giggling all the while.

"Pffft, ha!" Mew chuckled and ducked down to pull his tree in.

"Papa!" Proclaimed Maria, who slipped out of Shina's incredible grip to run over and hug him at the legs.

"Hey honey, having fun?" He could only pat her head for now, but she rustled up a smile for him.

"Mmm hmm!"

"Well, I guess if Gabriel's volunteered we don't need my tree after all." Mew slowly concentrated on dematerializing it when the stoic samurai let out a mildly frantic grunt.

"Please reconsider, Mew, I'm feeling tingles where there shouldn't be any..." He said.

Mew paused to "think" but in reality was moving to put the tree down behind Gabriel while telling Maria, "Alright honey, get the lights off and we'll decorate this one."

She pouted and moaned but followed along obediently in time. As they began to set up the decorations on the tree Kairi walked down from upstairs wearing her usual green and blue clothes, just this time replacing her shirt with a sweater.

"Sis, you're not wearing the Christmas shirt I got you..." Shina said with a pout.

"No." Kairi bluntly replied, squirming while trying to block thoughts of that childish thing out of her mind.

"Oh hey, Kairi!" Mew looked over his shoulder with a smile.

"Mew..." Kairi paused at the bottom of the stairs with her heart fluttering a bit, then pounded her chest twice and continued to walk towards him, "I'm glad you made it."

"Course! Wasn't going to miss Maria's first Christmas!" He said, rubbing her fondly on the head. He then let her ride his shoulder to put the star atop the tree and complete it.

"Perfect!" He shouted.

"I dunno papa, I think Gabriel made a better tree."

"His beard is definitely as prickly as pine that's for sure."

Gabriel stood beside them rubbing his beard for a long while. Kairi walked up to Mew and planted a hand on his shoulder saying, "Trying to start a fight before Christmas there, Mew?"

"N-Not at all!" He replied with a shaky smile.

She smiled back, albeit more twisted, then removed her grip on him saying, "Good. We're gonna have a nice, quiet evening with NO shenanigans involved. Got it?"

Mew put Maria down as he replied, "You got it!"

Kairi crossed her arms in suspicion and remarked, "Do you?"

He nodded and looked her square in the eyes, "Yes!"

She squinted her eyes and curled her lower lip, then began to stutter, "G-Good! I'm glad you understand..."

He then crossed his arms and remarked, "Sorry I couldn't make dinner though. I bet the ham was good!"

"Oh it simply MELTED on my TONGUE, Mew!" Shouted Shina in almost orgasmic bliss. As she stretched her head up high and shook with a grin, her pregnant belly became partially exposed, much to her embarrassment.

"Heh, I see the bread's rising well in the oven," Mew chuckled, "How far are you in now? Six months? Seven?"

Shina rubbed her belly and stated proudly, "Six months indeed!"

She then hunched over slightly and grumbled, "Still gotta tow this impatient kicker for three more months, god...!"

Her head suddenly lurched down and she shouted, "Settle down already, not even your father kicked this much!"

She then slowly walked off to poke her head in the kitchen, leaving Mew blinking rapidly in place.

"Haaaa..." Kairi sighed, "I've had to learn to live with her mood swings."

"Why DO women get like that like they're pregnant?" Mew innocently remarked.

"Is that REALLY what you want to ask in this household, Mew?" Came Auris' soothing voice from out of the kitchen, as she carried with her two large bowls filled with chocolate-covered popcorn and peppermint covered pretzels.

"Hah, I guess not." Mew quietly rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.

Auris raised her brows and then brought the bowls to the table. They then dimmed the lights and sat down on the couches in front of the TV. Gabriel, Auris and Shina were on one, Kairi, Maria and Mew on the other. Maria was wedged between them paddling her legs against the table as they started into a Christmas movie.

A few minutes into the movie they watched as Santa Claus fell off a roof top and his body vanished, leaving his robes behind.

Gabriel rubbed his chin and uttered in shock, "He just killed Santa Claus."

"No he didn't, Gabriel," Mew remarked with a chuckle, "It was an accident."

"Perhaps..."

Not even a few seconds later Gabriel voiced some more disbelief, "Now he's putting on his robe and stealing his sled!"

"I mean, someone's got to deliver the presents." Shina remarked, patting him on the back.

"This is supposed to be a holiday classic?" Gabriel gestured his arm out towards the TV, "This is teaching kids how to be criminals!"

"Shhh!" Auris and Kairi hushed at him.

Gabriel grumpily folded his arms against his chest and huffed out a sigh, "You're right, you're right...I'm over-analyzing this."

"Yeah really, this isn't even the part where he's in jail." Mew casually dropped, earning a slap on the back of the head from Kairi and a reprimanding remark from Shina.

"Mew! SPOILERS!"

Mew leaned back into the couch and the rest of the movie played out without much further fuss. Then they went on to the second movie.

Maria was quietly stuffing her cheeks full of pretzels like she was a squirrel preparing for hibernation, staring wide-eyed in awe at what was going on in this film.

"Pow!" She muttered, thrusting a fist and knocking some pretzels to the floor.

"Now there's more violence? Over an action figure of all things?" Gabriel was thoroughly exasperated as he turned and glanced at Mew, "This...this isn't what Christmas is really like on Earth, is it?"

"Oh no not at all," Mew peppered his response with mild sarcasm, "Nobody's dying here for starters."

Gabriel's face turned minty green.

"Heh heh heh!" Auris giggled, leaving him aghast. She looked him in the eyes and said, "Oh its harmless, Gabriel. Like anyone would take this movie seriously."

Gabriel crossed his arms and glanced aside at Maria, who was mimicking finger guns towards the TV, "Children are very impressionable..."

As the credits rolled for this movie Maria tugged on Mew's sleeve and whispered, "Papa I'm confused, is the true meaning of Christmas meant to be about the kind of gifts you give to each other?"

"Well-"

"No Maria, its not," Kairi firmly interrupted and looked Mew square in the eyes, "I'm **really** starting to questioning 'papa's' choice of movies here."

Mew raised his hands like a guilty man and then brushed them outward with a smile, gently rising and stepping sideways towards the TV, keeping Kairi in his sights.

"I think I can redeem myself on the third." He switched out movies in a flash and then sat back down as the last movie began, and Kairi crossed her arms and rested her heels on the table.

Thus began "A Christmas Carol"...

Their movie experience was a quiet one this go around. Maria's moods shifted from fright, to joy, to wonder as the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge unfolded.

And when the final line was sung "God bless us, everyone", she looked straight up at her papa's eyes and whispered, "I get it now, papa."

She grabbed him and Kairi on their backs and managed to pull them all closer to together wearing a big, giant smile, "Christmas is about being together with the people you care about!"

Mew and Kairi blushed as their cheeks were pressed together, but neither couldn't help but smile. Meanwhile, Shina ruined the mood by snickering.

Not long after the movie's end all the food in Maria's stomach drifted her off to sleep. She tried to resist cause she wanted to meet Santa. Auris carried her up to bed, leaving the others to clean up.

Gabriel though, was on his way out. As he had to explain, "I promised Catherine to meet up with her and the others at the Pyramid for celebration. She's had a rough month so..."

"Tell her Merry Christmas from all of us!" Mew remarked.

Gabriel smiled with a nod, "I will. And Mew?"

"Hmm?"

"I misjudged you again."

Mew smiled and flicked a couple fingers up from his arms, "No bad beef on Christmas, right?"

"Heh." Gabriel turned and left through the front door.

During this Kairi was staring at Mew from behind with a shocked look. But the moment he turned around she looked straight at the ground with red in her cheeks.

Shina stared at them from aside and raised her fingers to her lips with a hearty chuckle. She then waved at them and said, "Well, I'm gonna head off to bed myself! You two lovebirds don't be kissin' under the mistletoe or nuthin'!"

Kairi made a loud peep and then turned around to throw a stray pretzel at Shina, who ran forward and ducked under it, then made her way right up the stairs, another pretzel bouncing off the back of her head.

"Ugh, the nerve of her!" Kairi threw her hands down in a huff while Mew chuckled behind her. She thrust her head back and he turned away whistling innocently.

"I sincerely hope that wasn't your plan." She said, her face a mix of squirming and anger.

"What to get you alone and kiss your under the mistletoe?" Mew closed his eyes and grinned, "You should just kiss me as a Christmas gift!"

Her face stretched up in a panic and she jabbed him right in the chest squeaking, "S-Shut up!"

He faked a recoil and then backed away slowly, looking at the base of the Christmas tree, "Maria's sure got a lot of gifts to wake up to in the morning."

"No kidding," Kairi settled down slightly, "Us, mom, Shina, Gabriel. Even her two new friends and Saturn got her something."

Kairi slumped over and groaned, "Me? I can look forward to another weird gift from Shina and mom...?"

She sighed very loud. Mew raised his brows and said "No comment?" to which she went "Noooo comment."

The two crossed their arms against their chest and looked at the gifts wrapped neatly under the tree. He then cracked a smile at her and suggested, "Since we're so close to the big day, are we gonna say what we got for our daughter?"

Kairi faced him and said with some reluctance, "I-I got her a book. Its a story about cowboys, again."

"Heh, nice! She gobbles those up like she does her food!"

"And you?"

"Oh, I made her a pair of gloves so we can have our first snowball fight in the morning."

Kairi pulled back her hair in one sweep and remarked, "Made?! Ugh...!"

She turned away sounding frustrated and Mew remarked, "What's the matter?"

She turned sideways with her arms firmly crossed under her chest and exclaimed, "How am I supposed to compete with someone who can make anything he puts his mind to?"

Mew raised his brows and dully chuckled, "We...were competing?"

She puffed her cheeks and groaned. Mew then raised one hand and sighed, "Alright alright, next time I'll hold back a bit then."

She noticed that his hands looked roughed up with minor wounds healed up on his palm. He quickly put his hand down and smiled, seemingly unaware that he'd been caught.

Kairi fell into a minor slump following a not-so-minor sigh, "I-I swear, you..."

Mew turned his head and she shot upright with her fists by her hips to say, "I-I'm getting tired! I'm gonna go to bed now!"

"Alright. Guess it's off to the couch for me then."

As Mew bent towards the couch and Kairi climbed the stairs, she paused and then looked down at him to say, "Come upstairs, Mew."

"Eh?" He muttered.

She turned with a pout and told him, "I-I got a spare sleeping bag so just, come upstairs and sleep with your..."

She squeezed her eyes shut and muttered, "D-Daughter."

Mew blinked a few times and then rolled his shoulders as he went to join her upstairs. So ended their night, the night before Christmas...

But they were but one story needing to be told. And though the tales aren't as long, they are important in their own ways...

_Solaris' Christmas..._

On this eve of the 25th, our ever-so blunt firecracker was NOT spending this holiday in the comforting presence of family. Rather, the day before this Samantha came up to him before quitting the bar for the night with a mysterious message:

"_Come to my place on Christmas eve. There's something I want to show you."_

Ever the enigma to him, he decided to unquestionably follow her request to see what she's got. He walked through the snow-lined streets with the snowflakes melting on his skin.

The lights were dimly lit overhead, and the streets were oddly quiet.

"This place is usually bustlin' with humans, what's the deal?" He grabbed his arms and rubbed them a little to get the water off.

"Christmas eve...What's so special about that? Lunis was getting really excited about it too...Is this just another dumb girl thing?" He grit his teeth and shivered a little.

But Samantha wasn't like other girls to him. He saw plenty of them just wearing pretty clothes and looking stupid with a bunch of make-up on. Samantha defied the norm. She wore whatever she wants, wherever she goes, didn't care if there was nacho cheese on her lips, and really loved to eat pizza.

You'd never get it out of him but, he thought she was the coolest girl. Perhaps the coolest human too.

"Where's her place again?" He started to pay attention to the buildings until he wound up in front of her rundown apartment complex.

"This one, right." He unfolded his arms and walked towards the door. When he began to try knocking the door swung open and Samantha stood there, bundled up in a red ribbed jacket, scarf, and winter pants.

"You're late!" She said with a joking smile, wagging towards herself while pulling the door further open, "Come on!"

He squeezed his hulking body through the rickety frame and followed her up the stairs. The floor boards creaked under his weight, but there was no worry of him falling...Maybe.

Rounding the corner she led him to her door and opened the way inside. The broken vibe of this building didn't really go away in her place. There was damage in her wall above the stove, the stove itself was missing a grate, and the lights barely worked half the time.

But she gave it her own personal touch, having a few beer bottles on the counter, a military jacket hung up over her bedroom door, and a few pictures of herself on a drawer near her small plasma screen TV.

"It ain't paradise but," She turned around and proudly gestured her arms out while taking a partial bow, "Whaddya expect on a bartender's budget?"

"Heh!" Solaris crossed his arms and smiled, "I kinda like it!"

"You do?" He caught her in a rare moment of surprise.

"Yeah. Our place is too goddamn bright. This place's got grit. Its cool!"

Samantha leaned to her right with a hand on her hip and snickered, "Heh! Yeah, its got grit! That's what I'd say too!"

Solaris looked her in the eyes and asked, "So what'd you want me to come here for again?"

"Impatient much?" She chuckled and began to turn, "Gimme a moment, I left it in my room."

She hurried into her room and Solaris took this chance to wander around. He kicked an empty pizza box on the ground on his way towards the pictures.

He saw her grouped up with a few other people in army clothes in front of a big, bulky plane, each of them armed with a gun. She looked a little younger then but still had that same grit in her smile.

Beside that was a picture of her and Zeke in front of the bar posing back-to-back with their arms crossed.

Then the third picture showed a much younger Samantha with braces on her teeth sitting on the lap of a woman with long, braided red hair, leaning in towards the camera. A man with short brown hair and a normal white buttoned suit and plaid tie stood beside them with a hand on the woman's shoulder.

Solaris picked this up and after staring at it for a while he turned and said, "Are these your parents?"

Samantha poked her head up from around the corner and then slowly walked out with a smile, "Ah, you found that."

She tucked a hand behind her back and pointed at the figures with the other, "That's my mom, Annabelle. And that's my dad, Judas Jeremiah."

Solaris stared at them longer and then looked at the side of Samantha's face. He put the picture down and laughed, "You don't look like these people at all."

"Hah!" Samantha stood up with a chuckle, "Well people said I got my mom's hair and my dad's rough face but I don't see it either."

"You've never talked about your mother before, now that I think about it." Solaris remarked.

"Not much to say," She shrugged, "I knew she was a kind mother but she died when I was pretty young. Fell ill to a pandemic that was going on at the time, if I recall."

"It was just me and dad most our lives." She turned to stare at the picture, and Solaris felt that heavy weight in his chest again.

She then backed away, waving her sole hand towards herself while wearing a mischievous smile, "Well enough about that, c'mon! I got a gift for you!"

"A gift?" Solaris had heard of gifts before but he had yet to receive one, _"Sweet! Free stuff!"_

He approached her with a smile and she hyped him up with a simple enough remark, "You ready?"

"Hell yeah, bring it on!" He clapped his hands and she drew a piece of paper right out from behind cover, pinched between her fingers.

Solaris stared and gawked at the paper, slowly taking it into his hand. It was titled "Employee Contract", prompting him to look at her and say, "I...don't get it."

"I pulled some strings with Zeke's help to work up a starting contract for you to work at the Bombbrew Bar once the beginning of the year rolls around."

"Wait wait wait!" Solaris started laughing excitedly, "You're giving me a job at the bar?"

"Hell yeah! You've shown good taste in beers, you've really improved in your conversational skills. I think this'll work out great for you!"

"Wow. Holy shit..." Solaris grinned from cheek-to-cheek and stared at the contract. Samantha bent the top edge down and leaned in to point at the bottom.

"All you've got to do is sign on the bottom line and we're good to go!"

"Damn like...I don't know what to say!" Solaris grit his teeth and then pumped his fist up by his chest, "Except I totally do! I'm going to rub this in Riku and Lunis' faces when I get back! HA!"

"Pffft, ha ha ha!" Samantha hunched over in snickers.

"What? What?!"

"Y'know, when I first met you I thought you were just another limp-dick over-masculine douchebag who thought he was god's gift to mankind," She raised her head and closed her eyes to smile, "But turns out you're a pretty honest guy who isn't afraid to show his true feelings, even if he winds up looking like a dumbass."

Solaris slumped forward and moaned, "Heeeey."

He stared back at the contract and his joy began to wane. There was something about that word "honest" that hurt him deep down. And that pain only increased when he looked at her teeth grit in a smile, not a care on her mind.

"..." He closed his eyes and then pressed the paper against her chest, "I...I can't do it."

"What why not?"

She planted the paper against her chest and he folded his arms, turning away from her with a frown.

"I...haven't been entirely honest with you."

She went silent as he grit his teeth and **forced** the words between them, "My real name...is Solaris Arcavira."

He looked her square in the eyes and raised his voice, "I'm not a human like you. I'm a god. One of the toughest of them with dominion over the sun. I've only lived on this planet for six months."

Samantha started to blink, showing no emotion whatsoever.

He raised his hand and summoned a small flame over his palm that glowed in her eyes. He then squeezed out the ember and swung his fist down, "You see that? I'm not blowing smoke here. I could burn down the whole world if I wanted to...almost did at one point."

She continued to stare, and he impatiently yelled at her, "Well aren't you going to say something?!"

She was silent for a little while longer, then started laughing. Not in anger, not in joy. Just pure, unfiltered laughter.

And Solaris slacked his jaw and uttered "HUH?" while the tears started to fall from her face.

She rubbed her eyes and her laughter settled down to a fine point, "I KNEW it!"

Solaris dropped his hands to his hips and went "HUH?!" again for good measure.

She stood up and crossed her arms proudly, "I knew there was something weird going on with you!"

"How? How could you POSSIBLY have known?!" He replied all flabbergasted.

"Oh please, Mr. Subtle," Samantha cocked her head back and scoffed, "What kind of normal person goes around saying 'How can a human like you be so strong'?"

Her tone was dripping with mockery and left Solaris gripping the side of his head and grumbling curse words to himself.

She leaned in with her fists on her hips and squinted, "You were exposed from the start buster!"

Solaris crossed his arms and shouted, "If you knew something was up why didn't you say anything?!"

"Feh! I figured you must have had a good reason for keeping your lips shut!"

Solaris spat wind to his side while she just kept going at it, "Ha ha! Wow, to think that I'm so cool that a god wants to hang out with me!"

He turned his burning eyes on her and yelled, "Oh can it, Sam! You're totally missing the point!"

"Oh shit!" She shouted with laughter, "That means your sister is a goddess! No wonder she's so pretty! Does Riku know? Then who's Gabriel?!"

"Sam!" Solaris raised his voice to get her to stop, "I can't..."

He settled down and crossed his arms tightly, "I can't...tell you anymore, cause like...We can't keep seeing each other after this."

"What? How come?" She took his words in stride.

"..." Solaris turned to his side and hid his face from her sight, "Six months ago I came here with my father to fight someone. We attacked the planet to lure him out and in the process I burned a bunch of cities in my path. I didn't care. I thought they were anthills for me to step on..."

He gripped the side of his face, "But I was fucking stupid, and wild...and..."

He tightly scowled and dug his fingernails along his skin, "You said your father was killed in a burning building? I...I think that was my fault."

He faced her and started to shout "And that's why we can't see-"

She delivered a swift kick to his balls that left him grabbing down there and hunching over in agony. She then leaned to her right with a scowl and bluntly remarked, "That sting, dumbass?"

"Y-Yes!" Solaris stood right up and his voice's pitch got higher, "What the actual HELL?"

She scoffed and lowered her brows, "Good! Cause I don't want to hear anything so asinine from your mouth ever again!"

"Did you not hear a single thing I just said?!" He roared.

"I get what you're trying to do. Thinking I'll feel better just cause I have a face to associate my dad's murderer with," Samantha clutched her hands on her hips and kicked the air, stamping the foot down hard, "I'm NOT that weak kinda gal...Nor am I stupid."

"Every great figure in history has their fair share of enemies, my dad wasn't any different. I saw him as invincible, unstoppable. But he was only human. If any bastard off the street took their chance, he'd bleed like the rest..." Her knuckles tightened and cracked, "That's what happened. The enemy won..."

Solaris clammed up and muttered, "I'm...I'm sorry..."

After a long break of silence Samantha smiled and nudged him in the chest with her fist, "But I appreciate it. Really."

She then looked down and set the contract aside for now, "Well that was tiring! I think we need to go burn off steam, don't you?"

Solaris blinked slowly as she approached him and crawled her fingers up his chest with a smile, "And I got JUST the idea in mind!"

"Really?" His heart started racing, letting out a loud "Thump!" when she tapped him on the nose.

"Oh yeah! We're gonna do something naughty, degenerate...If we get caught, its gonna get us banned from all fifty states!"

"Hell yeah! Lets do it!" Solaris shouted.

_A few minutes later..._

"WOOOOOO!" Samantha raised her fists high in the air as hundreds of snowflakes flew into her body.

"AWWW YEAH!" Her breath was thick and foggy, but it could've been worse if not for Solaris' body heat keeping her warm as she rode on his back.

Solaris stared blankly at the sparkling lights flying by miles below him and couldn't help but keep blinking.

She slapped her hands down atop his shoulder blades and exclaimed, "This is awesome! You see the world like this all the time?!"

"Y-Yeah?" He stuttered.

She leaned out and pointed ahead, "Keep going! I want to go visit Europe! Hey, maybe we can go prank North Korea while we're over there too!"

"This is exciting and all but I honestly thought we were about to have sex." Solaris stated plainly.

Samantha blinked a few times and then shrugged, "Eh sure, when we get back! Don't worry..."

She playfully ruffled his hair, "I promise to be gentle."

"Oh fuck off!" He lightly swatted back at her, the two laughing far beyond anyone's ears...

_Joe Dark and Alura's Christmas..._

The Dark manor was even whiter than usual thanks to the snow. It bundled the building in a nice warm coat, and the heat relaxed its owners as they sat in the living room.

Donning their striped pajamas, Joe Dark and Alura had a blanket covering their legs and a cup of hot chocolate on their laps. A Christmas tree stood before the fireplace, with Julius adding the last of the bulbs up top.

Joe Dark faced him and said, "Thanks again for doing this, Julius."

"Its my pleasure, Master Joseph," Julius turned away wearing a smile, "It almost feels...nostalgic."

He took to seating on the couch opposite theirs and let his body be soaked into the leather with a sigh of relaxation.

Alura took her lips off her cup and nodded, "And thank you for the good hot chocolate."

"Absolutely, Miss Alura."

"Julius didn't put in all the work, Alura." Joe Dark said, lightly coughing to draw attention upon himself.

Alura stared and then gave him his fair due, "You're right, Joe Dark. Thank you for not burning the Christmas turkey."

He spat up some of his hot chocolate and then, wiping it off onto his sleeve, glared at her and said, "Ease up will you? Its Christmas."

"Ha ha ha!" Julius chuckled.

The two goofballs looked at him and Joe Dark asked, "Hey Julius, do you have any Christmas tales involving my dad?"

Julius paused and tapped his chin deep in thought, "As a matter of fact there's one tale I'm particularly fond of."

He settled his glass on the table and gave it a couple taps as a call for silence. His onlookers watched with bated breath as his story began.

"Roughly two years before you came to us, your father had heard of a homeless shelter whose food delivery truck had been delayed thanks to a rough blizzard."

"He bought enough food to make a full meal for everyone. But that's not all. His wife took a dozen boxes of Jell-o and filled a pillow case with it, and made him a Santa Claus suit and beard. He then bought a snowplow, painted reindeer on the plow, and drove through the blizzard to deliver the food to the shelter."

"He was Mr. Claus, she was Ms. Claus," Julius grinned fondly and pulled his head back, "They brought smiles to hundreds of tired, weary faces, and spent their night and day celebrating Christmas."

It was a short tale, but it made Joe Dark think a little, "Dad was a really generous person. I wonder if I could ever hope to live up to what he accomplished."

Julius had another drop of wisdom to impart, "Every day's a step forward. Remember that."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the story, Julius." Joe Dark returned to his hot chocolate in silence.

A cozy atmosphere, with all the people he could ever want surrounding him, and the snow gently falling outside. He had earned this. With his own hands, he finally knew what it was like to grasp happiness.

Though...

He stared down at his empty cup and felt a twinge of guilt in his chest, _的 __feel bad for not inviting Mew. I wonder if he's doing ok?_

... He put his cup down and then turned to Alura, 的 may be getting ahead of myself here but...

Hmm? She tilted her head and kept an eye on him as he reached behind the couch and pulled out a gift wrapped box that was almost as big as her.

Her eyes gave off this dim sense of wonder as he put the gift down on the table and told her, 敵o ahead. Open it.

Her eyes wide like a bee near a flower, she dug her tiny fingers into the wrapping and tore and threw it off as quick as she could. Joe Dark had to put his hands up to keep it from flying into his face.

She eventually began to slow, and then came to a complete stop. Her normally stone-cold face was actually befitting for the surprise she was experiencing.

She lowered her arms and picked up the gifts' contents...a large guitar, refurbished with a shiny polish and coming complete with a pick strapped beneath the strings and a couple DVD tutorials.

This...is... She had no words, so he filled in the blanks.

The guitar you've been playing at work, Joe Dark leaned in towards her and smiled, 的 put away some of my paycheck, talked it over with Jeff and Stewart, and managed to get it for you at a discount.

Alura slowly drew back and put the guitar on her lap. She drew her fingertips along the string and it made a beautiful sound.

Merry Christmas, Alura. He said, giving her a quick rub on the back.

Her cheeks began to redden, and she pulled herself in closer against the couch. She buried her face against the side of the guitar and looked sad.

I...I...

Joe Dark perked up and then awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, 徹h, shit...I just realized. You probably didn't get me anything, did you?

She sat stiff and began to close her eyes.

He patted her on the back and said, 徹h who cares? This is your first Christmas, its my fault for not saying anything. I'm just glad to spend time with you.

Alura looked away from him with her face only getting redder. He had no idea that tucked away in her back pocket was a piece of paper with the words to a song written on it.

All she could do in the face of his kindness is press her mouth against the guitar and submit to all the hesitation and doubt swelling in her heart.

Jerk Dark... She mumbled to herself, her voice cracking.

_Riku and Lunis' Christmas..._

Compared to everyone else there was no flash or flare to these two's Christmas night. They were just doing what they always did at night: Sitting back, book in hand, casual clothes on, in the comfort of Lunis' bed.

Their gift to themselves was that Solaris wasn't around calling them both nerds for once.

But in keeping to the theme of the day, they decided to try out some Christmas novels. Lunis was reading 典he Polar Express while Riku enjoyed 鏑etters from Father Christmas

Mmrrr...! But Lunis seemed restless. She was kicking her feet against the edge of the bed and was struggling to hold back her smile.

She laid her book down on her stomach and rolled towards Riku, 的s it midnight yet?!

Riku chuckled and softly smiled back, 鉄till another ten minutes, Lunis.

Ahh! She screamed and flopped her head back down on the pillow with a pout.

Ten seconds later she started paddling her legs some more and then flattened the open book beside her, 徹h I can't wait any longer, Riku! Can we exchange gifts now, pleeeeeeease?!

She had her fists curled under a puppy-dog pout and Riku's defenses crumbled immediately, 的 guess there's no rule saying it HAS to be on the day...

She drummed on the mattress with both hands and shouted in glee, 添aaay!

Then she flipped around and then started to bend over the bed. Meanwhile Riku closed his eyes and calmly pulled out a small rectangular wrapped box.

Here you go. He said, his voice reeling her back up to receive her gift.

She pinched the box before her chest and slowly raised it to her ear while rattling it around. She then puckered her lips and began to slowly unwrap the gift.

Inside was a small oval ivory case with a hinge. She clicked it open and let out a gasp, dropping the case on her lap.

The case held a pair of tiny lens glasses that held great significance to her. She gently picked them up and turned them around. With her hands shaking her expression began to quiver, her smile going away.

"T-These are father's...glasses."

She set them on her face and they fit perfectly. She blinked a few times, her eyes clearly adjusting to this new level of vision.

Riku put one hand atop his raised knee and had trouble smiling, "I tried to fix them to the best of my memory but I'm not positive I got the lens' correct. I noticed you squint a lot when you read so I hope this helps with that. I'm...sorry I had to take this when you weren't looking though."

"Sniff...!" Lunis had taken her glasses off and was rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, "Y-You didn't have to do this..."

"You like it?" He inquired wistfully.

She lowered her hand, closed her eyes, and a smile bridged her damp cheeks, "I love it!"

She carefully put the glasses in the case and set them down beside the bed. She then sat on her knees, took a deep breath, and tried to relax.

"R-Riku..." Lunis couldn't even open her eyes as she asked him, "Could you please...sit up for a moment?"

He got himself in the same position she was in while she looked away and tried to whisper to herself, "G-Gosh I thought I was ready for this, but then you had to go and do that..."

She curled up a smile and murmured, "Dummy..."

She rested her quivering hands on her knees and curled her fingers inward, digging into her pants. She forced her eyes open following one deep breath, and looked right at his face.

"All my life people were always telling me what to do. I was a slave, I was a tool, I was a daughter...I was never really...me. But that all changed when I met you. You saw past every layer, every label, and spoke to me as an individual."

"You didn't have to help your enemy, but you did. In more ways than one...You freed me from my doubts. You've shown me a whole new wonderful of possibilities. Now I know 'me', the 'me' I want to be..."

She laid a hand over her chest and didn't tremble in the slightest, "Whenever we read together, I feel calm. Whenever we go out together, I can smile without worry. When I touch your skin, my body gets all warm and fuzzy..."

She raised her head proudly with a grin, "I don't want these feelings to go away. And I'm not going to bury them any longer. I know what I want. And I know who I am..."

"Riku, I..." Lunis paused to take one last breath, her soothing voice exiting like a gentle breeze, "I love you."

Riku's eyes widened, a tension clenching his heart that dragged his gaze and smile downward. Lunis stared blankly towards him as he put his hands on his knees.

"I...don't know if I can accept this."

He lifted his fake hand up and stared at the palm, "I've gotten better, I know it, but...I still have a long way to go before I can say I'm fixed."

He looked Lunis in her beautiful, glistening eyes and softly shook his head, "I'm not denying or rejecting your feelings, Lunis, but I don't think you should fall in love with a broken-"

Her soft, cold hands clasped his cheeks and held him still as she pulled herself in and forced his lips upon his. She kissed him for ten long, quiet seconds, her heart beat hastening and her fingertips beginning to dig into his bony cheeks.

She pulled away with a whispering gasp and her cheeks were now rosy red. His eyes stayed wide-open, staring deep into glistening pupils as she smiled and shook her head.

"How did that feel, Riku?"

His heart was fluttering. His blood was rushing throughout his body like a raging river. Sweltering heat rose from his body as he felt a loss of control inside of him.

And he embraced it.

Every fiber of his being rejected the concept of "restraint" and grabbed Lunis by the waist, pulling her in closer to kiss her again. Their lips melded together in perfect harmony, dispersing the voices of doubt clouding their heads.

Two broken souls, now joined together, became a mended whole. One representing the dark side of the moon, the other its light.

Their passionate kissing was an ode to the beauty of the lunar surface they lived upon that would echo throughout history for eons to come.

They closed their eyes, embracing darkness, as romantic warmth weaved its magic around their young hearts. Their bodies were marionettes to the puppetry of wintery passion, Riku's hands being guided towards the loosening of her shirt, while Lunis mimicked the same.

Flicking shirts, undergarments and pants alike to the floor, they dropped upon the soft surface of their mattress, just as the clock struck Midnight. Lunis' moans began to echo throughout the chambers of their home, as the two were wrapped up neatly in a bow of ecstasy.

On this Christmas day, these two found the greatest gift of them all: Each other.

And they wouldn't exchange it for the world...

_Next Time: A New Year's Fight_


	63. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62: Fight of Resolution**

"Well..." Mew tapped his foot on the ground and waved his giant sword over his shoulder, looking steadily up from the ground, "Can't say this was the first thing I expected to do to celebrate the New Year."

Fifty feet across from him was Riku, boldly flashing a smile with a mild dash of humored intent in his demeanor, "I'm glad you heeded my request, brother."

Mew locked his blade atop his shoulder and smirked, "Well what can I say? You know how to lure me in with the promise of a good time!"

Riku nodded back, "Consider this a belated Christmas present."

"Well just so you know, I don't do returns..." Mew lashed his sword at the ground, igniting sparks in the air as his smirk turned fierce, "So don't feel too bad when I kick your ass."

Riku started to narrow his brows while raising his right hand at him, "I think you've got it backwards, brother. **I'm **going to kick YOUR ass."

Mew's eyes widened momentarily and he let out a laugh, "Ha! Look at the sass on you! Guess you were training in more ways than one!"

Mew gently carved the ground as he raised his sword to meet Riku's determination, "Well? We got a big audience gathered here! Lets give 'em a good show!"

It is now first day of 2042 AD. On this day, these two brothers have appeared to one another in the palace on the moon, being watched over by everyone they knew on the planet.

The large audience was gathered on steel stands whipped up with Neptune's magic, while Auris provided a dome of aura to keep any stray attacks from hitting them.

The seating was divided up so everyone say near who they were most comfortable with, and they watched and waited with bated breath as the two brothers silently gauged each other out.

Neptune strode between the rows of stands carrying a top hat by the brim, announcing to the gathered crowd, "Taking all bets! Place them in this hat but be warned, all deals are final."

The likes of Mars and Jupiter dropped their bets down for Mew without comment, while Saturn naturally went for Riku. As Neptune received a few more bets from other folk she passed by Michael, Vivi, and Raphael, the latter of whom had his wicked face half-buried in a portable console.

Vivi throttled her big brother's arm shouting, "Can I make a bet, big bro?!"

"You're too young for that." Michael calmly said.

In a slump, Vivi murmured, "B-But Maria gets to!"

She pointed back to the little red-head trying to sneak a five dollar bill in the hat, only for Kairi to grab her wrist away and exclaim, "Maria! That's not what allowances are for!"

Maria pouted. Neptune chuckled, and then brandished her hat back towards the three beside her. Raphael took his hand off to drop a ten dollar bill into the hat, "P-Put it down for the g-g-guy who didn't kick my ass!"

"Alright." Neptune then went along collecting Kairi and Lunis' obvious bets. And, though he was only present via a floating TV monitor, Pluto got to make a bet too. His sole comment on the proceedings?

"_Lets see if his bluster truly wasn't more than a one-time fluke..." _

Then Neptune went over to Alura and Joe Dark, wagging the hat up to his dour face. Joe Dark grumbled, "I get a day off from those grumpy ass old folk in the store and I'm forced to spend it up here?"

He then lazily reached into his pocket and plopped a five into the hat, "Might as well at least make some free money."

Neptune smiled and determined his answer easily from that alone.

"Ah DAMN IT!" Shouted the most surprising person appearing here, Samantha, "Nothing beats a good bet but I didn't bring any dough!"

Beside her Solaris folded his arms and remarked, "Ah shit you're right! I should've grabbed some too!"

Lunis turned and commented, "Brother, we ARE at home..."

Solaris sucked his lips in and ignored her. Joe Dark then glanced aside at Samantha and scoffed, "Ok, who the hell's this broad?"

Samantha glanced at him back and smiled ferociously, "Who's this lanky goth with the big lip?"

A vein popped on Joe Dark's forehead but before any foul language could be spewed he closed his mouth with gritted teeth and turned away, murmuring, "Don't do it, you can be better than this...!"

"Ha!" Samantha extended her left hand out under her fold and said, "Name's Samantha J.! You must be Joe Dark, and the little cutie with the purple hair must be Alura!"

Joe Dark's eyes widened while Alura felt it necessary to pump her fists defensively and says, "I'm not cute, I'm 'sexy'!"

"Hey, you are what you feel you are!" Samantha responded.

Joe Dark leaned out to glare at Solaris and yell at him, "How much did you tell this woman?!"

Solaris' eyes darted away and he tripped around over his tongue with a whisper, "I-I didn't...tell her..."

"So these Elemental Overlord guys are pretty tough huh?" Samantha leaned down, propping her arms on her knees and let out a couple excited claps, "COME ON! SHOW ME A GOOD TIME!"

Solaris bit his tongue and grinded out a squeak of "Muuuuch?" as about half a dozen eyes now glared his way. He shakily looked towards them to defend himself, "D-Don't give me that look! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Joe Dark leaned back and slapped his forehead, "I expected your airheaded sister to spill the beans..."

"Heeeeeeey." Lunis mumbled.

"Like you're one to talk, Joe Dark!" Kairi exclaimed, "Mew told me your butler knows everything!"

"T-That's totally different!" Joe Dark barked back through gritted teeth, "He's a trusted friend of the family! This girl's just some woman heat for brains picked up on the street!"

He suddenly lurched upright as Samantha squeezed her hand around his left shoulder, causing it to make a cracking sound, "Just some woman, eh?"

"All of you, settle down." Gabriel's calming voice ended this escalation of words instantly.

Samantha withdrew her hand and said with a laugh, "Alright, but only cause you said it."

Joe Dark rubbed his sore shoulder and mumbled, "Can't I know one woman who isn't wild?"

Alura tilted her head and hummed, subtly kicking Joe Dark in the shin.

Gabriel and Auris sat side-by-side, observing the two brothers as they began to move, pacing together in a clockwise circle .

"Lady Auris, your thoughts?"

"Hmmm..." Auris hunched over, propping her chin up on a bridge of her hands, "I'm not certain who will win this battle."

Gabriel nodded and crossed his arms, "I was thinking the exact same thing. Though that's more-so from a lack of knowledge on how Riku fights."

Lunis pumped her fists up by her chest and remarked, "Mew managed to go toe-to-toe with me AND my brother, but Riku...!"

"Heh! He's only gotten stronger since back then," Solaris stated confidently, "I've totally been keeping up with his pace lately but there's a wall I can't breach yet, and I don't think even Mew's got enough tricks up his sleeve to handle it!"

"That's what you think!" Jupiter remarked, "When it comes to tricks Mew's got more up his sleeves than my sister does! No offense, of course."

"None taken," Neptune said, taking a sit beside Priscilla, "He IS surely full of surprises, and I don't just mean his powers..."

"_He's as tenacious as a horde of cockroaches." _Pluto chimed in.

"Ah, he's also just annoyingly lucky!" Saturn added.

"_Lucky? I'd have never taken you for a sore loser, Catherine." _Pluto said with a humored guffaw.

"Oh please he got lucky! Just cause he used a metal from a dead world doesn't make him tougher than me!" Saturn was clearly fuming.

"Yes, the variety of ways Mew utilizes his elements cannot be understated," Gabriel said, "He beat most of us without ever having to transform, all because of his quick thinking."

"But Riku knows what his brother's like and has probably had plenty of time to plan for his tricks." Saturn remarked.

"Having the ability to predict random occurrences doesn't erase the existence of them," Neptune remarked, magically whipping out a couple dice between her fingers, "It simply means you'll have a slight leg up over them. But the end result will still either favor you...or destroy you."

She rolled the dice onto the ground and they landed on Snake Eyes.

"So basically!" Shina exclaimed, "Mew's more chaotic, while Riku's more cunning?"

Gabriel rubbed his beard and remarked, "I'd say both parties are cunning in their own way, Shina. This won't be a battle won by brute force."

"I can't wait to see what tricks they have up their sleeve!" Shina rubbed her hands together feverishly, "Alex was always so drab with his elements! It was either 'FLAME THIS!' or 'EXPLODE THAT!'"

"Even BEFORE he went crazy?!" Joe Dark exclaimed in exasperation.

"I know one thing for sure!" Lunis suddenly stood up and started waving her hand in the air, "YOU CAN DO IT RIKU! GO GO GO!"

Kairi's cheeks turned red and as Maria stood to fight back with "No! Papa'll win!" she decided to stand up as well and stutter, "K-KICK HIS BUTT MEW!"

The two brothers looked at the crowd, seeing their movements but not hearing their voices.

Mew closed his eyes and sighed, hanging his blade above the ground, "Kairi, I swear..."

He shook his head and faced Riku with his blade now pointing straight into the ground, "I think we've kept them waiting long enough, don't you?"

Riku nodded and faced him. A breeze rose around his body as he pointed his palm at Mew and drew his own sword, "I'm ready to face you now, brother."

"One last thing though," Mew clutched the handle of his sword tight and hunched forward slightly, "Ain't gonna complain about this fight but...Why me? Why now?"

Riku eyes gently drifted shut and he murmured, "Its...just another step I felt I need to take on my journey."

"Well," Mew stood back up and chuckled, "I hope you find the answer you're looking for..."

He smirked bravely and pulled his sword from the ground, a flurry of flames rising around his body, "Even after you've lost!"

"Heh...!" Riku smirked back and waved his sword towards the ground, a calming air radiating around him, "Ready?"

Mew ignited his blade and took a swing straight up to send a fire wave at Riku. Riku flinched and glided to the left, returning fire, quite literally.

Mew cut through the fire and then shifted his foot around slightly. Riku paused and looked down at the ground cracking, where a giant stone fist broke through and started dragging him swiftly towards the ceiling.

Riku hopped off and found more giant stones fists rising to greet him. He glided around them and used his sword to shave bits of rock off, then converting them into frost to fire upon Mew.

Mew raised his body heat to melt it down, only to immediately feel a tingle in his arm hairs. Riku summoned a lightning bolt on him overhead, the water amplifying its effects on his body.

Mew turned his skin to wood and then darted forward as his brother was about to land. Riku aimed his sword at the ground and fired it off, where is swooped up and nearly struck Mew in the face.

As Mew pulled away from it he spun around and almost stumbled over. He slammed his sword against the ground and summoned a massive ice wall between the two of them.

Riku took a couple steps back and concentrated on taking a deep breath. Without thinking he felt his brother speeding towards his back and recalled his sword to meet his.

But as the blades clashed he was disturbed by the sound of splintering wood and opened his eyes to find a wooden effigy of his brother impaled on his blade.

This stunning maneuver bought Mew the chance to reappear from underground and uppercut Riku in the jaw. Riku grit his teeth but that wouldn't be good enough.

Mew grabbed his arms and spun him around, throwing him against the back of the ice wall to stick him in place while he punished him with plentiful punches to the gut.

Riku continued to grit his teeth and, when the opening presented itself, he shoved his feet into Mew's gut and heated up his body to melt the ice as he propelled through it.

Though staggered, Mew raised his hand and dropped the whole wall on top of Riku. Riku gracefully spun around, slicing through the weak ice with his blade.

He emerged safely on the other side of the frosty pile and stood up, gesturing the water off his body.

Mew swung his right hand out to summon his sword and then smiled, "Not a bad warm-up, eh?"

Riku smiled back.

Mew threw a wide-eyed glare at the ice and caused it to melt down to a room covering fog in seconds. Riku blew it away with a wave of the hand but by then, Mew had already vanished.

As Riku was left to assess where he'd appear, the audience gave their commentary.

Gabriel remarked, "He went underground again...How will Riku respond this time?"

Riku closed his eyes and dispelled his sword. By wiggling his right hand he subtly summoned a red orb to his hip. His heartbeat slowed until he could no longer hear it, and this allowed him to hear Mew digging around underground.

Behind him, in front of him, beside him. He didn't care where he emerged from. When the moment arrived at long last, and Mew confidently drew his fist back with a smile...

"Got you." Riku flicked his finger back and the red orb hurtled into Mew's chest, exploding violently on contact and tossing Mew along the ground.

"Ha HA!" Saturn stood up and threw a fist in the air, "What a brilliant comeback! He shortened his reaction time by attacking without turning around!"

Mew fell onto his feet and then slammed his hand onto the ground to stop. He then stood up and flared his eyes towards the incoming orbs Riku continued to send his way.

He drew his sword as light as a feather and cut down the first few orbs, but the remainder began to curve around his blade and explode upon his sides.

"What...are these things?" They felt like elements, but in a more condensed, pure form.

Mew started running ahead, ducking past some of the orbs while drawing fire in his blade, and taking a swing to unleash the wave of it upon Riku.

With a flip of Riku's hand the orbs changed color to dark blue and doused the flames. A couple of them connected with Mew's blade, where he then flipped the orbs' color to sparking yellow.

One collided with Mew's blade and the sudden electrocution made him drop his sword yet continue running. He turned back to call his blade but more of those orbs kept disrupting his concentration.

Mew turned to Riku and lashed his arm out to send a wave of electricity hurtling his way. The orbs changed again, this time becoming brown, and absorbing the electricity with ease.

But that's fine, Mew thought, it gave him a chance to grab his sword and quickly swing it against the ground to send a stealthy wave of fire across the floor.

Riku looked down just in time to see the fire erupt into a massive pillar. He pulled away looking a little smoky and coughing, but continued to send more orbs straight out.

"N-Not bad, brother! But lets see how you handle this...!" Riku stood his ground and held his hand out as Mew shot through the flames slicing every orb in his path.

But suddenly, the orbs stopped, yet Riku continued to hold his hand out while remaining perfectly still.

Mew's brows raised as he flew perilously towards an unknown danger. His gut suddenly lurched back, like he'd been pounded by a ton of concrete, suspended him a few feet in front of his brother.

Riku continued to do nothing, yet Mew was getting pounded away at from all sides, pushing his body further and further away.

Mew tried to drop to the ground, only for the blows to be redirected into his face.

Mew started staggering back, flailing his sword against seemingly empty air.

The audience stared flabbergasted at the scene unfolding save for Auris, who lifted herself up with a tender smirk and muttered, "Oh, now that's fascinating..."

Shina leaned closer to her mother and asked, "What's going on?"

"Close your eyes," She advised softly, gesturing towards her left, "You too, Kairi."

The two obeyed, both visibly flinching once they did.

"Oh!" Shouted Shina, "The orbs are still...there?"

"What, where?!" Hollered Samantha, jumping off the stands and running to the edge of the barrier, "I can't see shit!"

"Join the club," Joe Dark remarked, turning to the Aurians to ask, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Heh heh!" Solaris, however, surprised them all by answering for Auris, "Oh yeah Mew, how's it feel to be on the receiving end of your brother's annoying invisible volley?"

"Invisible...volley?" Said Maria, tilting her head.

"Oh **I **get it now!" Saturn nudged her glasses and the inner machinery started focusing in on their battle. What she saw was incredible ultraviolet rays radiating around the spheres, "Ha! That's really clever!"

"Are you people going to keep dancing around this or can the rest of us get some answers?" Joe Dark impatiently commented.

Mew stood his ground against the onslaught by finally planting his sword in the ground and letting the dull edge against as a bulwark.

"_I can still sense the elements from his orbs, but he's cloaked them somehow and shifted which element the orb are made of every second...!" _Mew was being pressured back even still, but he had plenty of time to steel his mind and body to think of what's going on.

"_Oh!" _Came a spark of inspiration, _"Unbelievable! He must be bending the light around the orbs to make them invisible!" _

With this explanation having reached the eager audience's ears from Auris' mouth, Kairi leaned out and remarked, "Bending the light around the orbs? Is that even possible?"

"I would say so but at the same time, Riku shouldn't be able to pull this type of stunt in this form..." Auris hummed in delight and stared lovingly towards the black-haired Overlord, "He's learned how to use one of the Primordial Elements outside a conduit form. Even Sarajin couldn't manage that."

Down below Maria was having some ice cream that Vivi made but quit stuffing her face to pronounce to the crowd, "Papa's not going to lose to this! He'll figure this out!"

Mew grit his teeth with a prideful smile and declared, "How long'd it take you to come up with this technique?!"

"Quite a while...I honestly didn't think I'd be able to pull it off." Riku said, sounding a little tired.

"W-Well, your efforts have certainly paid off!" Mew forced himself to rise and continued to endure the onslaught while bringing his hands towards the trigger of his handle, "This technique's annoying as hell! Cool! But REALLY annoying!"

Riku paused and raised a brow as Mew clicked the white trigger and a wave of calming light erupted from his body.

Before a second passed Mew flew out in Light Form and swung his katana at Riku's chest. Riku drew his sword but got cut down the arm in the process. It was fortunate that it was the fake arm, it could endure the blow.

Pushed back, Riku found his element of surprise lost and returned to basics, summoning vines to entangle Mew's legs.

But Mew quickly sliced them down before he could even blink and then moved behind Riku in a flash. Mew clocked him in the back with his gauntlet, knocking him onto his face.

Joe Dark crossed his arms and sighed, "Of course he'd escalate this first..."

"That may be in his best interest," Gabriel added with praise, "If he can't pressure Riku now, then he might not win this battle."

"HAHAHA!" Samantha hooted and hollered, slapping her hands against the barrier and getting really into it, "Transformations too?! This is fantastic! I wish I knew you guys sooner!"

"I LIKE your girlfriend!" Saturn proclaimed, feverishly nodded her head in approval towards Solaris.

"S-She's not...!" Solaris folded his arms against his chest and grumbled internally.

Turning over, Riku drew his sword and caught Mew's downward stab in the gap in his blade, then twisted it to lock it in place.

With the tip of the blade staring between his eyes, Riku grinned shakily and remarked, "A-Aren't you getting a little too into this, brother?"

"Are you whining?" Mew pushed the blade further down and twisted his grip around the handle, "I'm treating this like a real brawl! You don't need me to put training wheels on you, right?!"

"Heh...Fine," Riku calmly closed his eyes and whispered, "You're asking for it."

Suddenly he diverted Mew's blade into the ground and then dispelled his own sword. He glided upright and hardened the floor around Mew's sword to keep him from pulling it out right away.

Riku then extended his hands towards the ground and a gentle, rainbow colored wave spread out from the bottom of his legs across the floor.

He then smiled, a gentle warmth and cold caressing his body as light and darkness flourished across his body, enveloping him like a wrap of mummy bandages.

Mew got goosebumps on his skin and a rise in motivation gave him the strength to wrench his katana the rest of the way out and turn it upon Riku. He dove right in to the flash of black and white and swung his blade.

A clang of metal rang throughout the room as the light passed, and Mew found his katana clamped between the tips of angelic and demonic wings.

Riku was now in Chaos Form and radiating confidence in his tranquil expression.

Mew smirked, a cold sweat forming on his face as he pulled away and slid on the floor, putting some distance between them.

The wings parted to their backs, with their weapons drawn at each other. Neither moving, neither giving an inch.

"Chaos Form..." Mew grew steadily uneasy, "Guess this'll show who's better at controlling Light AND Darkness, eh?"

"Heh." An aura of both elements surrounded Riku.

Meanwhile, however, most of the audience was baffled by this new form.

"What on Earth is that?" Remarked Gabriel, first of all.

"Oh! That form again!" Saturn commented, "I saw him briefly bust that out in a sparring match against Macros."

She nudged her glasses up and explained, "It looks like some combination of Light and Darkness...I think?"

"That's an acute assessment, Catherine," Remarked Auris, "Riku dubs that...Chaos Form. And it is as you say. He is utilizing both elements together in perfect balance."

Maria looked over her shoulder and asked, "How can he do that though, Granny Auris?"

"Well dear, Light Form requires a great calm of the mind to draw out its full power, while Dark Form thrives under heightened emotions. Thus, Chaos Form requires an in-between state of mind. Giving in to neither the calm nor anger, Riku is able to keep both powers stabilizing within him."

"Ooof! That's a rough go for Mew then!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Told ya," Solaris added, "This is the wall Mew's gotta climb."

"It should be easy for him," Joe Dark remarked, "He'll just use this 'Chaos Form' himself."

"I...I don't think he CAN." Kairi commented, looking to her mom for answers.

"It certainly requires a lot of training to learn, let alone master, as I remember seeing it..." Auris opened her eyes and gazed curiously towards Mew.

"So? Mew does nothing BUT train, right?" Joe Dark's inquiry brought everyone to curious silence, and he gaze at them more sternly to say, "He...has been training lately, yeah?"

Everyone suddenly forced their inquisitive eyes onto the one person who'd know best: Maria.

She innocently lapped up her ice cream, taking a moment to realize they were looking at HER. She sheepishly pressed her little legs together and stared down muttering, "U-Ummm...I...don't know?"

Riku twirled his blade around and brandished it down to his side asking, "So, what's your next move?"

"What's with the cocky attitude?" Mew replied with a chuckle, "You think I'm done yet?"

He twisted his grip around the katana and pointed it at Riku, hiding the shaky gritting of his teeth, _"Light and Darkness combined. I'm going to have to take my time if I want to get any hits in. Fortunately..."_

He raised a smirk and snickered, _"I've come up with a fun new strategy recently...!"_

He dashed over to Riku and swung his blade. Riku riposted it and hop away, slicing at the ground to keep Mew in place.

Mew twisted his blade in front of his chest and stabbed ahead, clashing along the length of Riku's blade before getting behind him. He then turned and slashed a wave of light at Riku's side.

Riku danced around the light and then charged Mew, a dazzling flurry of slashes coming from both their katanas. A second passed, then a cut appeared across Mew's right cheek.

He glanced at it, distracting him from Riku's follow through, a graceful crescent sweep of his legs. Mew hopped over the blade and then thrust forward, ramming his feet into Riku's chest.

Riku cobbled over slightly and locked his blade by his hip, gripping his dagger in the other hand tightly. When Mew got in close he pulled the dagger out from cover and attempted to cut Mew across the chest.

Mew reeled back and Riku hit his true target, slashing his sword out in one decisive stroke across Mew's legs.

Mew's eyes widened and his landing proved rough. He clicked his tongue as he smirked and withdrew his katana into the sheath.

He zipped around from place-to-place so fast that there were multiple images of him in Riku's field of vision. Riku steadily drew his blade forward, then swung it to the right, forcing the real Mew to duck under it.

Mew then lashed his katana at Riku's legs and continued to zip around, getting in another strike when the moment presented itself.

"_Tsk...! Not good enough!" _Was his assessment of things so far.

He froze directly in front of Riku and attempted to uppercut him in the jaw. Riku bobbed out of the way and Mew continued on with a flurry of light empowered blows, each merely grazing his brother's skin.

Riku locked his blades together behind his back and then whipped them out. When Mew felt them bearing down on his hips he suddenly bent under them like he was playing limbo.

Wings of radiant black and white emerged from Riku's blades and sliced off part of the pillars on the edges of the room.

Mew continued moving forward at high speed and slid in-between Riku, grabbing hold of his legs with his wings to drag him down.

Riku seemed to have anticipated this and used the dagger to open a dark rift, where he popped out **above** Mew looking like a shadow fiend and drove his knee into his gut.

Mew spat heavily but held himself together long enough to grab Riku's leg and slam him down behind him.

He then took this opportunity to stand and catch his breath, while Riku floated upright. Mew gripped his sword in one hand but snuck his thumb on top of the triggers.

He then turned sideways and stared Riku down, making certain that he was up to no tricks.

"_Better now than never!" _He focused light into his hilt and then pulled his sword out. Riku's immediate answer was to raise his weapon in defense but his eyes were swiftly assaulted by a blinding flash that cast a grim shadow behind Riku.

The moment Riku decided to move his body stiffened upright, as a series of dark tendrils impaled him in the back and weaved around his vital organs to extend out his front.

The flash subsided and Mew was now in Dark Form with his claw held out, grinning from cheek-to-cheek.

"YEAH!" Shouted Kairi, standing up suddenly among her peers, only to immediately sit down flushed with embarrassment when everyone started looking her way.

Mew pulled his hand back and the shadows retreated before Riku could take them into himself. Mew then rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles, advancing two cautionary steps forward while spreading his ebony wings all the way out.

"Maybe I can't use that form, but as long as I can keep alternating between Light and Dark..." Mew suddenly appeared before a frightened Riku with his fist pulled all the way back, "ITS BASICALLY THE SAME THING!"

He smashed him across the cheek to turn him around and then when he himself turned, he uppercut Riku into the air with the back of his right hand.

Mew then thrust his hand up and squeezed it tight. Dozens of dark rifts opened up around Riku, drawing out the scraping claws of demon-kind to slash away at Riku's body for a bit.

Riku folded his angelic wings to envelop himself in a barrier while the demon claws snared his demonic wings and he began absorbing the darkness through them.

Mew bent down and concentrated on himself, shifting back to Light Form and, in an instant, sped up and tackled Riku through his defenses.

He then shifted back to Dark Form and entangled his malleable dark arms around Riku's body, then turned them both upside-down.

They both went spiraling towards the ground, Riku's head hitting first while Mew tumbled away to safety.

Mew rebounded on his feet with a series of hops and then volleyed dark blasts his way. Riku rose and started absorbing the darkness into his body, drawing his katana back and igniting it with light.

He zipped across the distance between them without losing focus and swung his blade up at Mew. Mew instantly shifted back to Light and locked katanas, using the force to shove back and then shift back to Darkness.

He then clawed his hand upward and a much larger claw emerged from the ground and dragged Riku off his feet. A second, larger downward claw then knocked him down.

Riku stamped down and the ground cracked in a crater. He barely had time to draw his weapons when Mew was already bearing down on his face.

Whipping his katana around as Mew started slashing feverishly with his claws, Riku was managing to shave the darkness off his brother's skin little-by-little.

But Mew's heightened emotions made that darkness strong. He could suffer a few losses as long as he kept striking Riku with the full force of his fists.

Yet...

"Heh." Riku smiled. He was happy, but this a calm happiness.

He dispelled his weapons and then grabbed both of Mew's fists, squeezing down and locking them into place. Mew shoved forth, but found that his body was starting to feel a little drained...Literally!

Riku was pulling the darkness right out of him a bit at a time.

"Well shit...!" Mew cracked an uneasy frown but that quickly became a smirk, "If that's how you want to play!"

He pulled away and left a solid shadow effigy in his place that stuck to Riku's hands like glue. Riku continued to absorb the darkness as Mew returned to Light Form, quickly funneling energy into his katana.

Riku's eyes slowly began to widen as Mew smiled, "You can't absorb two elements at the same time, can you?!"

"Shit...!" Riku scowled way too late. Mew ripped the katana from the hilt and after two wind-up spins, slamming the blade atop Riku's head like a hammer and, upon impact with the ground, erupting into a dazzling pillar of light.

Mew waved his sword at the ground and then sheathed it, backing away slowly as Riku rose to his feet beyond the fading light. His armor was cracking, and he flinched momentarily.

"Tsk...!" But Mew seemed dissatisfied with the results.

"Hmmm..." Auris bridged her hands over her mouth and remarked, "I suspected as much...Mew's barely keeping up with Riku."

"Huh?" Shina murmured, "But it looks like Mew's winning!"

"Appearances can be deceiving," Gabriel commented, "Mew's getting some solid hits in, but Chaos Form boasts an incredible offense AND defense. The main advantage Mew has over it is his speed...and his reflexes."

Lunis stood tall and waved her fist in the air, "Keep it up Riku! You can do it!"

Riku winced and looked to the right, with Mew following his gaze towards the crowd. Looking at Lunis cheering seemed to be bringing a smile to Riku's face.

And Mew, ever the mischievous imp, smirked over it and used this information against his brother, "Looks like your **girlfriend** is showing her support!"

Riku grimaced and shook his head at Mew, clearly pink in the cheeks, "S-She's not that...!"

"What?!" Mew roughly gestured his hand out and exclaimed, "What's taking you so long?! She's clearly into you!"

Riku arched his brows and declared, "Am I really getting this talk from you? What about Kairi?"

"...What about her?" Mew said, turning his gaze away from him and flashing a smirk. He then tapped his toes and smiled, "Your sense of humor's improved, I'll give you that!"

Riku eased into a smile and then lashed his blades together, pointing them at the ground. Mew slowly reached for his katana and dashed forward, unlocking it from the sheath and taking a swing at Riku's chest.

Riku held his blade vertically to deflect it. Mew swapped to Dark Form and reached beyond the blade to grab Riku's chest and shove him towards the ground.

Riku opened a dark rift and vanished from sight, trapping Mew's hand in the sealed rift. Mew shifted into Light Form and fired a massive light explosion after Riku.

However, Riku dove out of a rift behind him attempting another attack on his back. Mew slammed his free hand against his brother's heel then grabbed and threw him at the ground.

Again Riku went into a rift and dove out above Mew, spinning faster and faster to wind up momentum for a powerful kick.

The ground erupted around the impact zone and Mew seemed to have gotten buried under the rubble. Riku bounced off and levitated off the ground a few feet away.

Mew suddenly sprung through a dark rift in front of him gritting his teeth and tightly throwing his fists down by his hips.

He shed darkness off his wings in the form of orbs and then shifted to Light Form to make more orbs. Then he kept shifting between forms to add more orbs until there were hundreds behind in seconds.

He then thrust his fists out and the orbs fell upon Riku all at once before his muscles twitched. Mew then lunged back and cupped his palms together. Gathering darkness into a massive orb, he suspended it in place and went back to Light Form to amplify the darkness with a massive flash.

This came with the added bonus of blinding Riku momentarily.

He then went back to Dark Form and blasted the dark energy at Riku. Riku's senses allowed him to catch the darkness in his dagger and then twirl back, redirecting the energy to its owner.

Mew slashed opened a dark rift that caught the energy on one side while he dove through the other.

Riku spun his head around and ignited both blades as Mew and the energy came barreling down on him from both sides. He used the light to shave away the dark beam and clash with Mew's claws.

Both forces kept rebounding through the rifts as he hopped around trying to fend them off. Mew eventually broke through the slight gap in his defenses and slashed him down the chest. He then landed on all fours, turned, and lunged at Riku to clobber him across the face.

Riku went falling on his back, flesh and feather being shed massively from his wings.

Mew lurched upright and hung his fists just above the ground. He then laughed and remarked, "I can keep this up all day, can you?"

Riku rose to his feet grinning from ear-to-ear. He held his hand out and said, "Sorry, brother...I'm ending this now."

Riku closed his hand and immediately shifted to Genesis Form.

Mew stood frozen in place as the ground began to glow beneath him. All that energy Riku dispersed earlier formed a massive field with rainbow flames flourishing among it.

Mew was assaulted by a powerful pillar of seven severely amplified elements, drowning out every sound and sight around him for a solid ten seconds.

Riku drew his hand aside and shifted back to Chaos Form, taking a deep breath as the energy subsided. He had taken careful care not to damage the palace...

Meanwhile Solaris was crossing his arms and shouting furiously, "What the HELL is this one?! I friggin' swear, you guys are a transformation emporium."

"Genesis Form," Auris remarked, "Wielding the combined strength of all nine elements, its power is unsurpassed...But extremely volatile."

"But it seems Riku gets that," Saturn remarked, "He's only using it in short bursts at decisive moments. Yep! I think that's the end of Mew..."

"No its not..." Kairi muttered under her breath, then stood up and shouted, "You can win Mew! Don't give up!"

As the energy fell from the sky as pitiful embers, Mew stood in the center of them with his head held back and a weak smile on his face. His body was burnt and his clothes looking like ash, but as he toppled over he smashed his fist against the ground with all his might.

He then grunted loud and threw his body upright, his eyes widening fiercely as he grit his teeth in agony, "WHEW! That was spicy one!"

Riku slowly lowered his hand, a few beads of sweat on his face. He shook his head and chuckled in an unsurprised tone, "You're still standing..."

Mew hunched over and spread his wings, gesturing his right hand towards himself while huffing a defiant breath, "Ever and always...I can't hope to protect the world if I go down that easily, yeah?"

Riku spread his wings and smiled back, "To be honest, I was hoping you'd make an exception this time. I'm starting to run out of steam myself..."

"Heh, then this is going to be the final exchange, eh?" Mew held his fists tight by his hips.

"Yeah..." Riku softly nodded, "Looks to be that way."

The two brothers stared each other down, wearing their brightest smiles, sweating glistening off their dirtied brows.

"_There's a lot of things I wish I could do over, Riku...But creating you ain't one of them. You've been a great brother, and a great friend. And you've really improved yourself in ways I could've never imagined...Kinda makes me jealous."_

"_Brother, no, Mew...I know I've done a lot wrong in my life. And maybe a lot of that self-hate was undeserved...But you never stopped believing in me, did you? This battle was supposed to decide one thing for me: If I could surpass your expectations. But I can tell by the way you smile that you're more than happy with my training. Now...this is no longer a battle for the truth, is it? We're just two brothers, enjoying a good fight. I don't know what the future holds..." _

Riku glanced at Lunis in the audience, _"Or who I'll share it with..." _

He looked back at Mew and the two began to arch their brows.

"_But right now none of that matters." _The two's thoughts and heartbeats raced together as one.

"_This could be real. This could all be a dream."_

"_I just know that, here and now..."_

The two held their heads up high and ignited their fists with black and white flames respectively.

"_I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE FIGHTING YOU, BROTHER!"_

The two vanished and reappeared in the center between where they started, smashing their fists together so loudly that it the air shattered around them like glass.

A torrential wave of energy lashed against the barrier protecting the audience. Auris stood and mended the growing cracks while the weaker members of the audience were tossed around like being swept up in a hurricane.

The brothers grit their teeth and Mew widened his eyes stiffly at Riku to shout, "Lets finish this, Riku!"

"You're going down, Mew!"

The two ground their knuckles together until blood was spewing from their skin and pulled away, bashing their other fists together. The clapping of thunder erupted from them and threw their hands into the air.

Mew reacted faster and slashed his claw down, but Riku's slower response allowed him to tackled Mew in the shoulder and grapple him to the ground, where he began to wail on his face.

Mew weathered a few blows until he could grab Riku's fist and give it a hard twist. The strain on his bones forced him up, while Mew shifted to Light Form to speed behind him and grapple his hands underneath his arms.

Jupiter and Samantha rose to their feet and cheered Mew on as he suplexed Riku behind him.

"_Can't let him use Genesis Form again...!" _Was the one thought racing through Mew's mind as he refused to relent and spun around, caring little for the crack of his spine and he pummeled Riku's body with a volley of ghastly fists.

Riku slammed his hands against the ground and felt his Chaos Form breaking. He took a deep breath to counteract his racing heartbeat, and summoned a multitude of dark spikes to stab through the fists and Mew's limbs.

Mew's gaze was feral as he pushed through the spikes and dove to smash his fist down upon Riku's face.

Riku trembled, gritting his teeth as he channeled light and darkness together into a massive burst to throw Mew away.

Mew landed in Light Form and nearly diverted the swing of Riku's sword with the back of his gauntlet.

Riku charged in and aimed his dagger straight at Mew's chest. Mew grabbed it out of his hand and tossed it into the ground.

The sound of cracking knuckles shocked Mew, as did the bone breaking blow Riku delivered upon his face, knocking him off his feet.

Mew flipped and landed on his hands, then dropped his feet and lunged ahead like a beast, lashing his claws across Riku's body.

Riku shielded himself with light, but Mew wasn't fully intending to cut his skin. He breached the armor around his chest and raised a mischievous smirk.

This close to the end the gloves were off and he'd use every move in the book to secure a win, _"Just have to break his concentration so he drops out of Chaos For and I win!"_

He turned on a dime, stumbling forward with his arms being extended under Riku's arms. Riku clamped his arms down to hold Mew in place and when he pulled himself in, the two headbutted each other hard enough to draw blood.

Their visions blurred, but not their drive.

Mew tried going to Light Form, but his body's image started fizzling. He grit his teeth and cut his losses by simply charging Riku head on and, at the last second, feinting his punch to get behind him.

He then took his hands and shoved them right up Riku's armpits to begin...tickling?

Riku lurched upright and forced his mouth shut to stifle a growing fit of laughter.

Gabriel and Auris raised their brows, him specifically remarking, "That's a...very interesting tactic."

"No it makes sense!" Lunis proclaimed, "Riku's **very** ticklish!"

Everyone, especially Solaris, suddenly turned at her with a look that screamed "How do YOU know that?" all while she blinked blankly at them all.

The heightened sense of bliss inflicted on his mind caused Riku's form to start fizzling too. He delivered a swift elbow to Mew's nose and drew a stream of blood, then turned around and hunched over, panting slowly.

"W-What the hell...?!" He uttered.

Mew staggered, struggling to stay upright, though his smile remained as big as ever.

He threw his right hand down and curled it into a fist, pouring what little darkness he had left into a big, burning flame.

Riku widened his eyes and channeled light and darkness into his own fist. The two exchanged a brief nod, then charged each other head-on.

Propelling past the images of their friends and family, the two were but face-to-face with one another, where an image of their first "meeting" flashed in their heads fondly.

Intense silence soon followed, a calm after a long winded storm. The two were ignorant to the last few passing seconds. All they had to go on was the imprint of their fists in each others' faces, and the half a mile-wide crater in the floor.

Mew stood and smirked, sliding off Riku's fist, his vision blurring as he finally fell flat on the ground.

Riku remained erect like a statue, breathing heavily with a mix of tiredness and happiness.

Mew raised a sole finger up and muttered, "W-Want to...call this a draw?"

Riku mustered up the energy to laugh and then with one final breath, he collapsed on top of Mew's back like a sack of concrete and remarked, "Yeah...this is a draw..."

The two expended the last of their strength to roll onto their backs away from each other and, now returned to their base forms, laid a hand over their chests and took in deep breaths.

"Heh...!" Mew grunted in frustration, "Shit...! I've really been slacking on my training lately..."

"You're raising Maria, that's understandable..." Riku's pity missed Mew completely.

"Ah that's exactly why I SHOULDN'T be stopping...I-I gotta protect her and...everyone else too..." Mew laughed weakly.

"...Y-You're welcome to train with me and Solaris, brother..."

"Ah its fine. You guys have your own pace and I'd...I'd just get in the way..." Mew plopped his hand flat on the floor, "Ah shit, everything hurts. I'm going to be laying on an ice bag for a week. What a way to start the new year..."

"Ugh, I know what you mean..." Riku groaned, "But...at least Lunis can give me a massage."

Mew was trying very hard not to roll over and punch Riku in the gut, "Oh. Sure. Just brag about your cute girlfriend giving you a massage...You son of a bitch!"

The two laid out and closed their eyes, their hearts and lungs feeling like lead.

"...Hey, brother?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to get a burger later?"

"...Yeah, that sounds nice." Mew softly smiled and closed his eyes, dozing off to sleep feeling satisfied...

_Next Time: Journals of Extinction  
_


	64. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63: Unknown Cause**

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_Enter Password._

"_**66322"**_

"_Welcome back, Master Macros."_

"_Clckclckclckclcklcklclck"_

_*Main Menu_

_**Species Review_

_***Extinct Races_

_****Saiyans_

_*****Data Log: The 12 Universes Erasure Incident_

_******Subsection: Prologus_

_(Celestial Hierarchy: A Corporate Ladder of Destruction)_

"_This universal biome is occupied by a variety of interesting races: The Saiyans, the Namekians, the Yardrats, etc. I have born witness to a lot of their activities and their impact on history. Most importantly being the creation of the Dragon Balls, seven magical objects said to gather any wish when gathered together._

_Curiously, compared to most other universal biomes, this one contains its one miniature universal biomes, once eighteen, now exists only twelve._

_And the culprit responsible for that is the patron deity of this biome...An impish, petulant child that calls himself...Zeno. With just a whim of his untamed entitled mind, an entire universe and all its species can be wiped out in the blink of an eye. Nay, he could wipe out ALL universes in his biome. _

_Pathetic, that such an important role of 'God' would be granted to one of such thoughtless upbringing. His motives run counterintuitive to my own. I can't save any species if they are wiped out entirely._

_All power should have checks and balances. Some worlds employ these measures, allowing even mere mortals to attack and dethrone 'God'. But this world is not such one._

_There are tiers to this madness. First one would have to overcome the Gods of Destruction, deities deigned to oversee each of the twelve smaller biomes, yet reckless are many of them, who would abuse their power to cull favors from the weak...And annihilate their worlds should they prove uncompliant._

_Above them are supposed to be the Angels, overseers with even more immense power. But they cling to their roles a little TOO well, choosing to idly stand by as entire populations vanish in the blink of an eye._

_And above even them is the Grand Priest. His power has scarce been on display but its painfully obvious that he is nigh-untouchable, even compared to the Angels when compared to the GoDs. He is Zeno's babysitter, an apt comparison, as only an inexperienced one would allow such tantrums to go on as a means of appeasing their underdeveloped gray matter..._

_In terms of raw energy production capabilities this universe biome hosts one of the highest statistics overall. Not even the likes of Spiral Energy or the Infinity Gauntlet can compare, even at their peaks. _

_And all that raw power...Contained within the bodies of the cruel, the enabling, and the childish..."_

_(The Warrior Race: Pride Eternal)_

"_I've observed the race known as Saiyans for quite a long time now, from vicious birth to a cruel, calculated near extinction. _

_Beyond all other races, I have never seen such an upward potential for strength growth. Just when these warriors seem to have reached a limit, they continue to break through and unlock newer, greater power. _

_It is entirely possible that there IS no limit...A frightening thought that brings even my skin to tingle. If any race could rise to challenge their vile heirarchy, its them...(clckclckclckclckclck) A pity, as such, that someone else would beat them to the punch."_

_*Save_

_Back*_

_*****Data Log: The 12 Universes Erasure Incident_

_******Main Section: Recap_

_(Universal Biome #9001 Calender Date: ?/?/Age 780._

_Concurrent Interwoven Time Flow: 2025 AD, 14:58 PM.)_

"_There had been an event recently known as the 'Tournament of Power', which saw eight of the twelve universes gathered in a battle to the death for the Zenos amusement. Yes, I mean plural. Some freak accident involving another timeline, it seems, brought a second Zeno to this timeline. I'm sure my self in that timeline could explain, but he's probably just as busy as me..._

_Its curious though, isn't it? That 'God' can be copied. At that point, wouldn't that make their claims to power fake? Yet, unopposed, they continue to be...And their power, their frightening, cruel, and callous use of power, continues to be the nightmare lingering over everyone's head._

_I should be writing this in a more neutral voice, but I can't help it. Those destructive children are my enemy. I'd dare say I would've killed them myself...Had another party not seen fit to do the job for me._

_I'm getting off-track here. The Tournament of Power, yes? Any universe whose participants lost would see their biome erased by the Zenos. Only one would survive. An attempt to cull the weak and wane the tides of rebellion? No. These children didn't think like that. This was another playtime for them._

_And ultimately, using the strongest Dragon Balls of all, the winner of this tournament brought back the universes with no question from the Zenos. It was claimed this was the intent all along, a __**test**__ to prove the morality of the victors. _

_Bullshit._

_Propaganda to instill a sense of ease in the winners, and lull them into believing their destructive deities had a soul in their robotic shells. _

_The Zenos had merely had their toys fixed. Nothing more, nothing less._

_I admit. I was angry. A rage boiled inside of me that I hadn't felt since my earliest days. I was going to break my neutrality and wage a war on these children._

_But then...The __**true**__ enemy arrived._

_See, karma is a fickle mistress. Some earn death. Others live forever with the blood of billions cascading off their hands. _

_If any were to find my words and read them aloud, they can judge for themselves if what's to come is karma or not..."_

_(15:01 PM)_

"_The Zenos, the Grand Priest, the Angels and the GoDs...All of them gathered in the throne of lies following the Tournament of Power's conclusion. Suddenly, two beings from 'higher-up' descended upon their meeting..._

_One was The Grand Sorcerer of Light: __**Yen Sid**__."_

_(File: The Grand Sorcerer of Light, Yen Sid)_

"_A powerful Keyblade Master from Universal Biome #3, birthplace of the Realm of Darkness Encroachment. He is the sole survivor of that universe, having been saved by the __**enemy**__ and ascended to take place in __**his**__ council. He now wields incredible dominion over light, and wisdom. He represents the good nature of man, including its well-meaning follies, and sometimes misguided wisdom..."_

_Back*_

"_The other was The Devil Witch of Lust: __**Homura Akemi**__."_

_(File: The Devil Witch of Lust: Homura Akemi)_

"_Formerly a magical girl from Universal Biome #784 I...I have met plenty of humans with sin in their hearts, but never has that sin become so overpowering that it could completely consume and overwrite ones nature. Homura Akemi was once a magical girl, having made a wish on a deceitful Incubator to repeat time over and over and over and over again, just to save the life of the one girl who wanted to be her friend. Sealing her emotions behind a cold demeanor only served to increase the fever of her sins._

_Desperately, she tried to fight fate, only for the friend to become the one to do so. The friend sacrificed their existence to end a terrible threat, ascending to the rank of 'Goddess' in their world._

_But this girl, Homura Akemi, was now so consumed by her sins that she couldn't see this as a happy ending. No. She longed to reverse this 'tragedy', by __**any**__ means necessary. She became a devil, usurping her friend's power to gain full control over their universe, and confining her friend to their world to live out a false paradise._

_The 'devil' could have been opposed...But opposition never came, and her sin only continued to fester and consume her. And soon, her power continued to grow, stronger and stronger until she had performed the impossible, and overrode a Seven Deadly Sin themselves, replacing them in the very hierarchy of the universe. And with this power, she performed one final act of 'protection', locking her friend's world away in a locket around her neck, never to be released. And that world would continue to repeat, over and over, the friend's false paradise..._

_The __**enemy**__ had to intervene and chose to make her a part of their council, lest their sin continue to swelter and spread throughout the known universe. Homura Akemi, or rather as she calls herself, Akuma Homura, now represents the dark nature of man, its depravity, ill-choices, and consumption of sin...Though in her mind, she still retains her good heart. She is a dangerous one, perhaps the most dangerous 'human' of all."_

_Back*_

"_These two members of the __**enemy's**__ council approached the Zenos with a meager request. The Zenos reckless destruction of their universes was beginning to wear down the walls surrounding the entire biome, and would have an adverse effect if left unchecked._

_Of course naturally, the Zenos took this about as seriously as a child would a circus. They called Yen Sid a funny looking magician and wanted him to perform tricks. _

_Admittedly the man does look like a third-rate magician these days..._

_But that's exactly the point. He is masterfully hiding his true power behind the guise of an amateur._

_The two emissaries had only come to approach the Zenos with a warning. They had no intention of escalating this matter further..._

_The GoDs, in their blind obedience, disagreed with this notion._

_It was said that Yen Sid had no right to approach the Zenos as equals. And they were right! ...Yen Sid was not a genocidal manchild._

_It was rather unnecessary for Homura to call the GoDs pets on leashes, given that the twelve loyal lapdogs were already prepared to attack, but said insult incited one particular GoD to strike first..._

_Beerus, the cat-like GoD of Universe 7, approached Yen Sid and mocked him for his attitude, stating that he had picked a fight with them the moment they had waltzed into this palace."_

_(15:32 PM)_

"_Beerus had been granted permission by the Zenos to 'test what the magician can do' for their entertainment. Yen Sid offers Beerus a chance to think his actions through. The GoD chooses to attack, and Homura floats aside, becoming an observer in this amusing scuffle._

_The GoDs can destroy a planet with a mere finger, yet even against such cataclysmic might the mighty wizard was unperturbed. He hadn't drawn a weapon, mystifying the mighty Beerus with the lost magics of his world. The depths of the cosmos were split asunder with light, and Beerus' blows cracked the fabric of the realm around them._

_Detailing each and every blow was an impossibility even for me. My drones were faced with a herculean task of keeping up with them."_

_(15:33 PM)_

"_First blood is drawn. Beerus bleeds. And it angers him. Enveloped in the power of the destroyer, Beerus aimed his hand upon Yen Sid and invoked his greatest technique: Hakai._

_Pure. Untamed. Destruction...Condensed into an unseeable blast. Nothing, save the truest immortals, could survive this._

_Yen Sid faced this destruction, closed his eyes, and in the next instance he had appeared behind Beerus with a blade drawn...The mightiest of all Keyblades, the __**X-Blade**__."_

_(The Key of All Worlds: The X-Blade)_

"_Supposedly this is one of the mightiest weapons in the known universe, capable of unlocking Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. Many ambitious men tried to seize its power for their means, including the Master of Masters and Xehanort. In the wake of the Realm of Darkness Incursion this blade should've been lost forever. So how, pray tell, did it wind up in Yen Sid's hands?_

_...Like I'd dare to interview him on the matter, as I doubt he'd be willing even if I wasn't who I was."_

_Back*_

_(15:34 PM)_

"_A single stroke was all it took to carve out Beerus' right eye and disable his right arm. Even having thoroughly dominated his opponent, Yen Sid reached out to him with kindness, offering to mend his wounds and let him leave in peace._

_Beerus...did not respond kindly to be looked down upon. Fitting for a cat, he threw a tantrum and started wildly throwing orbs of Hakai energy around him. The orbs were dispatched by the X-Blade without Yen Sid raising a hand to wield it."_

_(15:35 PM)_

"_Yet it seemed the wizard had let his guard down, as he now found himself surrounded by the other eleven GoDs, who had raised their hands to perform a Hakai singularity, a forbidden technique that is said to hold the same power as Zeno's erasures._

_Yen Sid closed his eyes, and raised the X-Blade into the air to herald the coming massacre._

_Not his. __**Theirs**__._

_'Reflecagun' Was the sole word he uttered. In the blink of an eye the Hakai energy turned on their masters and erased them all out of existence. They couldn't scream, nor panic. They died feel arrogant, just as they always had been."_

_(15:36 PM)_

"_Beerus was the sole survivor of the GoDs. The X-Blade, pointed at his face. Still, Yen Sid refused to take his life. He saw fear, palatable fear, in the cat's eyes, but refused to kill him. He did not kill without reason. Though he is with the __**enemy**__, I hold some degree of respect for this one."_

_(15:37 PM)_

"_Beerus' Angel, Whis, intervened next, tapping his staff against the X-Blade and being his unusually calm self. He warned Yen Sid about playing with dangerous toys, as the wizard soon found himself surrounded by the twelve Angels."_

_(15:49 PM)_

"_It is impossible to keep track of what's happening in the fight, only who is winning, and losing. I catch brief glimpses of scars on the Angels, and scuffs on Yen Sid's body. But the Angels ability to utilize compartmentalized time reversals on each other to undo the damage seemed to keep this at an eternal standstill."_

_(15:51 PM)_

"_Time and space was distorted beyond recognition, including the Zenos' palace. The two children clapped their hands and laughed with glee. _

_After Yen Sid felt the first scar form on his body, Homura finally decided to intervene, prompting to Yen Sid that they should 'use more of their power'._

_The Angels attacked, earning the witch's ire by fiddling with her precious locket."_

_(15:51? PM)_

"_I can only attempt to explain what happened next. Once, there floated the angelic bodies of twelve calm warriors. _

_Now, there are eleven corpses, cut in twine down the middle. No blood. No emotion. Just the fatality of mortal life, and the stench of death..._

_Homura Akemi had the power to stop time. A power greater than the ability to reverse it. The Angels were unable to move, allowing Yen Sid to kill them all in a single stroke of Zantetsuken. All, it seemed, except Whis. I don't know whether fortune favored him, but he managed to be outside the range of the technique. His survival was but a curse, not a blessing."_

_(15:52 PM)_

"_The Grand Priest had to be step in. The realm of the heavens, nay, the fabric of all twelve universes, began to tremble as the divine creature drew a seraphim's halo behind his back. _

_His children had been lost. His idle way of life was being threatened._

_He was PISSED."_

_(16:02 PM)_

"_Its taking every bit of power I have to keep my drone from breaking under pressure. The realms of the heavens now laid unrecognizable to the naked eye. Holes were being torn through time and space by Homura's guns, while the Grand Priest overpowered Yen Sid's light magic with his holy wrath._

_Whis did his best to shield the coming storm but was but an ant in a hurricane. Beerus, in a panic, suggested they had to flee while they still could._

_Defying his nature, for once, Whis agreed to this desperate request. They had but one option for survival, and in order to do so, they needed the help of one person Beerus dared to call a friend..._

_They teleported out of this terrifying battleground, and I too, had to shift focus towards them. For now, it proved fruitless to remain focused here..."_

_(16:03 PM. Universe 7's Earth)_

"_The effects of the heavenly battle could even be felt this far out. Storms of thunder and fire brewed in the sky, as the waters gravitated off the planet, and forests burned to cinder._

_Beerus and Whis' arrival before the Saiyan warrior Goku should've been construed as an omen. But he was not that type. Though worried for the state of his world, he knew that so long as the Dragon Balls existed, they could fix this._

_But Beerus shot a hole straight through his naive optimism, screaming at the Saiyan warrior to hurry and find his friend Bulma and her Dragon Radar. _

_This was not the GoDs usual rage. He was scared. And it made Goku excited. _

_Whis explained the situation to him and expressed the urgency of their next mission but Goku assumed he had to prepare to fight the 'higher-ups._

_Beerus yelled at him some more, stating that they had to gather the Super Dragon Balls...So they could flee."_

_(17:24 PM. Universe 7's Earth)_

"_Goku and his friends quickly gathered the Super Dragon Balls throughout the turmoil shaking the universe and Whis invoked its enchantment. They were running out of time. The universe was on the brink of collapse..."_

_(17:24 PM. The Heavens)_

"_The Grand Priest could stand against Yen Sid and Homura's combined might, but not overpower it. It was a battle of equals that seemed like it would last forever."_

_(17:25 PM. __**He**__ appears)_

"_The heavens quaked, then fell into a calm. The __**enemy**__ made their presence known..._

_**Futanji Shinryu**__."_

_(__**Enemy**__. Futanji Shinryu)_

"_I've always called him by that title for I've not known him any other way. He is the mightiest being that won the right to govern the creation and guidance of all universal biomes in existence. If he has flaw, then I do not know of any. Nor do I care to try and figure it out again..."_

_...Back*_

_(17:26 PM. Universe 7's Earth)_

"_At that exact moment, Goku and his friends were prepared to make a wish to carry the endangered twelve universes to somewhere safer. But then..._

_A child appeared. One that I could not identify, despite him sharing many of the 'structural similarities' to the inhabitants of this biome. _

_Somehow he managed to intercept the wish, asking Super Shenron to send Goku and his friends to a 'specific world'."_

_(17:26 PM. The Heavens)_

"_At the same time, the __**enemy**__ gazed upon the Zenos from high above, manifesting himself the only way he was capable of...As a ball of light._

_Yen Sid and Homura were forced to retreat as Futanji confronted the reckless, childish beings and ushered one final warning...To cease their destruction, or suffer a fate worse than all the deaths they inflicted upon their universes._

_The Zenos were bored of this dragon's edict and rose to 'punish' him with their power."_

_(17:27 PM. Universe 7's Earth.)_

"_By the time I looked back Goku and his friends, save Beerus and Whis, were gone, and that strange child as well..."_

_(17:27 PM. The Heavens)_

"_The Zenos raised their hands ready to wipe out all of their universal biome just to kill Futanji...If only it were so easy._

_I never truly knew how powerful our __**enemy**__ was until this moment._

_The Zenos wiped out everything in an instant. A white light devoured all worlds, every person who lived on them, and the stars in the sky..._

_But Futanji, wasn't even scratched."_

_(17:28 PM. Oblivion)_

"_Twelve universes once existed here, all full life. Their stories, their histories, gone...Never to be told again. _

_This was not the first time a universe fell, trying to prove a point against this dragon of immeasurable size and power...But I dare say this is the saddest. _

_What did the Saiyans do to deserve this? What did the Namekians do? Honestly...what did the GoDs do? They were all victims of inevitable circumstances. _

_If there is such a thing as karma, then surely the Zenos would have had to pay for it eventually. I suppose the only folly of this was expecting those children to not drag the rest of their universe down with them. _

_And it was all for naught. Their bodies, lying motionless in their self-made oblivion, were devoured by Futanji, who I swore let out a melancholic sigh..."_

_(END OF ENTRY)_

…

…

"_clkclckclckclckclckclclck"_

_-Update: The Case of the Missing Saiyans._

_(Entry Point: Concurrent Interwoven Time Flow 01/05/2042., 20:20 PM)_

"_There were many mysteries left over from that day that I thought would go unsolved until recently."_

_1] What happened to Goku and his friends?_

"_The answer came to me a few months ago, when a friend of mine, Catherine, approached me with an accusation regarding one of my glitched capsules. Having heard of its entanglement with a being that was calling himself 'Prometheus' I decided to peruse the data left behind. Even such lost data could be restored with my technology, though I doubt Catherine would be happy to hear that._

_It seemed as though in the aftermath of the wish on the Super Dragon Balls, Goku and his friends were teleported to the Earth in Universal Biome #6435. There, Prometheus' men were standing by and waiting in ambush._

_Using technology given to them by Gravitus, they were able to easily put down the mighty Saiyan and his friends before they could get a full grasp of where they were._

_Then, Prometheus took their bodies and their DNA, and used them for his vile experiments."_

"_...But this just raises further questions. How could Prometheus have known ahead of time about this? I suspect, and this is but mere speculation, that just as Prometheus received this information from Gravitus, he too received this from Justek."_

"_Yet, even regardless of all this, Prometheus should not have been able to bond Saiyan DNA to human hosts to create super soldiers. The mixing of DNA is only possible through breeding. What he committed is an abhorrent sin against the very foundation of nature..._

_...But I suspect that he had some unexpected help on that front, and that relates to the second mystery."_

_2] The "Blank" Child._

"_I had stumbled upon a great conundrum long, long ago...The existence of entities known as 'Blanks', and the 'Authors' that guide them with puppet strings._

_I do not know where these entities come from, nor what their purpose is...Just that their existence is a poison that flows through the veins of the universe itself, prompting ever-closer the birth of something truly, truly irreversible...The Omni-Extinction._

_That child who usurped the wish was likely to be one such 'Blank'. The events of that day can only make sense that way._

_After all everything lines up perfectly. Too perfectly._

_Futanji's interference, Prometheus and his firing squad, and then a child and two of his clones happen to have Saiyan DNA..."_

"_This is my analysis of what went down..."_

_1]] An "Author" created a decoy "Blank" to intercept the wish on Super Shenron. Futanji being preoccupied with the Zenos not only ensured he wouldn't be caught, but also that the proof of his interference would be wiped out not long after._

_2]] The "Author" must have known about Justek's precognition, thus instigating a domino effect that would result in the Saiyan DNA coming into Prometheus' possession._

_3]] The "Author" manipulated events to ensure his true "Blank" would end up in Prometheus' possession and then, using his powers, would ensure that the Saiyan DNA would bond to his "Blank". The only thing wrong with my theory here, is that Prometheus himself, and his daughter Samantha, were able to accept the Saiyan DNA just fine..._

"_Thus, in conclusion..."_

_3] The "Blank" Siblings._

"_Alex, Mew and Riku Whiter must all be 'Blanks'. It would go as far as to explain another conundrum I had, as to how the 'Phoenix of Destruction' could have wiped out the Marvel Universe._

_Abusing the Saiyans innate Zenkais along with the Elemental Overlord's ability to heal from absorbing elements, created a warrior that could continue to grow stronger and stronger with incredible ease. And on top of that, adding the Gaia Temporis to the mix ensured that they could always get away if they did somehow happen to come close to dying._

_Yet, now I have to wonder...How could the "Author" keep getting away with this, if Futanji exists in his current state of paranoia?"_

…

_(END OF NEW ENTRY)_

_*Save_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_*Main Menu_

_**Extinction Level Threats_

_*****Enemy**. __Futanji Shinryu._

_****New Entry: "Author" and Futanji._

_(Entry Point: Concurrent Interwoven Time Flow 01/05/2042., 21:08 PM)_

"_There is one existence that has never been proven. The existence of a one true God. There are merely pretenders, narcissists who elevate their meager existences to god-like scales..._

_Even Futanji, lord and creator of all worlds, is no exception. He lives. He was born. God is not "born". _

_Even Futanji must believe in a higher power, and that higher power, wears a cloak clad in shadowy deception..._

_Futanji follows the orders of one person. "He" who is called "God" is in actuality, the same "Author" who is responsible for the creation of Alex, Mew and Riku Whiter. _

_How do I know this? _

_If you cull out the lies and incorrect truths, that what remains is the one truth, the absolute truth. _

_I have run through every scenario in my head. Every theory presented to me. Evidence has piled up in my chambers, especially over the last few months._

_Those three Whiter children get away with too much for it to be mere coincidence. The "Author" gives them outs, and he's able to do so because he hovers behind the one currently acting in charge, dangling a noose pretending to be a leash..._

"_God" = "Author"._

_Whiter = "Blanks"_

_Futanji = "Power"_

_I can write out these equations but there's one I cannot solve._

"_Author" Purpose = ?_

_He manipulated many great forces to give his "Blanks" such incredible strength, but why?_

_Does he want control? Power? Destruction? What?_

_What?_

_Indeed, all I can ask is "What?" _

"_God" has very human motives...And that frightens me more than anything else._

_Humans destroy themselves when given fire. What is destroyed when a human is seated on the throne of godhood? _

"_God" is not infallible. No one is. But...what can I hope to do?_

_I am filled with dread, and fear, and powerlessness..._

_But I have not lost hope._

_Its such an odd thing for someone like me to have: Hope._

_But we're still alive now. We can still fight. If "God" wants this world for his own, then he'll have to be stopped. _

_For now though, all I can do is continue to observe. Observe...and preserve. I cannot bring back those who died in service to "God's" wishes or Futanji's "mission". But the least I can do is endure, in hopes that some day, someone else can reverse what's been done._

_I want to give back something good to this world...And that's why I've decided to put my faith into those three "Blanks"._

_I know that sounds counter-intuitive to the cause but I see as this..._

_Alex, Mew and Riku are puppets born for a cruel, unknowable purpose. But they are still just as human as everyone else. I bear no grudge towards them for the actions of their "Author". _

_I can almost empathize with them on that..._

_But like all puppets, they have the potential to break free of their strings. _

_If anyone can stand against "God", its those made in his image."_

_(END OF NEW ENTRY)_

_*Save_

"I got a little passionate there at the end, but that's alright. Felt good to get that out of my system..." Macros muttered, "...Oh, I almost forgot something!"

_Back*_

_Back*_

_Back*_

_*Main Menu_

_**Species Review_

_***Extinct Races_

_****Saiyans_

_*****Data Log: The 12 Universes Erasure Incident_

_******Main Section: Recap_

_*******Update: The Case of the Missing Saiyans_

"_clckclclckclckclckc"_

_4] What Happened to Beerus and Whis?_

"_Progress: Still Unknown..."_

…

_(END OF ENTRY)_

**STORY 8: Secondary Lives END**

**NEXT: Story 9: Destructive Impulses**


	65. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64: Just a Matter of Pride**

The Macros Biome, Macros' autonomous planet, floats between the many universal biomes. Its master, enigmatic as always, is working hard within his laboratory on his latest ecological restoration project.

Gazing at his strange tablet, he walks around a large glass aquarium as one of his curious crane hands drops into it, a small, gelatinous egg pinched between it.

"Hmm..." Macros looks at his tablet and sees a three-dimensional image of a large fish with bony fins, two rows of teeth, and long, flowing, retractable anemone stingers spinning around on it.

Each part of the body was flashing green, save for the ghastly, beady eyes, which flashed red. He shook his head and calmly knocked his knuckles on the glass, "This one's a dud, put it back."

The claw froze up, then quickly raised the egg out of the water, flicking it into an oversized trash can. Macros then continued to stroll past the aquarium towards a lavish muscle fiber chair rising from the ground.

As he turned and sat upon it, he continued to stare perplexed towards the tablet, "Just a little more fiddling around ought to do."

He tapped on the eye in particular and scrolled through the irregularities whose words would all be alien to human eyes. He then put the tablet on his lap as his machines grinded together in the background to produce another egg.

"Attempt number three. My craftsmanship is certainly...lacking lately." He craned his head back and the ceiling pulled back like eyelids, revealing the majesty of space to him.

A swirling nebula, mixing cloudy pink and peach colors together, was what his world was passing by. Gases of newly forming stars danced around the edges. This scene illuminated splendid on his eyes, he cracked a smile, and leaned back further into his chest.

"Marvelous." He murmured, offering more praise in that one word than theologians have spanning their entire career.

A few recollecting moments later, he sat up and pulled his tablet towards his chest, having drawn in inspiration from the collective cosmos.

"Alright, once the egg is prepared I ought to determine how many will be proper to repopulate the food supply of Planet Aquidos," He closed his eyes and filled in the blanks in but a moment, "Yes, an even one-thousand should do just fine. Once the babies reach maturity, little will be able to..."

He paused, furrowing his brows with a gaze lingering towards his door. Pulled from his chair, he laid his tablet down behind him and began to walk.

There was something astir in the air. Subtle, yet obvious enough for **him** to catch wind of. A calling card, wafting about with a sinister vibe to it.

He panned the move with a few hardened clicks of his tongue and made his way to the door the same way he approached it any other time: Calm, nonchalant, and with a welcoming smile.

As the door slid open that attitude hardly changed, even as a tidal wave of chaotic energy gushed over his body.

The air was ripe with pheromones of devilish descent, blending with the foul stench of adrenaline and blood seeping out of each and every clone of his visible for miles.

His clones had gone astray in their directives, choking, clawing and pounding each other like base savages. One clone grabbed the neck of another and dragged them right up to him shouting "HE'S MINE!", as if he'd been consumed by a depravity only the most baseless of loves could produce.

As said clone dragged and smashed the others head into the ground like a hammer, Macros tucked his arms behind his back and graced the violent outbreak with an amused smile.

Even as blood droplets splashed upon his body, he didn't flinch, only hummed.

When he closed his eyes, then came a prick on the back of his skull. If he had to wager a guess from the shape of the tip, it was an arrowhead.

Nevertheless, he saw fit to humor his attacker, "Am I being held up, or is someone very happy to see me?"

"Cheeky." Uttered a voice. A female, certainly. They were coarse, bitter, and a little vain. No, they weren't speaking like that all at once. Macros was simply familiar with their attitude.

The arrow was withdrawn from his head and he turned to greet his attacker.

Floating "preciously" in the air was a three-foot tall pudgy cherub slathered in pink from head-to-toe. Their skin, their lips, their hair, all of them a different shade of it. Their curly locks were the object of innocence, while a thorny rose sash adorned them from shoulder to hip. Kept aflutter by four blood red, feathery wings, the cherub carried a bow shaped like trident prongs, the middle one half the length of the other two. And their body was blanketed with a white toga dress slightly bigger than they were.

She smiled, a fake one at that, as they said to him with an air of familiarity, "Finally found you. You certainly went and made yourself hard to find for no good reason didn't you...'Macros'."

Macros gestured his hand up as the wailing of his dying clones echoed behind him, "I was just playing a game of hide and seek with you. I know how much you **love** to play games, 'Amor'."

The cherub's smile seemed to crack like marble as she scornfully remarked, "Aren't you about a few billion years too old for such..._childish _games?"

"Are you offended?" Macros snickered, "Oh I'm sorry if so, cause who _wouldn't_ want to be in your lovely presence?"

He then turned his back to her and faced the sea of clone corpses strewn about him, "Now...I know you're not alone. Where is she?"

"Right...here...!" Growled bitterly the sound of a woman scorned.

Without a sound this "new" entity had made their presence known behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a more...human woman standing behind Amor.

They were roughly his height with sharp, emerald eyes and three dotted pupils shaped as a triangle. They had short cut black hair and dark green bangs hung over the left eye. And if you'd believe it, those were the most normal things about her. She had long, ample goat legs and a small lion's tail with a snake head dangling behind her waist. One arm was white, the other was black, but they looked perfectly attached to her body. Her shirt and pants consisted of a patchwork job involving so many different clothes that he stopped really caring around the twentieth.

This strange woman draped their arms over Amor and glared fiercely towards him, her expression permanently stiffened with an unblinking scowl.

"Ah, I figured it was you...Ummm..." Macros turned and with a smidge of embarrassment remarked, "What are you calling yourself today?"

"Vyvy...!" Growled the woman, snapping her jaws bitterly towards him, "Damn you...! I hate how nonchalant you are sometimes...!"

He closed his eyes and sighed, "Appearances change but your attitude, it seems, has not."

"Shut up...!" Vyvy shouted, "Acting so familiar when we haven't seen each other in forever! I hate that about you too!"

"_I'm really going to fall behind on my projects at this rate..." _Macros gestured off beside his face and then began to walk past them, "As much of a party as this reunion's been, I have work to do. Feel free to see yourselves off whenever."

An entanglement of metallic rose vines rose from the ground and blocked his path to the door. He paused and turned to Amor, who had raised her stubby hand towards him still wearing that doll-like smile.

"Why the rush? Family reunions are so scarce between us anymore..." Her eyelids began to crease open, revealing them to be fully pink with hazy red triangles overlapping one another like a kaleidoscope, "Brother."

"..." Macros turned around, his expression shifted every slightly downward.

Amor smirked with arousal at the glare she got from him, "Ooooh there's that stare...That infernal, abyss dwelling fire, roasting in your pupils..."

"I admit..." She lowered her hand, "I thought you had lost your touch, brother."

"Amor..." Macros closed his eyes and smiled, "What possible, desperate reason could you have to seek me out?"

"You know why we're here!" Vyvy roared, "Don't try and play ignorant! I hate that!"

"Shut up, you mismatched oaf!" Amor turned and smacked Vyvy across the face, leaving a searing red mark on her skin.

Vyvy shuddered, rubbing the mark with drool coming off her lips, "Ooooh, I hate it when you do that...!"

"Ghhh...!" Amor clenched her teeth while Macros chuckled in the distance.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," He shook his head and clicked his tongue some more, "Though, you never were the toughest of us, Amor."

Amor spun back and continued to smile, though it was now on shaky terms, "Are you in any position to talk? Look at you..."

She gestured back to the piles of corpses in her wake, "Playing with dolls are we? And, dare I say the rumors aren't true? That you aren't..._helping_ people, are you?"

Macros closed his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

"Tsk!" Amor's tiny body shuddered in pure disgust, "I will not mince words..."

"Oh dear. You? Not mincing words?" Macros chuckled, making Amor's eyes squint further.

"Shut up. Ba'al Zebul and Aava'ris are dead, and you're making jokes? Do you even KNOW which putrid, shitstain of a species was responsible?"

"Why, humans of course." Macros uttered.

"Humans, of-" Amor bit her lower lip and trembled, "You...!"

"I'm not ignorant to the going ons of the universe. Two of our brothers lie slain in combat, thanks to the current Elemental Overlord and his allies," Macros gestured out by his hip, "And now you're on a crusade of revenge, believing me to be the answer to your problems."

"Absolutely! You're so observant!" Vyvy bit her thumbnail hard and muttered, "Its so damn annoying...!"

Amor raised her hand, only to squeeze it into a tiny fist and drag it back down to her hip. She then eyed Macros and uttered, "Yes, it is as you said, brother. You are our best option, and loathe to admit it, our only option."

"How flattering," Macros replied humorously, "That I, of all people, would be considered a 'last resort' in your eyes."

"Don't get on your high horse, brother!" Amor shouted.

"Ah, you're right. It must be a bit of the old me slipping out..." Macros wagged his fingers at her in a taunting manner.

"Shame? Is that..._shame_ I hear in your voice?" Amor's anger grew quite a bit in such a tiny body, "I don't have time to deal with this shell you call a body! Wrath has disappeared completely from our sight, and that heaping lump of scaly flesh Slogg'ith wouldn't accomplish anything but yawning the enemy to death!"

She raised her pointer finger towards him and exclaimed, "We need your crusader might to lead us again into the hellfire of eternal war! Naught is the worth of those pitiful hands that mold clay like a child! Shed your mortal shell once more and rally the charge of a million howling demons, laying the corpses of a trillion men in your wake...! Do. You. Hear. Me?! PRIDE?!"

Macros paused, and slowly raised a pinky to clean the wax out of his ears. Flicking it aside, he put his hand down and chuckled, "Loud and clear, Amor."

He then opened his eyes and uttered, "But I refuse."

"..._Why_?!" Amor uttered so brutally, so disdainfully, "You once led us against the heavens without hesitation! Your distaste for the holy was only surpassed by the joy you gleefully aroused from the slaughtering of your foes! You held your head high against God and sought to make him bleed with your lance! And now, THIS is what you've been reduced to? A neutered craftsman without a hint of aggression to his name?!"

"..." Macros softly closed his eyes and hung his head.

"You were so powerful! So majestic! The blood of your culled foes ran through space and dirtied the cosmos!" Vyvy exclaimed, "And it makes me SO MAD!"

"_That's right. I was that man...__**Was**__. Though its been so long, I remember it all clearly like it was yesterday..." _Macros drifted into a fond remembrance of the past.

"_First, there was nothing. Then, there was war. I was the first-born child of a new universe...And the first soldier to be rallied to battle. I knew my name, my identity, my purpose, and my enemy...All from the start. I had no room to question why I existed, or why we had to fight. I grabbed hold of a lance crafted from the scraped up layers of nothingness that bound us in place, and led the charge against an insurmountable enemy..._

_First, there was nothing. Then, there were two. Futanji Shinryu, and his shadow, Akumu Jigokuryu. Two dragons of incalculable size smashing against each other, vying over the blank canvas of creation. They clawed and drew blood, whose pitch black form oozed out to make space. They breathed fire, and the flickering embers would linger to forge the first stars. _

_It was the beginning of life. And the beginning of death._

_I was Pride, Templar of the First Sin, born of Akumu's will alongside my six brothers and sisters to turn the tide in our father's favor. But Futanji's will countered with the creation of the Seven Virtues, continuing the dreaded deadlock between good and evil._

_The clash of wills lasted for thousands of years, as our actions bore the seeds of growth for the new universe. Every time our Sins matched the Virtues, angels and demons were born, the first of their kind. And through many clashes our armies grew, filling the ever-closing void of emptiness around us._

_I remember when I first took life, how the wretched purity of these saints filled my hands like an overflowing chalice. I trembled, my roar seizing the hearts of the holy folk in fear. _

_Thousands of years more passed. Futanji and Akumu were in a never-ending cycle and life, so immature, knew naught the turmoil that shook their newborn worlds._

_Still more angels fell to my lance, corpses pilled upon corpses, as a climbed of mountain of flesh, blood and feathers to ascend towards the feared dragon. I was arrogant, so very, very young and arrogant, believing I could make a God bleed. _

_So lost in the fervor of blood and battle washed over me like a tidal wave, I had failed to recognize the state I was in. _

_Our demonic horde was in retreat. My brothers and sisters, falling from the heavens, cursed to wander in shells of mortal design. The Seven Virtues remained dominant, their numbers untouched, as they stood in my way when I was at my most prideful._

_I threw myself towards the legionaries of heaven with lance and the bones of my enemies in hand. As angels swarmed by the thousands, and cut through them in a blood swathe to scar the virtuous and prove my worth. _

_But I fell. Not in glorious battle, but as a fool._

_A fool, knowing nothing but defeat, and failure. _

_My body fell from the void of creation, as the __**enemy**__ delivered its final blow upon Akumu, shackling him as the spine of this newly formed, singular universe. _

_I fell, and fell, for what felt like an eternity. The streaks of stardust passing my eyes but a million times over, as I screamed until I could scream no more. _

_Because my head had finally hit solid ground._

_When I awoke I did not rise to a feeling of grandiose size, with the forces of gravity struggling to pull me down. No. I rose quickly, feeling light as a feather._

_I stared aghast at my hands, HUMAN hands, as the dread of what I had become hit me like the detonation of a neutron star._

_I had been defiled. The majesty of my body stripped down to the bare minimum of what was considered life at the time. "Humanity", how much I utterly loathed them. Their...their feeble bodies, their frail egos, and their short lives..._

_I threw my head back and scraped my skin off the bone, but it always came back. Heaping piles of flesh laid at my sides before I came to..."accept" my curse. _

_I sat in the forest, the shambles of my divine garb laid over my naked form, spending every waking moment growling bitterly towards the formation of civilization on this world._

_They were so young. So primal. While I could topple worlds, they could hardly even topple a tree. _

_I wanted to destroy them all. And I could, __**with ease**__...But they were so beneath me, and I had lost all motivation to do anything but hate._

_They built buildings, and I hated them. They invented fire, and I hated them. They killed beasts, and I hated them. _

_There was no rhyme or reason. I hated them._

_From the shadows of my self-imposed exile, I hated them._

_Time passed, and I hate them._

_Then came the invaders. An alien race whose technology outpaced humanity's advancements astronomically. _

_I smirked. Finally, I could at least enjoy some slaughter unfold, as this world would soon be burned to ash. _

_...But that slaughter never came._

_Humans died. Cities were toppled. Civilization was on the brink of collapse..._

_But __**humanity**__ won. _

_A fleet of a hundred alien ships lied crashed down on the surface, with the survivors of humanity standing over them, weary and battered._

_They had proven tenacious, like cockroaches. Against all odds they fought, every breath, every march, pushing them farther from the throes of annihilation._

_They fought with arrogance, stubbornness and pride...That which had been my bane proved to be their boon._

_I watched them win a war. I...was __**intrigued**__ by them._

_From the death throes of conquest they scavenged the technology from the armada to rebuild their world. They didn't __**understand**__ that technology, how could they? But nevertheless they brute forced it with more of their stubbornness and just a little bit of ingenuity._

_And in a matter of decades, they had gone from the Stone Age to what'd be considered Modern Day progress...And thus came all the ills attached to it._

_They had advanced too quickly. They couldn't keep up with the march of progress they themselves had set in motion. _

_That technology turned against them, and I watched as in the blink of an eye, the humanity of this world wiped themselves in one loud, fiery blast. _

_I was hardly fazed by the fire. The consequences of it, not so much. _

_When I walked the ashen lands alone, fire crackled in my ears, the embers of death laid atop hundreds of charred corpses._

_I once waded through corpses for joy. Now, my heart sang a different tune. I looked into the eyes of one fallen body, a youth no stronger or smarter than a butterfly...And my heart felt heavy._

_Pity? No. Mourning? No. The grip of black frost forever had its hold on my heart._

_But curiosity, feverish and feral, gripped and clawed its way into being, clambering at a chance at life._

_How could humanity's pride be both its ally and its enemy? How did it make them strong, yet I so weak? _

_This couldn't be the end of this story. A mystery had just begun, research had to be done! _

_No longer satisfied sitting on my laurels, I gathered together what technology I could uncover from the ash and used it to build myself a barely functional spaceship to leave this planet behind._

_I kept thinking about them...humanity. So weak, so frail, yet also strong, and enduring? This was a contradiction, a logical improbability. And yet, that was how they functioned, as pure improbability lashing against a mighty sea of probability._

_I was lucky to land upon another world with humans. But this time, curiously, there were demons mixed about._

_Aliens were one thing but demons? Surely they would not succumb to humanity's irrationality._

_Delightfully, I was proven wrong. Though humans could not match a demon's strength, they proved to have stronger hearts. _

_So strong, in fact, that it awoke one demon's heart to justice, and he allied himself with humanity against a tyrant._

_Even a demon's black heart could turn soft. Was this humanity's true power?_

_We could look at humans as ants and indeed, they weren't much different in that regard towards each other. The truly exceptional humans, were those who cared for others without need of reward. _

_This was called "empathy", a most curious word._

_I traveled to other worlds, searching for more "empathy" to study. My success rate varied, and sometimes I found myself under attack from the descendants of my former armies._

_They would fall in seconds, and I would be hailed as a hero._

_I had no attachment to the word...But I felt myself drifting away from any attachment towards "sinner" too. _

_I was toeing a gray line, no longer either Pride the Leviathan, or the Exiled Mortal..._

_More and more worlds I graced the presence of, and my studies started to take me beyond the purview of humanity. _

_Beasts, fauna, fish and ancient dinosaurs...I examined them all thoroughly and came to an interesting conclusion: That only humanity bared the weight of all sin on their shoulders. Aliens ranged from greedy, to gluttonous, to sloven...Demons were wrathful, prideful, lustful...But humanity was everything sinful, and everything virtuous, mixed into one flesh and bone package._

_As my researched deepened, my curiosity continued to grow. I began to feel a thaw in my heart, a melting that not even the hottest sun could achieve._

_I wasn't just becoming fond of humanity. I came to admire all creatures, big and smile, docile and feral._

_I saw death in all forms, from a sudden, crushing death, to a slow, agonizing whimper brought about by fire. _

_I had gotten so ingrained in these world's lore that only upon seeing a world meet its finality did it hit me that no more pages would be filled._

_And I wondered...Could these species not be preserved? Was it not possible, for new blood to arise and carry their legacies, their history, and start anew?_

_I began amassing knowledge across all worlds. Of ways to preserve life, recreate it from flesh and sinew. My body and mind became a complex to house this knowledge, a macrocosm of biology, if you would. And it was from that word I derived my new name: Macros._

_It was with ease that I built this world I stand upon and devoted myself to this new task. And I shall remain here forever, long after the embers of life have been snuffed out...Watching, observing, never interfering beyond the missive I have assigned myself. Though I will admit...There have been a few nice folk I've become interested in recently."_

Withdrawn into his thoughts for but a parsec, Macros rose his head with a chuckle and gestured towards the two sinners before him.

"Why am I the way I am now?" He deigned to answer, "Simple...because the universe is a vast, wonderful, and beautiful place."

Amor didn't accept this, naturally. He eyes gazed upon his with the utmost scorn, and she spat the word she hated the most with utter venom, "**Beautiful**?"

She scowled, "I was right...You've become **soft**, and **weak**."

"And why should that be considered a bad thing?" Macros softly smiled, craning his head back to gaze upward at the stars passing by, "I am happier now than I ever was fulfilling the whims of our misguided father."

"You think your Pride can be discarded?!" Vyvy yelled, "Bastard! You're such a disgrace, and it pisses me off!"

"Not discarded, no no no..." Macros waved his hand out pleasantly, "Simply...refocused. Now I pride myself on my work, and the satisfaction it brings to others. In embracing the positive side of my sin, I still embody it, and am none the weaker for it..."

He narrowed his eyes with a tense smirk Amor, "The same, cannot be said for you, can it?"

Amor's eyes began to slant as Macros laid into her with a calm, but brutal deconstruction of her arrogance, "Who stole your sin again? A human girl, was it not? The same type of human you loathe, now consorting with the **enemy**..."

He tucked his arms comfortably behind his back and closed his eyes, "It must **really** grind your gears, _dear_ sister."

"I see now...The **enemy** must have poisoned your mind!" Amor tried to justify why she was getting completely destroyed in a battle of wits, but alas, it was to no avail.

"Hardly," Macros muttered, taking a somewhat more serious tone, "He is still my **enemy**, that can't change. But I must admit..."

He looked back up to the canvas of multicolored stars above him, "Even an impure one such as he can create masterpieces to entrance the heart..."

He then looked to these sinners one more time and humored them, "You should try and lay back, do a little stargazing. Maybe you'll come to appreciate the world a little more."

He narrowed his eyes sternly, "It'd be the smartest move you can make right now."

His smile then perked back up and he began to turn away, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to work."

Without hesitation Amor angrily gripped her bowstring and raised it towards the back of his head, an arrow of disgustingly bloody light appearing on it.

"Yes...We have **plenty** of work to get done, brother." She fired the arrow post-haste.

Macros calmly reached for both his lens...and pulled them out of his eye sockets while uttering a loud sigh, "Oh, I almost forgot..."

The arrow disappeared, consumed by blue flames. The wall of metal vines suffering the same fate at an equal pace. It was not being burned, but rather, something else was happening...Something unexplained by any natural science.

Amor and Vyvy froze as Macros creaked his head back over his shoulder.

Blue embers glowed in the backs of his hollow eyes, as tiny, black, bony hands snatched onto the edges of his sockets, struggling to crawl out. And when he spoke now, his voice beckoned a powerful echo.

"**If the stench of your foolish crusade comes within even one light year of their world, then I WILL remind you why it is **_**I**_** who was born to lead, Invidia, **_**Luxuria**_**."**

As both the sinners' skins turned pale, Macros twisted his "eyes" back into their sockets and strolled into his laboratory in peace.

Vyvy's knees were shaking, and she tenderly bit her fingernails with a grin, "S-So cool...! I HATE him so much...!"

Amor grit her teeth and turned away in a bitter huff, "Shut up you genderless freak!"

The fires of war raged in her tiny body, as she grinned from cheek-to-cheek, "He's just bluffing. That fool's not capable of backing his threats anymore. But still...if **that** world is off limits...Then we'll just have to get our revenge through...**the other** target."

And they vanished from sight, the cherub's sinister laughter echoing across a sea of corpses...

_Next Time: Titans of Dead Worlds_


	66. Chapter 65

Floating, in the deepest, remote regions of space, lies a ravaged castle made entirely of crystal. It stirs, with a quiet moan, after an expansive period of inactivity.

"Clang!" Rang the sounds of metal beating metal.

"Bang!" Rang the armor, as the reverb of the cold forge echoed against them.

And silent, was the forgemaster, who hammered the furious sounds of creation into a chest plate of gold and blue.

The fires of the forge, though as burning as a thousand suns, felt cold to him, as was to his liking. His sweat, dancing off his rugged brow.

And with every hit he pounded into this suit of armor, the universe trembled in fear. For it felt the coming of a herald's return, and the blood they would soon spill anew...

He raised his armor off the disheveled anvil and a smirk rose between his purple cheeks. He put the armor on, legs and all, and tightened a five-fingered glove unto each hand.

The familiarity in this garb was one of few things that could make this man happy, but there was one thing missing...

He turned to a crystal case on his right protecting a helmet with slightly elevated horns on the sides, and crushed the case open in one hand.

Slowly raising the helmet to take seat upon his head once more, his smirk now was but a smile. A cold, calculating, sinister smile.

And his eyes, so pure of red, pure of hate, pure of anti-life, projected his malicious gaze towards the burning forge...

And like that, the fires that'd sustain a thousand worlds perished in an instant.

And the cold, bitter chill, enveloped his body like a blanket.

He began a long march back to his throne at the peak of this empty castle. Along the way he passed a hall filled with crystal statues, memoirs of captures from other worlds...Their purpose for existing, known only to him and one other, whom he'd loathe to speak the name of.

He sits on his broken throne, leaning towards the void of nothing that manifested as his entrance.

He embraces this solitude, and the air of death surrounding him. The specter of a thousand dead worlds hangs over him. The blood of a thousand culled species drips off his hands. That is but the manifestation of his pleasure, and joy.

He is no master to life, but the servant of Death. He carries out their will, and longs for their embrace.

And woe be to the worlds he sets his eyes upon, for his is a mission without end, a conquest without rest, a tribute lacking good or ill intent.

He simply is.

HE is Thanos, the Mad Titan. The last of his kind, and the last Marvel alive...in **all** the known universes.

And though outliving the end of days would feed his insatiable hunger, his tribute is without a recipient. Death fell in the end of days, splintered into servants that were scattered across many worlds.

He sought to gather these fragments, and seek the fool who dared trespass upon his domain. But his mission led him elsewhere, where he suffered defeat for the first time in eons.

But for Thanos, defeats become victories, just as victories become defeats. He took this lesson to heart, and became reborn.

No longer donning the disguise of "Cryxis", he leaves his true name bare for all to see. From this cold, bitter throne, he invites the world to know true fear once more.

The universe trembles, but meets his invitation.

He feels it. The universe stirs. The air grows thicker, more tense, more grim...

The slow approach of footsteps echoes throughout these hallowed halls.

Death marches towards him.

And he **smiles**.

The first to walk towards their own grave was a cat. Not a mere, domestic feline, but a prideful, irritable warrior who strode tall on his two feet, his thin and bony arms tucked behind the blue sash on his waist. His pointed ears were large and alert while he peered across the room with his one golden yellow eye, the other covered by a skin-deep metallic eyepatch. His attire was of Egyptian descent, curious for one who bears no relation towards them.

Beside him was a taller humanoid with pale blue skin, white hair, and rather effeminate features. Though his appearance boasted a sense of grandeur, he was of no concern to Thanos.

The cat stopped, meeting eyes with the Mad Titan from a hundred feet away, who sat upright and gripped the sides of his throne with anticipation.

"Welcome, to my castle..." Uttered Thanos in a commanding baritone, "Beerus...God of Destruction."

**Chapter 65: Death and Destruction**

"So you were here after all..." Beerus poked his head around and ushered the first retort as though he was speaking to an old friend, "This run down place suits you. Its broken and ugly..."

He faced Thanos head-on, "Just like the Mad Titan licking his wounds."

Thanos simply smirked and laughed, "So, you know who I am too then?"

"Oh, I'm well aware of you, " The God of Destruction said mockingly, "And the state of the world you came from."

"Yes, we are of similar states of existence now, aren't we?" Thanos spoke with a vulgar manner of reverence towards him, "Masters of death, now reduced to hapless wanderers..."

"Do not compare me to you," Beerus arched his brows, "There is purpose in my destruction. You cull lives without end, and for what? To serve a mistress who only sees you as a tool..."

"You are not worthy of being compared to me, God of Destruction," Thanos stood from his throne and put his arms behind his back. Not to mock his guest, it was mere coincidence that they bear the same stance, "You, who represent the violent, primal side of Death. You, who erases entire worlds just cause you were denied a good meal."

Beerus yawned and his jaw stretched wide, "And your point being?"

"You are but a child. And even they, shall spill blood by the thousands in my wake."

"You have guts to say that to a God of Destruction," Beerus gave an unamused smirk, "You have information I want, and if you don't comply..."

His eyes narrowed and a dull, purple glow began to form around his body, "There won't even **be** any blood left of you."

"Heh," Thanos gestured his hand up from aside his hip, his stance stone-cold and unflinching, "Speak your purpose in coming here, God of Destruction. I am...curious, as to what boon you'd think I'd part with."

"I heard you had an encounter with the Elemental Overlord not too long ago," Beerus raised his head and smirked, "And he gave you a thorough thrashing at that."

"Ah," Thanos chuckled, "That _is_ most interesting...Such information shouldn't be easily heard, let alone by you."

He began to pace left-to-right before his throne, Beerus eyeing him the entire time.

"And it is grossly misrepresenting what occurred that day..." Though the Mad Titan denied his defeat, he could not hide the meager hint of shame in his voice.

Nevertheless, he confidently gestured aside at the God of Destruction, "Don't you find this meeting a little too opportune, God of Destruction?"

He stationed himself before the throne and began to descent the small, wide flight of stairs, "Two survivors from dead worlds, left to remain as pawns on the board in someone else's game..."

At the bottom he waved his hand out beside his hip and remarked, "Tell me, Beerus, just whom was the name of our little...chessmaster?"

"Who knows?" Beerus shrugged, "He didn't feel like saying it, nor do I care to know. What matters is where these answers take me..."

He raised his narrowed eyes to gaze straight into Thanos' death-filled eyes, "The place where those bastard 'higher-ups' reside."

A grin instantly surfaced on Thanos' face, followed by the intensifying of his eyes, "Then you seek vengeance too?"

"I seek **destruction**, and nothing more."

"I am beginning to understand now..." Thanos' mind churned with foreboding intent, "Our meeting here was...**inevitable**."

Beerus' expression softened a little as the Mad Titan tried speaking to him as equals, "We should work together to end these 'higher-ups' then."

Beerus closed his eyes and remarked, "I'll pass, thank you."

"Just like that?" Thanos seemed hardly surprised.

"Your place reeks of Death. And I'd hardly get a night's sleep on these uncomfortable floors," Beerus started to crack his neck around and wiggle his elbows, "Now, give me what I want, or I will send you to oblivion."

"So, an alliance is not what you seek..." Thanos gestured towards the ground, "Then...kneel."

"Pardon me?" Beerus' brows perked with irritation.

"I will grant you what you most desire, God of Destruction...But only if you bow your head to me." He replied with a smirk.

"Bold of you, commanding a God of Destruction like a house pet..." Beerus' tail began to move, as a tension rose around his body thicker than the air of Death around them.

"Your title holds no weight here anymore."

"Nor does your name even cast fear into the hearts of ants," Beerus began to take one step forward, his nails clawing into the hardened crystal with ease, "Here, you're just another garden variety nihilistic tyrant."

Thanos withdrew his hand to his side, drawing the other one out of hiding slowly with a smile, "Rash and impulsive...As though I expected any less from a common _cat_."

The purple light grew to a dull tint around Beerus' body, "You won't have time to regret those words."

He gestured his hands up to summoning two orbs with chaotic winds swirling about them and set them after Thanos.

Right as the orbs made contact, clouding him in dust, Beerus flew behind him in an instant, thrusting his right towards the back of his neck.

He was grabbed by the ankles, and the dust settled to show Thanos didn't even turn to grab him. Beerus looked mildly surprised as he was then tossed towards the ground, bouncing once before getting back on his feet.

Thanos tucked his hands behind his back and smirked, "I am more than equipped to deal with your kind."

"Heh..." Beerus' aura grew thicker, highlighting his more prominent features in shadow, except for the glow in his eyes, "Then there's no point in playing around."

The ground cratered beneath his feet as he tackled Thanos straight on and swung his foot into his gut. Thanos budged an inch back then immediately swung his hand down to try and break Beerus' leg.

Beerus retreated, leaving a field of orbs around the Mad Titan that detonated all at once.

Thanos thrust his hand into the air and the shockwave released dulled the explosions. He then made his first step towards his foe, blue fires from the cosmos spouting from the corner of his eyes.

Whis watched from a distance, a box of alien popcorn delicately tucked against his chest.

Thanos' hands became enveloped in the same cosmic fires, the bolts that break free carving through the ceiling above.

"You know not, what true destruction is, Beerus." Boasted the Mad Titan, a tone only he was allowed to take with this enemy.

He thrust his fist out and a beam of cosmic energy nearly grafted the truth of his claims into Beerus' body. Instead the cat flew out of the way, and the energies smashed through many walls behind him, burning out close to a nearby star.

Beerus grazed across the ground and ducked under the Mad Titan's beheading swing, ensnaring his leg with his tail and dragging him to the floor.

He then turned with a sharp flip and buried his foot into Thanos' back. Thanos hardly flinched, and quickly rose with a snicker.

"I am not the man cowering behind a facade any longer..." Thanos turned and caught Beerus off-guard with a clear punch to the chest, "I **am**, and forever **shall** be, Thanos!"

And upon that utterance Beerus was launched through the throne, shattering it to a thousand pieces. Having cast off the last chain that shackled him to a lie, Thanos marched towards his foe with a renewed sense of purpose.

Beerus vaulted out behind the settling dust, launching a variety of orbs Thanos' way.

The Mad Titan had to merely wave his hand and his strength would topple them in an instant. But Beerus redirected the orbs' path, dancing them around Thanos' body like a swarm of gnats.

The Mad Titan expressed some irritation as he was made to reduce his hand to a flyswatter temporarily. The explosions upon his body roughened him up a little before Beerus dove and bashed his head upon Thanos' helmet, making his head bow with it.

Right upon landing Beerus thrust his fists into Thanos' chest three times each, the ground cracking with every blow.

As Thanos retaliated Beerus appeared behind him and strangled him with his tail. Thanos grabbed his tail in both hands and threw him over into the ground like a hammer, then bashed him down behind him.

He then gripped the tip of the tail extra tight, reeled back his fist, and thrust it down with a surge of cosmic energy behind it.

Cracks spread throughout the entire room bursting with this energy, and in the brief calm that followed Thanos dragged Beerus out of the rubble by the face, forcing his eyes open so that they'd see the death in his.

"So **this **is the power of a God of Destruction?"

Beerus clamped his hands around Thanos' wrist as a show of desperation, and a meal to feed the Mad Titan's growing amusement.

"I am not impressed..."

In one sudden twist, Beerus cracked Thanos' wrist and forced him to let go. The Mad Titan staggered back gripping his wrist with a grunt, while Beerus put his hands behind his back and smirked.

A few bruises on his face were hardly worth his attention.

"How arrogant. You haven't seen anything yet." Beerus took one step and then was off like a rocket, thrusting his palm towards Thanos' chest.

In his way rose a barely visible barrier, wrapped around Thanos like a sphere. The Mad Titan smiled and rose to full height, confidently tucking his arms behind his back.

"Nor, have you..."

Beerus arched his brows and started rattling the barrier with a flurry of fists, each blow dislodging more from the walls of this already shaky room.

Thanos remained stalwart against every blow and raised his glowing right hand out towards his face, "You will not be able to breach this barrier. Not even the All-Father had the power to do so."

Beerus' aura grew brighter as he hunched down and growled, "I'll pretend I should care who that is!"

He then lunged straight into the barrier, shoving it and Thanos a few feet along the ground. Thanos fired a blast in retaliation, hurtling Beerus across the room, the archway of the entrance breaking on the back of his head.

The entire castle trembled and Beerus rocketed back into the room and swept his leg down against the top of Thanos' barrier. Thanos fired another blast to send him away, but the God of Destruction came right back on the attack.

Thanos' eyes glowed, and he fired a blast of condensed heat through the barrier to put Beerus on edge.

The God of Destruction was forced to guard with his arms, suffering the heat of a collapsing supernova. The temperature rose astronomically, melting down the material that held their battleground together.

Beerus pulled his head out from behind cover with a furious scowl adorned on it. He summoned dozens of orbs out from his aura and launched them upon Thanos' barrier, but they couldn't even qualify as a distraction anymore.

His fur was singed, and he was getting greatly irritated by the lack of progress.

"Ok, that's quite enough out of you!" He yelled, putting every ounce of god-like strength he had into his arms to dive into the heat beam and smash the energy against Thanos' barrier.

The barrier dug into the melting floor, and a heated set of cracks appeared on the surface. Thanos bent at the knee, grunting momentarily in surprise, only to then mend the wounds in his barrier with a snap of his fingers.

Beerus fell upon the wavy ground and immediately thrust both his palms into the barrier. The force of his blow ricocheting beyond the barrier and shattering the walls beyond the once mighty throne of lies.

As the pieces of that wall drifted into space, Thanos' eyes glowed once more, and the glow of his hands changed from blue to red.

The pieces of the wall were ensnared in this energy and lobbed through the air towards Beerus.

Beerus hopped away, disappearing and reappearing right before each shard could impale him through the skull, forever fighting against the vacuum of space.

When the last shard dropped Beerus charged forward, shattering each of them on his warpath to Thanos. He then stood before his barrier with his palm outstretched and the glow around him deepening.

Thanos smiled and confidently stood eye-to-eye with his enemy, "You bluff, God of Destruction. You need me alive."

"True," Beerus remarked, then quickly pointed his hand downward, "But I'm not aiming for you..."

"**Hakai**." He uttered with disdainful authority, reducing the floor beneath Thanos non-existent in an instant.

As gravity exerted its will upon the Mad Titan, Beerus dove and smashed his full body into the barrier to hasten their descent to the bottom floor.

Before they hit the bottom Thanos' hands radiated exponentially, and he combined his fists together to fire one mega concussive blast upon the God of Destruction.

Beerus braced against the force to his best ability and bashed his forehead against the beam to send it down into the barrier, then continued his charged.

Finally smashing Thanos into the bottom floor, a shockwave ruptured through the entirety of the castle, filling the air with cold dust and ripping a crevice through each tier.

Beerus hovered over the cracked sphere cupping his hands before his chest. Through sheer strain of will and energy, a miniature sun formed between his fingers.

"Mad Titan, you shall know true destruction!" He shoved the energy sphere through the hole in the barrier and made it grow outwardly until it was ten times its size.

An ear-rupturing sound rippled across the corners of the solar system, as a cataclysmic blast obliterated the entirety of the castle, scattering its parts every which way.

What remained was a floating mass of bedrock beneath them, and hundreds of crystallic effigies floating in the air, representing the fragments of Thanos' lost beloved.

Beerus hopped off Thanos as the Mad Titan stirred to life, now devoid of his protection. A shard of crystal had sliced through his cheek at hypersonic speeds and drawn blood, which he let fall upon his creasing smile.

"All that for a drop of blood..." He murmured, failing to instill dread into his foe.

Beerus had a few cuts to his name as well. And just the same as his foe, he felt nothing for them.

"You're a hard one to budge, aren't you?" Beerus cricked his neck around and smirked, "Heh! I'll admit, its been a long time since I've had to push myself this far."

With cosmic energies bathing his outstretched hands, Thanos stared upon Beerus' fearless face and uttered, "And it'll all be for naught. You should have bowed, God of Destruction."

His cosmic energies filled the surroundings, enveloping dozens of crystal shards. Beerus' eyes darted towards them, his stance at high alert at all times.

"Now, you will grovel in the dirt of your grave!" Thanos squeezed his fists and the crystals condensed immediately upon Beerus.

Beerus tried to budge, only for the grip of adamantium to begin crawling up his feet and binding him in place. Thanos heated the crystals, melding them down into a coffin around Beerus' body.

Beerus struggled, gritting his teeth as the crystals wound tighter and tighter, the brittle breaking of bones echoing within.

Thanos then gestured his pointer finger at the ground, forcing the God of Destruction onto his knees. He then walked up, gripping his hand onto his head, and using the thumb to force his eyes to look at him.

"Gaze upon the one...who shall walk you into Hell."

"**Never**." Growled Beerus with determination.

Cracks formed in his enclosure and burst open with a cascade of multidirectional energy blasts splashing outward from his roaring body.

Thanos found himself battered back by most of them before he could mount a defense with his hand. By then Beerus had vanished, appearing behind to deliver a hard kick to his neck.

Thanos coughed lightly and thrust his hand back to grab Beerus' leg, only for the god to nimbly dance around him, delivering a flurry of kicks and punches to his armor.

Thanos gathered energy in his hands and smashed them into the ground, throwing his enemy aside with the shockwave.

Thanos then lunged forward, grabbing and dragging Beerus' face down through the ground for a few seconds, swinging him loose through a large, wandering by asteroid.

As the asteroid shattered the Mad Titan fired blast upon blast of cosmic energy to keep the God of Destruction at his mercy.

Beerus powered up and kicked one of the blasts away, then grabbed hold of one of the asteroid shards to fling at his foe.

Thanos shattered it with a massive blast from both hands, only for Beerus to then fly in and drive his foot into his jaw.

Thanos held his footing and clobbered Beerus to the ground with the back of his hand, etching a thick crescent that struck Beerus multiple times to hold him in place.

Thanos then raised and squeezed his hand overheard, crunching down the energies of space into a black electric void around his fist.

He pulled his fist back ready to strike with all his might and then, he hesitated. Beerus had his palm held up, exuding the same ghastly glow that heralded his greatest technique.

Beerus used his moment to get on his feet and headbutt Thanos in the chin. The energy he had gathered was disrupted, bursting like a stormcloud upon them both.

The two were forced to separate, taking deep breaths as the storm raged in before them. Beerus eliminated it with a quick Hakai, only to be caught unawares as Thanos charged him like a mad bull, and clobbered his energy clouded fist across his face.

Beerus endured the wailing blows for a steady ten seconds before the Mad Titan had his fill, and grinned at the sight of blood on his gauntlets.

Beerus' eyes widened with a ghastly glow, signaling his counterattack. He exerted a burst of energy to repel Thanos, then cupped his hands to create another miniature sun, albeit one twice as big as his own body.

He threw it at Thanos who easily caught it against his hands and began to crush down on it. Beerus filled the sun with energy blasts to increase its size, then raised one pointer finger and shot a single thin blast to detonate the sun upon him.

He then took a moment to roll the stiffness out of his neck and stroll towards his enemy, taunting their tenacity, "I know you aren't dead yet, Mad Titan."

"And yet still, you approach me...!" Thanos uttered cruelly a glimmer of his energy emerging beyond the dust.

Beerus shifted left out of the way of one blast, only to get pegged by the second. He dug his heels into the ground and raised his hand to destroy the third with a Hakai.

He then paused, and glanced upward. More crystals were gravitating upon his location, but their purpose was different, he felt it in the air...

He gestured his pointer finger around to destroy them as he did the sun, keeping his one eye on the Mad Titan as they walked nearer.

Thanos smirked and fired two blasts in rapid succession, both getting kicked higher up. But right then and there he snapped his fingers, turning the blasts into bright flashes amplified by the crystals surrounding them,

He pushed on as Beerus screamed and hissed, planting one hand over his eye as it felt like it was being boiled over.

Thanos gathered the power to make a planet kneel in his right fist, and thrust it straight at Beerus' chest ready to cave the God of Destruction's heart, and raise it in tribute to his lost mistress.

But then, there was a calm. For a brief moment, Beerus' aura turned blue and silver, and his body shifted away from the graze of enemy's fist before they could comprehend what was happening.

In this moment Beerus got behind Thanos, planted a hand on his back, and concentrated most of his power into his armor.

A large number of cracks appeared across his chest plate, and Beerus' aura returned to normal with him confidently putting his hands behind his back as Thanos staggered forth.

The Mad Titan leaned over shoulder with a sneer as he uttered with unfathomable intrigue, "Ultra Instinct...?"

Beerus was smug, believing himself to be untouchable in that moment.

He truly did not **know **how Thanos **defiled** the meaning of that word.

Thanos raised his energy clad hands to his sides and turned to Beerus appearing ready to strike. Then, suddenly, he was gone, and Beerus didn't even have time to change expressions before the Mad Titan clapping both hands against his skull.

He then grabbed on tight and squeezed, burrowing one of his giant hands into Beerus' eye socket.

"Hardly makes a difference when your reflexes can't perceive where your enemy is coming from."

Beerus grabbed onto Thanos' wrists and grunted with all his might, "And you're hardly the first teleporter who has annoyed me!"

The two were locked into a grappling war, neither budging an inch. It took Beerus splashing a huge amount of energy blasts into Thanos' body to get the titan to budge enough for him to break free.

Beerus then turned and dashed backwards, evading another of Thanos' blasts.

His vision was taking a bit to readjust to things. He'd have to rely on rusty instincts a bit to stand toe-to-toe with the Mad Titan.

He stood and waited for Thanos to strike, his body moving on its own towards the right. Thanos struck with a heavy backhand, and Beerus ducked under it.

He then tapped his pointer finger against the center of Thanos' armor and the cracks grew larger. Thanos grit his teeth and bashed both his hands on top of Beerus' skull.

Beerus crossed his arms to block the attack then thrust them out to throw the arm off, whipping around to kick Thanos in the back of the neck.

Thanos teleported behind Beerus and grabbed his tail, dragging him back down into the dirt.

"Stay down." He uttered as he raised the gravel around his foe to envelop him in a shell of adamantium.

Beerus wasted energy to break free and then quickly thrust out to headbutt Thanos in the chest. Thanos smashed his fists against the sides of Beerus' head, rattling his brain, then turned and tossed him out into space like trash.

Beerus spun around and then regained focus long enough to press his feet against another wandering asteroid. He paused with mischievous intent and then flew behind the massive rock, launching it towards Thanos with one swift kick.

Thanos raised his hands to his sides and glared at the asteroid without fear. Beerus prematurely ended the asteroid's charge by detonating it, only to start zipping around and kicking the separate rocks towards the Mad Titan.

It was a little difficult, for Thanos to admit, that he could not lock onto the God of Destruction and mount a counterattack. He focused on blasting apart the rubble with ease, remaining on the lookout for anything purple in the air.

The moment even a glimpse of it entered his sight, Thanos concentrated all his firepower upon him.

Weary nerves made for slight, but powerful miscalculations. For what he saw wasn't the mighty destroyer, but an energy blast he had left behind.

Thanos realized this the moment he fired. A moment too late.

Beerus darted straight forward and delivered a flurry of punches to Thanos' armor, shoving him across the ground. Thanos buckled down and clobbered Beerus down the side of his face, stalling his advance. He then grit his fist and smashed the bottom of Beerus' jaw.

Once he launched the God of Destruction into the air he commanded the crystals around them to form a coffin upon him once more. Even if the end result of death was impossible to achieve, he would see that Beerus wore his body out breaking free.

He ensnared Beerus and dragged him straight down into the ground, taking this chance to pound him a few times in the face.

Beerus grit his teeth and let loose a series of blasts, much like the first time he broke free. He then guided the stray bullets upward, and rained hell upon the battleground.

He floated in the middle of this rain as it ripped through the stone and left less room for Thanos to stand upon. Thanos teleported behind Beerus and attempted to grab him behind the skull.

Beerus dodged out of the way and then jabbed Thanos in the elbow to try and break it. Thanos backhanded him in retaliation, gravity dragging him to a large stone platform.

He tucked his hands behind his back as Beerus floated there, shaking off the weight of the Mad Titan's blow. His body was bruised all over, and a bit of blood dripped from his nose.

He put his hands behind his back and rolled his head around. Thanos sneered, gesturing his hand towards the God of Destruction with a mildly respectful tone.

"I have faced and felled many gods," A smirk grew on his face, "If nothing else, you're more stubborn that the rest."

Beerus looked down upon him and scratched the side of his face, "I have wasted enough time on you. I will finally make you yield in under a minute."

"Bold claim," Thanos uttered, "But its a waste of your last breaths."

"You fail to understand," Beerus tucked his hands behind his back, "I _still_ haven't shown you the full extent of my power."

His body went calm, as a subtle, melancholic air began to surround him, "I wanted to save this power for _you_."

Thanos watched as Beerus' aura began to dwindle a smile crossed his face. As that expression of happiness flashed, suddenly, all the lights in the starry depths disappeared. They had been destroyed, for but a brief moment.

Thanos trembled, but the universe did not do the same.

"Before death comes life. Before life comes creation..." Pure power reverberated through space like a heartbeat, as Beerus body became enlightened with pure, refined sapphire light, shining most brilliantly in his smile, "Before creation, comes **destruction**."

The embers of life in the universe reignited, sounding the climax of this battle of titans.

Thanos clenched his fists and grit his teeth, defying the destructive might that calmly washed over him.

Beerus was there one second, then gone the next, his re-emergence joined by a hurricane gale throwing the debris of this castle into chaos.

Thanos felt cracks in his skin and bones form as he grappled with the God of Destruction's full might. His cosmic energy shattered slowly as his fists made contact with Beerus'.

He attempted to grab Beerus out of the air and crush his skull, putting finality to their struggle.

Beerus dodged right out of the way and his enhanced speed allowed him to rapidly pummel Thanos' body all over, a thousand blows unleashed in a second.

Thanos blocked half of them with his bare hands, the rest putting the final damage necessary to shatter his armor.

He staggered back, plummeting off the edge into the eye of this destructive space storm.

He concentrated a massive blast straight at the God of Destruction that parted these devil's winds, but Beerus flipped over and rode atop the beam, grinding down towards its master quicker than the speed of light.

He rammed his knee into Thanos' face and purple blood sprayed out on his pants. Still the Mad Titan raised his mighty hands in defiance, his quick bursts of energy disintegrating upon contact with Beerus' aura.

And in that moment Thanos shook, knowing then the true power of his foe, and a momentary lapse of fear upon his stone heart.

Thanos stretched his hands out and forced them together, gathering all the remaining crystals into one massive spear behind Beerus.

Beerus glanced over his shoulder for a smirk and then launched an invisible blast into Thanos' gut to send him hurtling upon a wandering asteroid.

Thanos rose slowly and raised his arm to block Beerus' descent, his gauntlet shattering in the process.

He then smirked and teleported behind Beerus, applying a hand to the back of his skull. Though the demon lord was long dead, the Mad Titan readily invoked the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to bind Beerus to the asteroid via a multitude of crimson chains.

Then he pulled away and let the spear rapidly descend to deliver its masters' edict of Death.

Beerus squeezed his fists and hundreds of energy blasts erupted around the chains to reduce the the spear to dust. Thanos dropped out of the sky and smashed his back hard enough to shatter the asteroid but, in doing so, gave Beerus enough freedom to tear the chains right off him.

He then ignited the chains with his destructive anger and whipped them across Thanos' flesh, burning huge wounds close to his vital organs.

Thanos charged and grabbed Beerus by the face, intent to drag the two through the eternal depths of space for eternity if that's what it took to end his life.

Beerus used his arms and legs to twist around Thanos' arm and break it with a powerful snap, then threw him off behind him. Still the Mad Titan fired powerful blasts with his free hand, slowing but unable to ever truly stop the God of Destruction's charge.

Beerus widened his eyes and crashed into Thanos' chest with all his might, hurtling their bodies through space at breakneck speeds until they finally crash landed on a moon light years away.

Thanos' head lurched back, blood spewing from his grimy mouth as the moon splintered in half behind him.

And Beerus, having laid into his foe with all his might, smirked triumphantly at the success of his final blow.

He dialed back his power a little and then wrapped his tail around Thanos' neck, raising him off the ground and panting slowly from exhaustion.

Suddenly Whis appeared behind him, and a flash of light covered the area. The moon had been restored thanks to Whis reversing time, and the Angel chided the God of Destruction with a few rowdy clicks of his tongue.

"My my, you really had a fun time, didn't you Lord Beerus?" He took his mystical staff and used it to lightly bonk Beerus on the head, "But lest we forget, we don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves."

Beerus glared over his shoulder with his hands tucked cleanly behind his back, "It hardly matters now anyways. We got what we came here for..."

"Hmmmm, yes," Whis stared at the confident, smirking face of the Mad Titan and said following a curious hum, "So, Mr. Mad Titan, had your fun too?"

"Heh..." Thanos chuckled weakly and offered little resistance, "Tell me what it is you wish to know, God of Destruction...and I shall watch as the futility of your mission destroys you."

Beerus arched his brows and applied a tighter grip, "Defiant to the bitter end, aren't we? Very well, Thanos. Now that I've thrashed you so thoroughly, tell me..."

His eyes gave off a sinister glow as he growled, "Where. Is. The Elemental Overlord?!"

_Next Time: My World, His World_


	67. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66: The Weight of My World**

Another day. Another round of the daily grind.

It had been roughly three months of this now. Getting up, getting dressed nicely, going to work. Rinse, lather, and repeat. Joe Dark found himself used to this schedule...scarily so.

Every day its the same thing. Stand behind a counter as people walk up with their groceries, give them their receipt and/or change, say "Have a good day". Rinse, lather, and repeat.

It wasn't the most rewarding job in the world, but as Julius has said, "All great people start from humble beginnings."

To which Joe Dark closed his eyes and grumbled to himself, "And some people get to sit in a music store earning money while they sit on their ass...!"

Obviously, throwing some shade at Alura there, as misplaced as his frustration was. He rolled back the sass as a customer rolled up to his lane, an unassuming young man with a cart full of fruits and vegetables.

"And how's your day going?" He said, forcing a smile as he slid the produce over the scanner and bagged them appropriately.

"Oh you know, its going." The guy was a light talker. Not rude, just seemed to want to breeze through life. There was a bit of envy shared towards his carefree nature...Until he was reminded of Mew.

Once that guy left satisfied another customer rolled up with a variety of food in their cart. He seemed to like crackers a lot...

"What's _cracking_?" Joe Dark said with a wry chuckle, whose energy dwindled as the customer glanced up, clearly unamused.

Following a dry cough he slowly went to work bagging all the groceries. Once again, all neat and organized. While the customer got their debit card out of a messy leather wallet they suddenly made a remark of...

"Hey do you know where I can find some good cheese around here?"

Joe Dark weighed in on that remark for a moment and then followed employee procedure, "We have plenty of cheeses in the back."

"Yeah but that's that processed shit. I want the good stuff. The _pure_ stuff."

Joe Dark slanted his brows and grumbled a little, _"Why does it have to be cheese? I can't eat that blocky shit..."_

The best way he saw to handle this was telling them, "There's other customers in line. Sorry, I need you to move along."

The guy grumbled audibly and grabbed his bags, then made his way out the door. Joe Dark had no time to complain about the man's attitude before another customer rolled up with their groceries lined up on the coaster.

"I want them organized in the bags as they are." They said in a blunt, commanding tone. Joe Dark looked him in the eyes. They were middle-aged, a little overweight, especially in the chin, and seemed to have a blob on their nose.

All comments on appearances had to be kept in the head, no matter how easy the jokes came.

Joe Dark carefully moved the groceries in accordance to how he had them grouped, noting, _"For such an oily looking man he's very organized."_

When the job was done and the receipt was passed along, Joe Dark watched the man begin to depart and comfortably tucked his hands into his pockets to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hey, wait a second..." The man sounded befuddled and Joe Dark opened his eyes just in time for them to turn and gesture hard into his bag, "You put the bananas in with the dairy products!"

"_Oh good fucking grief..." _Joe Dark restrained himself with the tightest of mental bolts and nodded towards the man with a smile that'd scary hyenas, "I'm sorry for my mistake sir."

The man's fat forehead crumpled down as he turned away, where Joe Dark could just make out him saying "Dumb entitled youth..."

Joe Dark felt like he aged a year hearing that, and let out a long, but very quiet sigh as another customer rolled up not long after.

It was a frail lady using a walker to move around and carry her groceries. She carried a small, mischievous smile on her wrinkled face and a well-meaning air about her.

"The nerve of that tub of lard, eh?" She said towards him.

"No comment, ma'am." Joe Dark began to move her groceries as usual.

"Oh you don't need to be so stiff dear," The woman wiggled her brows, "Say what's on your mind, I won't tell."

Joe Dark felt a fleeting sense of joy and a smile crept up the side of his face as he said, "Heh, I bet the excess butter went into his boil."

"Heh heh! Where does he get off getting angry at such a hard, younger worker like you anyways?" She pulled up her purse, reached inside and let out a mutter of, "Shit..."

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh nothing," She waved her hand out and remarked, "Just put the onions back."

Joe Dark narrowed his eyes softly and then, after a few seconds to think about it, peered around, _"Coast is clear..."_

He then stealthily reached into the cash register while whispering, "How much you off by?"

"Oh no, you don't have to-"

"Seriously, how much?"

"...84 cents."

Joe Dark took that amount from the register and handed it to the woman, who then handed it back to him along with the rest of her money. When she went to pick up her groceries he got in her way and said, "Allow me."

She smiled warmly and patted him on the back. He then helped carry her groceries out to the bus stop, since there was no one else waiting in line back inside.

The bus rolled up around this time and the lady slowly started to climb on, carrying the bags on her walker. Joe Dark supported her on the back, "Here, nice and steady."

"Oh ho ho! Getting a little handsy aren't we?" Her sudden remark made him cough up in surprise.

She turned at the top of the steps with a smile and bowed her head, "Thank you very much dear. Such wonderful customer service is lost in this day and age."

"Its no big deal ma'am." Joe Dark said softly.

The woman reached into her bag and pulled out a small rectangular bar, lobbing it at Joe Dark for him to catch.

"Take it, its a protein bar. You won't be getting the ladies with no meat on those bones." She winked twice and smiled a little wider.

"Hmph..." Joe Dark smiled and tucked the bar away for later, "You take care of yourself miss."

"I will, thank you." The doors then hissed shut, and the vehicle departed.

Joe Dark's expression went from smiling to soured, as he couldn't help but think of the lady's circumstances, _"She had a brave face, but she was struggling...When you get that old, it almost seems like your life is over. Too soon, if you ask me."_

He hadn't the time to pontificate. Back to work, as usual.

Lunch time rolled around not too long after and he got to go to the break room with a couple fellow employees, while someone else covered his shift.

He had started packing tuna sandwiches to avoid having to eat fast food. Julius provided some celery sticks and nuts. The normal man's lunch...supposedly.

The other employees were chatting with each other while he tried to eat his meal, and give the occasional moment of attention towards them.

They were talking about some show he'd never heard of. He didn't really have the time to watch TV, but he'd like to.

Julius' advice echoed in his head _"Try and make _friends", which he'd been neglecting to follow for the whole time he's been working here.

"_I'm no social butterfly but...I guess a friend or two might make the days go by faster," _He finished half his sandwich and then waited for a chance to butt into the conversation, figuring out a simple enough topic to start with, "Hey, so how long have you guys been working here?"

The guy with the five o'clock shadow and tired, drooping eyes looked at him and remarked, "Since I was 22? Why?"

"And how old are you now?"

"27."

Joe Dark froze slightly with goosebumps on his arms as the man rattled on a bit, "Started working here after graduating college and getting my business degree. I'm just building up experience and money so I can move to another state and expand my horizons."

Joe Dark stared at the man with a blank expression, untold horrors creeping up in the back of his mind. He started drowning the man's voice out, slowly but surely seeing his own face imprinted over that man's.

"Brrr...!" He shuddered in revulsion.

"What?" The man remarked, "The food here isn't THAT bad."

He'd lost track of the conversation, and really, REALLY didn't want to get back on it. He slowly returned to his meal, chewing like a donkey would his cud, and feeling depressed.

"_Terrible idea..." _Perhaps he didn't need friends outside his own circle...

The rest of his day lagged slower than anyone would ever want it to. But he got through it. Just like every other day.

And when it seemed he could just walk out the door, he wasn't even allowed that much.

"Excuse me." He recognized that slimy voice anywhere. It was his boss, the manager of this store.

He walked up in the standard company attire standing about a couple inches taller than him, and enjoying a lollipop he probably snagged off the shelves for "free".

"What is it, sir?" Joe Dark grumbled, barely holding in his contempt.

The boss man tapped his shoulder with the end of the lollipop stick and leaned in to whisper, "Don't think I didn't see what you did for that old lady earlier."

Joe Dark tried to play innocent and folded his arms, "I gave her some good service, as I do every customer."

"Yeah yeah, good service. Mmm hmm..." The man flapped his gums about a bit and then flicked his spit off the lollipop at him, "From _our_ register."

Joe Dark arched his brows and didn't bother trying to play coy, "It was just a few cents. It made her happy, and ensured she'd come back."

"Sure," The man gestured his fingers out in a floaty manner, "Then it'll be a few dollars for the next guy. Then a slab of meat for the guy after. Then heck, might as well give the guy after THAT ownership of the whole store!"

The man's bluntly turned his gaze upon Joe Dark and pressed his sticky, pudgy fingers against his chest, "Those cents are comin' outta your pay. Do it again and your fired."

Having made his point as concise and threatening as possible, he turned and left. Joe Dark grumbled for a while and then sighed his way out the front doors.

"_God, what I wouldn't give for him to secretly be a demon." _But tragically, mundane problems these days had no bizarre solutions.

He'd been living a normal life for practically half a year now. His greatest nemesis going from a destruction hungry brother he never knew he had...to a sitcom boss at a minimum wage cashier job.

And he _hated_ it.

"_From Dark King to Dark Cashier..._" He never had any attachment to his prior namesake, but it sure sounded a hell of a lot better than what people referred to him as now.

After a brief respite walking through the streets on this cloudy day he walked up to Alura's workplace just in time for her to be leaving. She waved goodbye to the two idiots and then hoisted her guitar over her shoulder.

She turned to him and muttered with her usual lack of expression, "Oh. Hello, Joe Dark."

Half slumped and feeling like shit, he hurried her along by saying, "Lets go home."

"Oh," She murmured, "Ok then."

They made their way towards the bus stop at the edge of town. Along the way Alura talked about her day, "It was a little busy today, Joe Dark. I got to sell a few CDs to customers too."

"That's good..." He half-heartedly replied.

She tilted her head and after some time remarked, "Are you ok, Joe Dark?"

He flinched and quickly grumbled, "I-I'm fine!"

It was really bad if even **she** sensed something was wrong...When even he couldn't piece together what was bugging him.

He crumpled his fists into his pockets and they continued down the sidewalk that seemed to be longer than usual today.

Then, he heard some rustling coming from his right...and a muffled scream.

His body froze momentarily and he took a couple steps back to face a dark-filled alleyway. Two guys, probably just a little older than he was, were crowded together hunched over in front of someone who was kicking their legs up in a struggle.

He narrowed his eyes and hesitated to move towards it. He just...didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Shit, why'd you push her so hard? She's bleeding!"

Suddenly, something in Joe Dark's heart revolted against his apathy.

His fists tightened and he pulled back to the alleyway arching his brows furiously towards the two young men, who were now tossing everything they could out of a purse just to claw the owner's wallet out.

"Got it!" The dirty blonde haired person hoisted his prize proudly in the air.

Their targets legs stopped kicking, and fell stiff on the ground.

Joe Dark's eyes widened, a bit of darkness flaring up around his body.

"Joe Dark...? What's going on?" Alura waddled up beside him.

He swung his hand firmly before her face and growled, "Cast an illusion. I'll be right back..."

He sank into the depths of darkness, advancing upon the two young criminals' from behind. They ruffled some money out of the wallet and stuffed them into their patchwork pockets.

No fear. No panic. Nothing but greed in their hungry, tired eyes.

Joe Dark pulled himself from the shadows surrounded in a pitch black coat. The two criminals started to see their own breaths and grappled their arms together for warmth.

"D-Did the temperature just take a nosedive or..."

The one on the right grit their teeth and slowly panned their head towards Joe Dark. He watched as their pupils shrank, and they let the true meaning of fear take hold over their empty hearts.

"O-Oh shit...!" The man on the left gasped.

"**Leave." **Joe Dark uttered in a deep, echoing voice.

The man on the right pissed his pants and then scrambled towards the opposite end of the alleyway, tripping over the trash bags while screaming at the top of his lungs.

The man on the left dropped the wallet and fled the scene in the opposite direction.

Joe Dark slipped free from the shadows bitterly glaring at them both. His body urged him to raise his hand and fire a shot just to scare them a little more...But they weren't worth the energy.

He turned to the victim of their crimes of larceny...And felt his heart sink.

Collapsed in a heap with blood leaking against the brick wall was the old woman he helped earlier that day. All the energy in her smile. Gone. All the color in her rosy cheeks. Gone.

He fell to his knees and picked up one of her cold, bony hands and held onto it tight.

"H-Hold on! I'll call an ambulance, you'll be ok!" He pleaded with her, but all he was doing was rattling a corpse.

Nothing on her moved, not even her eyes.

He sat there, waiting for something to change. A miracle, if need be.

A miracle, would never happen.

His gaze went cold and empty, and he let the woman's hand rest upon her lap. Then, he closed her eyes.

As he stood back up he looked at her wallet on the ground and picked it up. Her name was "Alice Sparrow". 63 years old. Divorced. Former nurse. That's what her ID said.

There was a picture of her husband tucked inside, with another picture of her standing next to her daughter and her wife, with their child in-between.

That's what was taken from this world. A mother, a wife, a friendly face, and a good-natured soul.

He was **really** regretting the restraint he showed to those bastards now.

He tucked the wallet into his pocket and marched out of the alleyway with his head hung low, and Alura on stand-by still.

A short distance away, a police car was parked with two cops sitting inside. The noise of murder was obviously _too unimportant_ for them to notice.

His body was trembling with rage to the point he could hear his heart pounding against his chest.

And with that, he found the answer to why he was feeling this way.

"_What the HELL is wrong with this world?!" _He said with his eyes flared wide-open.

He stretched his hand out and opened a dark rift towards the alleyway.

"Joe Dark...?" Alura murmured. He almost forgot her.

"Meet me back home," He said while briefly glancing over his shoulder, "I might be a while."

He marched through the rift and arrived just outside of Mew's home, then continued his march up to the door and started **pounding** on it until he heard an answer.

"Holy shit calm down! I'm coming!"

Mew ran up to the door and pulled it right open, where Joe Dark immediately lunged the wallet into his chest and nearly knocked him over in the process.

"W-What the he..."

Joe Dark stepped back and thrust one finger at him with a scowl, "Read it."

"Where did you...? What are...?" Mew struggled to get a single question out while he stared down at the open wallet.

"Alice...Spa-"

"Alice Sparrow. Recently deceased. Killed by two opportunistic bastards in an alleyway mugging," Joe Dark's words lacked patience or control, and as he creased his arms together he glared Mew straight in the eyes and asked him one major, fatal question, "What the HELL have you been doing with YOUR spare time recently, Mew?"

Mew raised his head and squinted one eye close to shut, "Why are you asking me that..."

"Answer the goddamn question!" Joe Dark exclaimed, making Mew slightly recoil.

Nervously scowling, Mew steadily approached Joe Dark and told him, "I've just been hanging out here."

"Really." Joe Dark voiced his disapproval.

"Hey if you're going to just come marching in here without so much as a 'Hello' I at least want to know why." Mew retaliated with.

Joe Dark squinted firmly, "Its this world, Mew."

He rolled on up to Mew and grabbed him by his shirt, "The world **you've** left behind."

Mew stared back for a while and then pushed Joe Dark off while bluntly telling him, "I don't think I like your tone right now...It reminds me of the old you."

"Shut up...!" Joe Dark grit his teeth and swung his fist out from his chest, "Why is crime still happening?! People can still be picked off on the streets, the cops don't do their damn job, and corruption infects corporations and politics the world over!"

Mew crossed his arms and murmured "Yeah?" almost like he wasn't caring, then rubbed the back of his head, "You've been reading up a lot about that lately, haven't you?"

"Maybe if you didn't stuff your face in front of a TV all the damn time you'd know too...!" Joe Dark growled between his teeth.

Mew stared wide-eyed back at him all aghast, "Are you blaming **me** for that lady's death?"

"I'm blaming **you** for the crime existing in the first place!" Joe Dark pulled his arms out and swung at the ground, "You're supposed to be the Elemental Overlord right?! A hero, right?! But here you are loafing about while people suffer and die!"

Mew began to arch his brows and dig his fingernails into his skin, "You honestly think that's what I'm saying?"

"What **are** you saying, Mew?" Joe Dark whispered scornfully, "What is the message you're sending here, huh?"

Mew closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and murmured, "You need to calm down. Then we can talk this over..."

He started to turn away when Joe Dark latched onto his shoulder and forced him to look back at his gritted teeth, "You just want to run away because otherwise you'll be forced to think...!"

Mew's eyes turned nasty and some heat started to rise from his body. Nevertheless, Joe Dark pressed on, telling him, "Stop running away from your responsibilities...! You have the power to change the world...!"

"Just like Prometheus did, right?" Mew forced his grip onto his brother's hand and threw it off, glaring him square in the eyes.

Joe Dark rubbed his sore wrist and growled.

Mew stood firmly in place and swung out towards the horizon, "Look at what happened when someone like him got the power to 'change the world'. He used it to rule over everyone from the shadows, exploiting loopholes and covering up murders as he gained more and more power."

Tearful and bitterly, Joe Dark mumbled, "You're nothing like him...!"

"That's not the point," Mew crossed his arms back together, "This isn't a world of superheroes, Joe. We're only a handful of individuals with incredible power and with that comes an even more incredible responsibility."

Mew shrugged towards his right and grit his teeth, "You think I don't see the world suffering? Every day I wake up, turn on the TV, and either someone is dying, or someplace is being destroyed. And the media takes advantage of their suffering for attention."

"And you know what?" He said in a strained, raspy voice, "I **hate **it. I have to exercise...SO MUCH goddamn restraint, just to not go marching into one of those news stations and giving those assholes a piece of my mind."

"And you know **why** I don't do that, Joe?" Mew pointed at him so calmly that it left Joe Dark with a chill in his chest, "Because I'm not some freak with delusions of godhood. My power, my responsibility, its all to help humanity survive themselves."

He swung his arm out and clenched his fist, "They can't punch meteors, or fight gods and monsters. Even a simple fire has the potential to wipe out hundreds of lives. I save lives as much as I can by stopping natural disasters and throwing my weight against invaders, but that's all I **should** do."

Joe Dark flailed his hands out in exasperation, "I-I'm not asking you to do something about all of humanity! Just the bad people! The criminals!"

"The newscasters are criminals. The publication of their crimes is just approved by the masses who watch them," Mew turned his head and scoffed, "And so the corporations who fund them are criminals too. Then the government are criminals too, for funding their shit."

He narrowed his eyes with a burning glare, "See how easily this can escalate? I choose to punish criminals, and I won't just stop at the common thugs. I'll take it all the way to the top. I'll raze the Earth worse than Prometheus ever did with just one bullet."

"I'll. Become. **Alex**."

Joe Dark froze and stuttered, these words ringing in his ears.

Mew stared down at his right fist all melancholic and held it tight, "This power is supposed to protect, not be used for murder."

"T-Then, isn't there some other way to use our powers for good...?!" Joe Dark was reeling from his brother's explanation, desperate to find some answer that agreed with his struggles, not buried him further into confusion.

Mew lazily shook his head and then crossed his arms, "You never got to see what Sancturia was like under Gravitus' rule. He gave them everything they ever wanted. They readily agreed to practically all his insane laws and decrees because he was like a God to them."

Mew's eyes slacked halfway open and he placed a hand on his hip, "Humans grow through struggle. If you give them everything they want and they never work for it, that's not growth...You're just molding slaves. And I refuse to be the subject of worship."

He then stared straight at Joe Dark and said, "I get it. You're seeing the worst of humanity and want to do something about it. I'm...not telling you you're wrong to do so..."

He crossed his arms and said, "But if you want to fight, you have to fight by Earth's rules. We can't be gods. Humanity's not ever going to be ready for what we are."

Joe Dark hung his head and hands out and pleaded to his brother, "And **how** am I supposed to do that?"

Mew shrugged.

"...I see," Joe Dark's eyes turned vacant, and slowly but surely he gripped his fists tight until his whole body shook, "So I should just be a bystander...?"

"Bro..." Mew extended his hand out and Joe Dark weakly brushed it aside.

"I can't...I can't _accept_ that...Not at all."

He slumped back towards the dark rift, with Mew's worrying gaze trailing him the whole way.

He changed his exit back to his mansion home, dropping him off at the front door. He tapped the front door and started to take off his shoes, which felt as heavy as lead.

Greeting him inside was Julius, "Welcome back, Master..."

Joe Dark crawled into the house and Julius' suddenly shutting up spoke volumes.

"You're not doing so well."

Joe Dark stop and hung his shoes off his fingertips. Julius patted him on the shoulder and greeted him with a smile, "Do you need to talk?"

Joe Dark shook his head and lightly brushed his hand off, "I'm tired, Julius. Can it wait?"

"I feel like it shouldn't," Julius firmly put his best foot forward to get in his way and look at him, not with cold, stern eyes, but a tender smile, "You know I can handle whatever's on your mind."

Joe Dark's gaze slowly panned towards the couch and he nudged towards it.

Julius nodded and then glanced over his shoulder, "Miss Alura, how would you like to make dinner tonight?"

Alura poked her head out from the dining room and replied, "Really?"

"Yes, go right ahead. It'll make a nice change of pace."

Alura cracked a tiny smile and then trotted into the kitchen. Julius then faced Joe Dark and whispered, "There, that shall keep her busy."

They then made their way to the couches and sat across from each other. Joe Dark spilled his heart about the days' events, including the talk with Mew, all while Julius listened and nodded, all without speaking up until it was done.

"I see..." Was the first thing he muttered, "I know this might not be what you want to hear right now, but I do agree with Mew here."

Joe Dark grabbed the sides of his head and ruffled his hair around with a growl of frustration. Julius looked towards him with a soft gaze and gentle remark of, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that though. She sounded like a nice lady."

Joe Dark dropped his hands between his legs and moaned, "What am I supposed to do about these feelings of inadequacy, Julius?! Am I supposed to just feel...trapped, powerless to do anything about the world I live in?!"

Julius closed his eyes and murmured, "Like father like son..."

Joe Dark poked his weary head up a bit and Julius snapped his fingers out, "Your father thought much the same way when he returned from the war. He too, saw the worst of what humanity had to offer, and it changed him forever."

"In fact, its what inspired him to run for Senator in the first place," As Julius kept speaking Joe Dark's eyes remained wide and attentive, "He believed he could change the world from within. 'To be there for the people, as one of the people'. That was the ideal he strode to live by."

Joe Dark's eyes began to turn away with him starting to contemplate these words, "To be there for people, as one of the people..."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then bridged his hands under his chin while staring blankly forward, _"How can I do that...? Be there for people, as one of the people...Father, Mew, they chose to save the world in their own ways, but if I want to truly make a difference...I can't walk the same paths they did."_

He felt the weight of the world slowly pressing upon the back of his shoulders, causing a nervous sweat to drip on his face, _"But how far must I walk? How high must I climb? Senator? Governor? No, those aren't good enough. I have to aim higher." _

His eyes opened, narrowed by the iron will of his determination growing, _"I have to go farther."_

He curled his fingers inward and gently lowered his hands to his knees, _"Even if the path I walk to get there is impossible, I don't care. In me flows the blood of those who've refused to give up, even when faced with the impossible, and the spirit of those who cared for this planet..."_

He looked Julius square in the eyes and told him without hesitation, "I have to become President."

Julius' shock nearly led to his glasses sliding off his face.

Joe Dark gasped heavily and shook his head, "That...that's what I've decided."

"I hope you understand, Master Joseph..." Julius firmly nudged the glasses back into place, "Just _what_ it entails to strive for Presidency."

"I do." He replied.

"_Especially_ given your role in society at present. Rather..." Julius' tone turned mildly grim, "Your fabricated one."

"I know," Joe Dark nevertheless replied, "I'm asking for a struggle. A store cashier, trying to become a President? That'd make me a laughing stock with any other person..."

Julius looked him firmly in the eyes and left no mercy in what he was about to say, "You may potentially waste years of your life away pursuing an impossible milestone. Are you SURE this is what you want?"

"The first sixteen years of my life were a waste, Julius," Joe Dark said, his voice a little wobbly, "But even though I was a worthless nobody, Mew was kind to me..."

He hung his head and fondly recollected these last few months, "He gave me a home. Meals. A shoulder to lean on...Not everyone is that lucky though."

"Yes," Julius nodded, "For all his talk about defending the people, Prometheus merely left them to suffer. All the blood of billionaires he shed did little more than regress society."

"And that's just it isn't it?" Joe Dark quickly rose and raised his voice, "People are out there suffering right now, their cries going unanswered! We should be able to sleep at night, knowing that we'll be able to wake up the next day healthy, wealthy, and secure! The people don't need propaganda disguised as promises! They need actual, discernible change, a person who they can trust and put their belief in, someone who won't yield to money, power, or temptation! They need a President who isn't just a face on the TV, they need a champion of the people!"

He thrust his thumb at his chest as passion overflowed from his every word, "So I don't care if I scrape my way out from the bottom all for nothing! I can't just sit here anymore and watch as the world rots around me!"

He then hung over panting slightly from exhaustion.

Julius rose with a shiver, slowly clapping his hands together before his chest, "If those are the kinds of speeches you're capable of..."

The slight hint of a tear appeared on his cheek, "You'll make a _damn_ fine President, Master Joseph."

He rounded the table to put his hand on his shoulder, looking upon each other as equals, "And I shall support you, _every_ step of the way."

Joe Dark struggled to smile and answer his kindness with thanks, "It...means a lot to hear that, Julius."

When Julius took his hand off he glanced slightly towards the kitchen and remarked, "You should probably tell Miss Alura about this."

Joe Dark laid a hand on his hip and sighed, "I'll tell her someday, when I feel she'll understand what it means."

"Fair enough." Julius nodded.

"Though..." Joe Dark hung his head slightly against his chest, "I would hope that by then, she will have found her own path to walk too. I don't want her to have to walk the same path I do."

A few seconds later they heard the sound of shattering glass coming from the kitchen and jerked their heads towards it in shock.

"Is everyone alright in there, Miss Alura?" Julius hastily remarked.

"I-Its fine..." Alura murmured, "I just...dropped a plate."

What they failed to see, as they left the matter be, was that Alura had been hiding behind the door. Pieces of glass now lied at her feet...with blood dripping from cuts in her hands, which she now pressed against her rapidly beating chest.

Her breathing got hot, and heavy, her mind swirling with so many complicated feelings for her.

Her pupils shrank once she forced her hands over her mouth, and a little wetness trickled out of her eyes.

And from all this, the only thing she could do was stand there and gasp to herself, "W-Why...does my chest hurt...?"

_Next Time: My Uncertain Future_


	68. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67: Deciding the Future**

"And that's all I have for you today on the subject of doing taxes." Said a young, upstanding female teacher decked in a fuzzy vest and minimalist sunglasses.

Her group of students, which included a certain Kairi Aurora, let out a collective groan of relief as the bell rang to end off the school day. Many of them started to round up their books and backpack when the teacher sprung her hand out and shouted, "Ah ah AH!"

Freezing them all right there.

"I still need to give out your homework assignment for today."

Half the students grumbled their way back into their seats while Kairi attentively waited to write it down, twirling her pencil between a pair of fingers.

"Over the weekend I want you all to write a three-page essay answering one question: 'Where do you see yourself after graduation?'"

"Huh?" Uttered Kairi blankly.

"Now, have a good weekend everyone." Having pleasantly sent them on their merry way, the students scrambled to escape the class room before she changed her mind or added more to their load.

Kairi lagged behind the rest clutching the paper with her assignment written on it against her chest. All the while murmuring, "Where do I see myself after graduating?"

She knew the answer. That, as a matter of fact, she DIDN'T know where she would go, or what she'd do. The question had never crossed her mind until now, and now, she realized something dire.

"_I'm less than a year and a half away from graduating..." _She turned her head towards the digital clock outside the classroom and ever second it counted down made a sound that pressed against her heart and stressed her out.

Pouting her lower lip, she swung away from the oppression of time and hastened her way down the hall thinking, _"Where does the time go?"_

It felt like just yesterday that Gravitus' shadow loomed over the city. But even with him gone it didn't feel too different around here.

Now she's able to say "Hi" to her classmates and they say "Hi" back. There are even some who've wanted to be her friend, only for her to pass them up. Shamefully, she just didn't know how to handle making new friends, or understood why people liked her right now.

These thoughts were an attempt to distract her from her main concerns, but sadly, that was pressing right against her chest at the moment, refusing to let her escape.

She crumpled the paper up a bit against her fingertips and groaned, "W-What a **stupid** assignment...!"

After wandering down the hallway for a bit she noticed Maria running towards the entrance with her two new friends, all of them barely hiding their snickers.

"Mmm...What's that trio of troublemakers up to now?" She hurried to catch up with them while innocently hollering, "Maria!"

This made the trio flinch on the spot and huddle close to one another, staring at Kairi with perfectly doe-ish eyes. Maria in particular quickly tucked her hands behind her back.

"Where are you three going?" Kairi got in close and tried to peek over Maria's head, only for her to slowly lean back with a big, giggling smile.

"We're going to hang out at my place!" Shouted the young Nikolas.

"Really?" Just as Kairi was about to make a discovery Maria and the two bad influences make a break for the door.

"See you later, mama!" Maria waved her hand up, accidentally revealing a bottle of glue she was holding.

She pulled it right back down with a blush and made her escape out the door. Kairi groaned angrily and then shouted, "Don't forget your homework!"

Slumping into a pout, she heard some violent rattling behind her and glanced to see a few students with their hands stuck on the locker handles.

She slowly walked out the door and sighed, _"Those kids, not having to think of their future...Ooooh how I envy them."_

And speaking of children, Mew was standing outside the school in his usual spot turned sideways, obviously watching Maria's group run away.

And of course, he was grinning from cheek-to-cheek.

Kairi looked at him feeling about as tired as a middle-aged housewife and then tried to sneak on past him. Only for him to run up and stick to her side like glue.

"Hey hey, gonna just walk off without saying hello?"

Kairi arched her brows and moaned, "Not in the mood today, Mew."

Mew pulled back and laid his hands behind his head, "Somebody's _grouchy_. Tough quiz today?"

"No its...!" She caught herself about to let her guard down and quickly turned away with a blush in her cheeks, "Oh, you wouldn't understand!"

"Which means..." Mew cheekily replied, "You're going to tell me eventually."

Kairi slowly faced him feeling absolutely drained of energy and then her mouth drooped with a heavy sigh, _"I hate when he's right..."_

She pulled her paper out from against her chest and weakly handed it over to him. As he snagged it up she explained, "This is my homework assignment for the weekend."

"Write a three-page essay answering one question..." Mew paused and then perked up with a curious murmur, "Where do you see yourself after graduating?"

He turned towards her and shouted in his lackadaisical tone, "That sounds easy!"

She swiped the paper out of his hand and threw it into her bag.

"Oooookay?" Mew, thank god, went quiet after that.

The two of them made their way to Kairi's home and headed on inside. Kairi plopped her bag onto the floor behind the right couch and then pulled out a pen and notebook.

"_Might as well get started now..." _She bemoaned in her head.

She leaned her back against the couch and tapped the tip of her pen against the paper, unable to put her thoughts onto it.

She heard the couch creak and wearily glanced over her shoulder to find Mew laying down, stretching his arms and legs over both ends with a forced yawn.

"...Why are you laying on the couch?" She murmured.

"Cause its comfy?" Mew happily replied with a snicker before closing his eyes to fully relax.

Kairi pinched the space between her eyes and groaned, "Let me restate that. Why are you laying on **our** couch?"

"Cause I don't feel like going home and laying on mine." It was a simple answer, and totally a Mew one.

"...Haaaaa!" Kairi plopped her work tools by her hips and then rounded the couch saying "Scoot over" in a halfway forceful tone.

Mew pulled his back up against the arm of the couch so that she could sit right down at the edge of her feet. He peeked one eye open and wiggled his mouth into a mischievous smile.

"Sooooo, how's it going?"

"I haven't started yet..." She said, not paying him any heed.

"Its not that hard, just start writing and you'll be done in no time!"

"Mew, have you EVER written anything in your life?" She replied with a seething cold glare his way.

Mew leaned back and never gave a definitive answer on the subject. Kairi then resumed staring blankly at her paper, any words she could come up with appearing as a jumbled mess.

"_Why is this so difficult...? What I want to do after I graduate is...? What I want to do after I graduate is...?!" _Her hand started trembling and she suddenly threw her pen against the paper, causing it to bounce back onto her lap as she flopped back into the couch with a groan.

"AUGH! This is so annoying!" She started digging into her hair and ruffling it like mad.

"Do you need any help?" Mew offered.

"CLAM IT!" She shouted, gesturing firmly his way and giving him a rather fine spook.

After they stared at each other for a while Kairi's hand flopped to the cushion and she awkwardly drew it back up to the side of her blushing face.

"Ugh, fine..." She said, feeling it couldn't hurt to get his opinion, "Mew, where do you see yourself in a few years?"

Mew leaned back with a comfy smile and said, "I dunno, probably doing the same thing I'm doing now. Relaxing, playing video games, spending time with friends and family..."

"That's it?" Kairi groaned, almost like for once, she expected something a little more thought-provoking out of him, "That's REALLY it?"

Mew peeked one eye open and remarked, "Hey if it ain't broke!"

"Unbelievable..." She pinched the space between her eyes yet again and grumbled for a while.

"What's got your panties in a bunch?"

She swung her arm out and yelled, "A job?! Have you ever thought about a job?!"

"...Should I be?" Mew's comment was as sincere as it could get.

"Maria?!" Kairi lashed out a little further, "Did you forget about HER?!"

Mew paused with a wide-eyed stare, flinching when she slapped down on the couch between his legs, "Damn it, Mew! She's going to want to do more with her life someday! And how are you going to sustain her curiosity? With your powers?!"

"I mean...I got that endless debit card, sooo..."

"And what if its not endless? What are you going to do then?"

Mew started to close his eyes and shrug, "I'll worry about that when that happens."

She clapped the couch again to jolt his eyes open while yelling, "Worry about it NOW! This isn't just your future Mew, its ours!"

Mew's eyes thrust all the way open as he aped her words in confusion, "Ours?"

Kairi paused and slowly her pupils shrank, with what she said taking its dear sweet time getting to her brain. She pulled away quickly with a blush and yelled, "GAAAH! Why did I think you could help?! You're useless when it comes to stuff like this!"

Mew decided to sit up and scoot a little closer to her, "Why're you asking me this anyways?"

The pressure was building inside of her and felt set to burst. In one fit of rage she tossed her notebook onto the table so hard it slid over to the other side, upon which she then threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Cause I don't know what I want to do!"

She then grabbed the top of her head and grit her teeth in a painful scowl.

Mew calmly crossed his arms and sounded surprised when he said, "You've never thought about that?"

"No!" She screamed against her will, floundering in a wave of self-doubt and misery, "God, how could I let this creep up on me?!"

She covered her face entirely in her hands and her voice came out all muffled, "I'm not ready to be an adult!"

"What seems to be the problem here?" Came the luxurious sound of Auris' voice from around the corner, as she wandered up from out of the basement, a fluffy duster in hand.

"Oh you know, homework assignment." Mew said with a lofty air to his words.

Auris came up beside them and looked down at the fallen notebook, picking it up and examining it in thorough detail.

"Ah, I see..." She said as she laid the notebook on the table.

Auris then looked at her miserable daughter, followed by slowly moving to look at Mew, "Are you trying to help her, Mew?"

"Trying, yeah. She asked for it, but..."

"Hmmm..." Auris pressed a finger to her lips and then gave a slow, gentle nod, "Let me ask you something, Mew...What type of job do you think I'd be good at?"

"What job YOU'D be good at?" Mew's eyes sprang open in surprise.

"Just humor me for a moment." She playfully wagged her hand at him.

Mew tightly crossed his arms while Kairi pulled her hands off and slumped against the back of the couch.

"Well..." Mew gave it some thought and remarked rather suddenly, "I guess you'd make a great bartender. You've got a calm, mature air to you that drinkers would like. Plus you're knowledgeable when it comes to drinks, and you'd look pretty great in a suit."

Auris turned her body around to gaze at it while remarking proudly, "Hmmm, I **would** look good in a suit, wouldn't I?"

Mew suddenly sprung upright and snapped his fingers, turning to Kairi with an encouraging attitude, "I got it! Maybe you and Auris could run a mother-daughter bar!"

"Absolutely NOT!" Kairi grumbled, shoving her arms hard against her chest, "I hate alcohol!"

"Oh," Mew slowly pulled away and then returned to his thinking pose, "Well what do you like then...?"

He thought aloud with this, "You like books, studying, uhhh...You can be pretty strict at times."

As Kairi was about ready to unleash hell from her eyes upon his mortal soul with Auris backing her up, Mew snapped his fingers and shouted, "I got it!"

He then pointed right at Kairi and said, "You should be a teacher!"

"Denied!" Kairi threw her right hand at his face and looked away pouting, "I don't want to deal with a class of hyperactive kids. Maria's friends are enough trouble as is...!"

"...You're not making this easy, Kairi," Mew mumbled in a deflated tone, "Besides, you're good with kids!"

"Oh, so my role in society can only be defined by how motherly I am, is that it?!" She whipped right to misogyny hard enough to give Mew whiplash.

"W-What?" Mew recoiled.

"I'm just going to leave you alone in this minefield, Mew," Auris said, going from pity to warmth in a second, "Are you planning on staying for dinner?"

"Y-Yes?" Mew replied, fighting between staring at her and avoiding Kairi's red-hot glare.

And so Auris exited the room. But as she did, Shina entered from upstairs.

"Hey you two, what's happenin'?" She said, leaning her pregnant belly up against the back of the couch.

"Shina, punch Mew for me." Kairi murmured coldly.

Shina shrugged and pulled back, "I don't know the context for this but..."

She cracked her knuckles with a loud snap and smiled, "Ok!"

Mew pulled away swinging his hands up defensively, "Whoa hang on a second...!"

Shina dropped her hands and chuckled, "I'm just joshing."

She then unleashed a powerful glare upon Mew while remarking, "So what did you _do_, Mew?"

"Nothing! I swear!" Mew defended himself as quick and hard as he could, "I'm just trying to help Kairi with her homework."

"Oh! How sweet!" Shina became all smiles and soothingly swayed her head around with a hand resting upon her cheek.

Kairi laid an arm upon the back of the couch and asked, "Shina, maybe you could help me out?"

Shina popped upright and saluted, "Yes ma'am!"

Kairi sighed and wagged her hand around, "Where do you see yourself in the future?"

Shina fluttered her eyelashes and then pulled away, poking both sides of her belly. Kairi slowly tilted her head and murmured, "That doesn't answer my question..."

Shina then threw her fists down and shouted, "I'm gonna be having a baby sis! Gosh! Have some manners!"

She then quickly steadied herself upright and giggled, "Tee-hee! Sorry, dunno where that came from!"

Kairi blinked a few times.

Shina then started tapping her chin and thinking, "Dunno, haven't really given it any thought."

Kairi slumped over and groaned, "You too?"

"Well I mean, I dropped out, got knocked up, and now I'm gonna be a single mother raising a kid all by my lonesome. My future ain't lookin' too bright there, sis."

Kairi and Mew's eyes widened as Shina said all that with a sincere smile that was slowly getting dragged down by an encroaching sense of dread.

She then quickly clapped her hands up before her chest and exclaimed, "You're thinking about your future, sis? I got an idea! You, Mew and Maria should form a superhero team!"

"A...what?" Kairi's jaw slacked.

"Yeah just think about it! Slap some flashy leather over your bodies, put on a cool mask, and then go around fighting in the name of justice while striking cool poses!"

Shina slashed her right arm over the front of her face and proclaimed, "TERRIYA!"

Nearly giving both her watchers a heart attack.

Mew crossed his arms and started laughing, "I actually like the sound of that. Maria'd definitely get a kick out of it."

"What, so we'd be like Saturn and her friends?" Kairi slowly closed her eyes and nervously fiddled her fingertips atop the couch.

"I...was thinking more like Kamen Riders or Power Rangers," Shina dryly remarked, before springing up with excitement, "Wait, Saturn and her friends have cool battle suits?!"

"Forget I said anything," Kairi squeezed her fist and slid it down the couch, "And forget that idea. I ain't putting on some itchy leather and going around look like a fool!"

"...Well!" Shina turned and waved her hand up, "Good luck with your indecisiveness, sis!"

She then pleasantly hummed her way back up the stairs.

"Augh!" Kairi threw her head forward and buried her face in her hands, "Why is this so hard?!"

"I dunno, why IS it so hard for you?" Mew nonchalantly remarked.

"What?" She glared past her hand looking all irritated.

"You've always struck me as someone who planned ahead."

"Really..." She said in a deflated tone, drawing her head back towards the back of the couch while beginning to slide off.

After a few moments of silence she turned to Mew and asked, almost pleading with him, "You haven't thought about the future, at all?"

"I'm a day-to-day kind of guy. I take things as they come. You know that." Mew started relaxing back into the couch when suddenly, Kairi tugged on his shirt to pull him a little closer.

"Nothing. Nothing at all?" She said, losing the energy in her now shaky voice.

"Nope. Nadda." Mew replied just as he was expected to. All joking, not a hint of seriousness.

Suddenly Kairi's eyes flared open and she shoved him down against the couch yelling, "Well why not?!"

As he rebounded off the leather he propped himself off with one hand and remarked, "Easy now..."

She swung her fist at the back of the couch and nearly hit him in the process, "This is just like you! You never think unless its about fighting!"

She hung her hand and gasped in frustration, "E-Even though this is for our...!"

She forced her mouth shut with gritted teeth and then flared her stare towards him with a growl. He simply sat there looking soured in his expression.

"First Joe, now you..." He sat upright with a sigh and lazily left his hands atop his legs, "What is this, gang up on Mew week?"

"You...!" Before Kairi could unleash her frustrations upon him Mew firmly crossed his arms and told her, "I HAVE thought about my future, ok?"

She slowly raised her eyes as Mew closed his, creasing his forehead with a furrowed brow while letting out a sigh.

"Its just...hard to think of a job I'd enjoy," He cracked half a smile, "I mean c'mon look at me, do I scream 'office worker' to you?"

Kairi crumpled her lips into a pout and muttered, "N-No..."

"And if I'm going to have a job, I want to have one where I don't feel like my powers give me an advantage. Like, imagine if you worked your whole life to become a construction worker, but this guy with no experience but seemingly endless stamina comes along and outdoes you at every turn. Wouldn't you feel like shit?"

"...Yeah, probably." Kairi panned her gaze away from Mew in shame.

"My criteria for a job is one that I know I will enjoy, but not one that I can 'cheat' my way through. So as you can imagine, that's a pretty narrow field."

"But still..." Kairi was too tired to finish the thought, and hunched over feeling sad all over.

"_What am I doing, begging Mew to get a job? Its like I'm practically resigning myself to be his housewife. B-But I don't know...I just don't know what I want to do with my life!" _She grabbed the sides of her heads and felt trapped between invisible walls, wanting to scream, _"And...and why am I calling myself HIS housewife? Do I even want to be with him, when he's so...so...!"_

She poked her head up slightly and saw him sitting there, eyes softly arched in concern towards her. And, without saying a word, he comfortably rubbed her back.

For a moment she felt her tensions melt away, leaving her body trembling, and her biting her lower lip while a tense gulp went down her throat.

"_Kind..." _She slowly turned to look at him with pink flourishing in her cheeks, _"And he bothers to put up with me, and listens to what I have to say. Whenever he does put his mind to something, he's usual successful too..."_

Her cheeks slowly got redder, so she stroked her hair out to cover her face, _"There's...there's nothing wrong with anyone falling in love with him. So why...why is it so difficult for me to admit I am?" _

Mew eventually stopped when she sat upright with a heavy sigh, and plopped her hands atop her legs.

"_I don't want to settle for being someone who relies on others. I want to be someone who can be relied on too," _She tilted her head to face Mew with half a smile, _"Even by you."_

Mew fluttered his eyes a few times and then leaned back with his arms against his chest once more, "Look Kairi, you don't have to get so stressed out about this."

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. Don't be so quick to want to grow up. Someday you'll figure out what you want to be, I just know it."

"..." Kairi turned to her notebook and picked it right up with pen in hand, giving it a click "on" and putting it to the paper, "You're right."

As she started to write her thoughts down fluidly across the pages she smiled and said, "I know **exactly** what I need to say here..."

When the job was done the long weekend awaited her, with the even tenser day of submission following after. When this long stress-inducing day was over with everyone had their papers returned to them, save for hers.

Curious, she waited for every other student to leave before approaching their teacher at the front desk.

"Teacher, I uhhh, noticed you didn't give me my paper back." She said sheepishly.

"Yes I know. I wanted to talk to you about that." As the teacher reached into her shelves to pull the paper out, Kairi tensely gripped the sides of her arms and bit her lower lip.

The paper was slid out, stamped up top with an "A+".

"You passed, with flying colors."

Kairi gripped the paper and couldn't believe her eyes. She looked up at her teacher's smiling face and stuttered, "I-I didn't think it was THAT good..."

"In terms of writing no. I marked a few of your grammar errors," The teacher started a little harsh but then her voice became completely honeyed with joy, "But the rest of it, by god, it took my breath away it was so good! Very unique, and very much 'you', Kairi Aurora."

Kairi squeaked out a grin and chuckled, "R-Really?"

The teacher nodded in agreement, "Absolutely. Its because what you said was honest. So many of my students take this homework assignment as them having to give a definitive, final answer to what they want to be."

"I get some genuine answers out of them like students wanting to be doctors or scientists," She waved her hand around and chuckled, "But then I get some made-up stuff like intergalactic superheroes or...moon biologists."

She then gestured towards herself, luring Kairi in to whisper into her hear, "Keep this a secret between us but...I didn't want to be a teacher when I was in high school."

"You didn't?" Kairi reeled back in surprise.

"No, I originally wanted to be a librarian. But then a few babysitting and tutoring jobs later and I found I really liked teaching. So I changed career paths and well, here I am!"

"So, its good you're taking your time and thinking about this. But if you ever need help, we do have job counselors down the hall who'd love to hear you out."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kairi bowed her head, "Thank you teacher."

As she began to turn away from her teacher, they bridged their hands under their chin with a smirk and said, "Soooo...Whose the boy you're trying to impress?"

Kairi jerked upright and slowly swiveled her head back, laughing awkwardly a while before rushing towards the door shouting, "L-Later teacher!"

She hurried her way out the school feeling as light as a feather and a big old smile on her face.

She was so relieved in fact that she accidentally ran face-first into Mew and bounced off him.

"Look at you!" Mew chuckled while she embarrassingly took a couple steps back, "Must've been a good grade on that report!"

She held her paper out and lifted her head high and proud, "A+!"

Mew looked at the paper and then pulled back with a smile, "Right on! I knew you could do it!"

He held his hand up and just for the heck of it, she clapped it. He then tucked his hands into his pockets and remarked, "Why don't we go celebrate with some ice cream? My treat!"

"Ok fine but not too much, I don't want to ruin dinner," Kairi and him walked along together, with her barely making eye contact as she said in a regretful tone, "Mew I'm...sorry for the way I treated you a few days ago."

"Well you didn't hit me, so no harm done!" Mew had already gotten over it, go figure.

Kairi smiled fondly and shook her head, "Why am I not surprised?"

Suddenly the ground shook, as a powerful flash of white light came from the center of town, summoned by a divine looking pillar of light that came crashing down from high above.

As Kairi stumbled back in surprise she remarked, "W-What's going on now?!"

Mew widened his eyes and replied, "I don't know, I can't sense any presence coming from that pillar!"

"Oh great, is this another invasion?" She groaned.

"Well if it is, we might as well go check the invaders out!" Mew smirked with a fiery passion and then bolted for where the light ended.

Kairi huffed then pouted and ran after him.

They stopped a fair distance away from the light and worked their way to the front of the crowd.

"Excuse me, official Elemental Overlord business, coming through!" Mew said, leveraging his title in a joking manner.

But once they got a good look at the pillar, it was already starting to fade away, with two figures confidently striding out of it.

One was a purple-furred, boney feline with an Egyptian motif, an eyepatch over one eye, and a scarred up looking right arm.

Behind him was a taller, angelic figure with pale blue skin, a ice-cream like swirl of hair, and a orbed staff with a ring around it.

"Awwww," The cat yawned and tucked his hands behind his back as he began to look around, "So this is Sancturia? I was expecting something a little more divine..."

"Oh but just look at the huts Lord Beerus!" The angelic man turned his head towards the nearest, "So tidy and old-fashioned. Wouldn't you like to live in one?"

"What, like some domesticated feline?" The cat remarked sternly, "We don't have time for house hunting, Whis."

Mew's body began to tremble as he said excitedly with some degree of concern, "Beerus and Whis? W-What are they doing here...?"

"Is this trouble?" Kairi whispered.

"Aw nah, probably not." Mew reassured her.

Beerus stopped in the middle of the crowd's gaze and scanned them over, stopping in the center of them to raise his skinny finger towards them all.

"Alright lets make this quick..." He said with a halfway tired tone, his eyes beginning to narrow menacingly, "Have any of your mortals heard of the one they call the Elemental Overlord?"

Mew's teeth snapped together while Kairi turned to him and growled in an irritated fashion.

"Trouble. This...is in fact, trouble." Mew chuckled, dread creeping up on the back of his neck...

_Next Time: A Lone Warrior's Anguish! Defeat the God of Destruction, Beerus!_


	69. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68: Quelling a Destroyer's Wrath**

Murmurs were circulating throughout the crowd after the God of Destruction had made his entrance known. He reveled in their plights of fear and curiosity for a moment, before tenderly scratching his right ear impatiently.

"Did I stutter?" He remarked, "I asked if any of you know about the Elemental Overlord. Comply, or face destruction."

"_Straight and to the point. Yep, that's Beerus alright..." _Mew thought, edging back into the crowd quietly and bringing Kairi along with him, _"But why me? Why now?"_

"Mew!" Kairi whispered, quickly gritting her teeth and dragging him closer to her ear, "This cat person looks really, really dangerous. What are we going to do?"

Mew glared at the God of Destruction and knew he didn't have time to make up a plan, _"It'd be suspicious if I went out and grabbed Riku's help. Who knows what he'd do to Sancturia too..." _

Mew tapped her on the shoulder and began to move out, whispering, "You go and find Maria, keep her safe. I'll try and wiggle some information out of them."

"Are you sure?" She said, hissing through her teeth in worry, "You're the one they're after!"

"Not necessarily," Mew remarked with a cheeky shrug, "There _was_ three of us at one point."

"Excuse me." Beerus suddenly chimed in, his ears noticeable perked up as he pointed specifically at Mew.

"What are you two chatting about? Sounds interesting..."

"_Shit, forgot he had good hearing." _Mew winced and then gestured back at Kairi to get her to go. And then, leaving his conscience clean for the time being, put his hands behind his head and jollily walked towards the God of Destruction with a smile.

"Nothing much! Just regular friend talk!" He quickly snapped from one topic to another to lower suspicion, on top of masterfully feigning ignorance "So you are...?"

Beerus gave out a rough cough with a fist upon his mouth and said, "Hmph, where are my manners?"

He then raised a glare towards Mew and the crowd behind him stating firmly, "I am the God of Destruction, Beerus. And you will learn to respect that."

While the rest of the crowd trembled, Mew felt goosebumps rising all over his skin, and his smile wobbling with excitement.

"N-No kidding?" Mew stretched his hand out and said, "Pleased to meet you, Beerus! My name is Mew!"

Beerus stared at his hand for a while. As Mew withdrew it slowly, Whis suddenly leaned down and shook it.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Mew," He said in a pleasant tone, "I am Whis."

Mew smiled and then put his hands in his pockets, "So what brings you both to Sancturia?"

Whis stood and tapped his staff on the ground, "We're looking for a particular person."

"I heard. Elemental Overlord, huh?"

"Are you familiar with them, by chance?" Beerus said, unable to hide his aggression.

Mew shrugged and wagged his hand out of the pocket, "Not familiar per se, but I have heard of them."

"Lead us to him. **Now**." Beerus said, firmly crooking his brows.

Mew swung his hands up in a floaty manner and said, "Whoa slow down there buddy. He's not here at the moment."

Beerus flinched and singled down on the wrong part of the sentence, "Buddy? Call me that again and I will-"

"Ah ah," Whis lightly tapped him on the back of the head, "Temper, Lord Beerus."

Beerus closed his eyes and dryly coughed "Right" before shifting into a somewhat more gently approach, "And when shall he return?"

"I don't know. Could be a few hours, might be a few days..." Mew felt he was teetering on the edge of believe ability, especially where Whis' perception was concerned.

"I can wait." Beerus cut him off.

"W-What?" Mew stuttered.

"Whis, lets go make residence at that gaudy pyramid we saw on the way in." Beerus and Whis began to turn, the Angel fluttering with delight.

"Mmm, excellent choice, Lord Beerus."

"_Drat! Can't let them get comfy here!" _Mew suddenly stretched his hand out and shouted, "B-Before you go anywhere...!"

Beerus' head creaked back with a vaguely caring glance.

"How'd you guys like some...ice cream!" Mew snapped his fingers, clearly recalling that to be the two's weakness.

Beerus' ears suddenly perked up and his eyes and mouth widened like a hungry cat as he shouted, "Ice cream?!"

He quickly resumed his normal posture with a flurry of coughs and remarked, "Hmph, fine. We'll see how your desserts measure up to a God's palate."

"_Whew...!" _Mew uncurled his fist, _"That'll buy me some time." _

"Alright. Follow me!" Mew, for the moment, was allowed to lead the God of Destruction along. The intensity he gave off, however, affected everyone they passed by.

"_Sorry fellas. Not much else I can do at the moment." _He tried to keep a straight face as they arrived at the nearest dessert shop and headed inside.

Naturally the paying customers were all dropping ice cream cones and spoons everywhere when the two beings made their presence known.

The gasps they let out eventually reached the front counter, causing the lone employee to crane their head back, as all color went flushed from their face.

"M-May I take your order...s-sirs?"

"Yes, I'd like one of your finest chocolate sundaes. Withhold the nuts." Beerus said, acting like a proper customer.

"Same goes for me. Add some whipped cream too, if you would." Whis said in turn.

The employee's gaze panned down to Mew, who simply leaned on the counter and whispered, "Just go with it."

The employee nodded slowly, then faster, as they retreated in a haste to do their job, managing to do so in under a minute.

Mew then picked up the tray in one hand and paid the exhausted employee extra with the other.

"Sorry...!" He said through gritted teeth as he left to sit at a table with the two unwanted guests.

"Here you go! Two chocolate sundaes!" Mew said with a smile.

"Ooooh my, they do look delicious~" Whis said heartily as he picked up his spoon and dug in.

Beerus did the same, enthusiastically putting the ice cream into his mouth.

A second later both their expressions froze wide-open, left in a state of impermanent bliss. Whis popped his spoon out and raised his head high in delight, "This is positively splendid!"

Beerus softly pulled his spoon out and chuckled, "Soft, creamy, but just the right amount of sugar. Not bad. Reminds me of the stuff from back home."

And so he gladly took another bite.

Mew sat down in front of them and saw that the rest of the customers and had dragged their chairs into the corners of the building.

With a heavy sigh he was just glad to know they were happy.

He leaned crooked into the chair and gestured his hand out towards the two, "So why're you after the Elemental Overlord anyways?"

Perhaps it was the ice cream softening his attitude, but Beerus calmly told him, "I don't see how that's any of your concern."

"Well he is something of a hero around here..." Mew mumbled back.

"Hero? So that's what they call him here..." Beerus said, returning briefly to a state of irritation as he chomped down another bite of ice cream.

Mew's body felt tenser, and the God of Destruction wasn't even trying to intimidate. His presence just gave off a natural warning to "RUN!", even if such an act was futile at best.

"_Shit, now that I got this far I don't even know where to go from here. How am I supposed to convince BEERUS of all people to leave?" _

When Beerus suddenly raised his eyes towards him, Mew's smile briefly turned into a sneer.

"Just who are you, anyways?" A innocuous question, made deadly by the cat's natural animosity.

"What do you mean?" Mew played along.

"The others cower, as they should, but you...?" Beerus pointed at him with his spoon, "You're perfectly content hanging around us."

"_Well I wouldn't go __**that**__ far." _Mew raised a dry chuckle.

"Not to mention..." The sound of Beerus tapping the side of his bowl unnerved Mew, "Your power feels **different** from everyone else's."

Mew scratched the side of his face and remarked, "Well what can I say? I'm one-of-a-kind!"

"Hmmm, yes. Of course..." Beerus slowly returned to his ice cream while closing his eyes.

Suddenly, as Mew felt he could spare a moment to relax, he felt a shot of aggression bearing right towards his face and a second later, Beerus was throwing his spoon right at it.

Mew froze up and, entirely on instinct, stopped the spoon with his powers a mere centimeter from his nose.

He then grit his teeth and stuttered, _"C-Crapbaskets...!"_

"One-of-a-kind indeed..." Beerus slowly opened his eyes, a faint purple aura adding to the intensity of his glare, "**Elemental Overlord**."

As the spoon fell to the table Mew waved his hands around and said, "L-Look, I can explain!"

Only for Beerus to stand and put the bare end of his bony knuckle close to his face. A loud snap broke off from impact with Mew's face, as the young Overlord found himself hurtling out the window at hundreds of miles per hour.

Upon hitting the ground he quickly slapped his hands down and struggled to keep himself stopped in place.

He managed it right before he could bowl anyone over, leaving him hunched down on all fours with a feral posture and his teeth grit in a panic.

Beerus levitated out of the ice cream parlor with his hands behind his back and a ghastly air surrounding him. The immediate crowd ran away, tripping all over themselves and screaming.

"It took quite some doing to hunt you down..." Beerus scowled, "Hound of the 'higher-ups'!"

Mew's eyes flared open and he felt a trickle of blood down his nose, _"'Higher-ups'?! What do those guys have to do with me?!"_

He shook his head and pushed himself to his feet, remaining slightly hunched over as he swung his arm out and exclaimed, "I think there's been a HUGE misunderstanding here! I'm not the guy you're after!"

"Oh I **know** that," Beerus rolled his neck around and then dropped to the ground twenty feet away from Mew, "I've done my research. And it makes no difference to me. Different guy, same **leash**."

"Tsk...!" Mew grit his teeth and squeezed his fists, _"Why is he so pissed off? I mean...BESIDES being Beerus."_

It only took him a few moments of anxiety induced thinking to realize, _"Ooooh shit, this has to be about what happened to Goku and the others at Prometheus' hands." _

Beerus began advancing upon him with no aggression spared towards him, "I will break every bone in your body, and then deliver your gooey corpse to your masters' domain."

"_Great. There's no convincing him to stop now..." _Mew bemoaned with his eyes shut.

"Uhhh...!" Mew tried to smile and gesture towards him in a friendly manner, "Any chance the free ice cream can buy me some brownie points?"

Beerus arched his brows firmly and said, "Bribing a God of Destruction? That's blasphemy. I shall destroy you even harder now."

"_Fucking...go figure!" _Mew swiped his right arm out and scowled, _"You just had to dig a deeper hole, didn't you Mew?"_

As fire spiraled out from his right arm and began to summon his sword he yelled out to the crowd, "Everyone stay back! You don't want to get caught up in this!"

"Hmmm?" Beerus paused for a moment, giving Mew ample time to draw his sword and leap to bring it down upon his head with one brutal swing.

Beerus caught it between his fingers without moving anything else and left Mew suspended in the air.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Beerus chided him in a nonchalant tone, "What are you planning to do with this? Spread jam over my pancakes?"

With an effortless thrust Beerus had Mew tossing through the air.

"_Shit, this is bad! I need to get Riku's help stat!" _

Mew steadied himself and steeled his right arm as Beerus flew in and sliced downward with a karate chop. Mew's arm throbbed in agony as he hit the ground, but he had to focus more on leaping away before Beerus crushed him under both feet.

Beerus' impact raised a smoke cloud through which he shot a thin golden blast at Mew's face.

Mew drew his sword to defense and skidded a few feet, where he proceeded to swipe his blade at the ground and then gestured a thumb below his nose.

His heart was beginning to race, and though most of his body shook, he couldn't help but absorb the intensity of the moment into his system and smile.

"_...No, what am I thinking?! I can handle this on my just fine!" _

"Smiling in the face of destruction?" Beerus remarked as he strolled out of the smoke with his head held high.

"I don't think you'd understand..." Mew stood tall and thrust his hand out and proclaimed, "Its not every day one gets to test their skills against a God of Destruction!"

It seemed like Beerus was smiling in the brief pause he took before closing the gap between them and thrusting a palm into Mew's gut.

Air exploded out of Mew's back, like he was literally having his lungs expunged, and right after he was fired off into the sky.

Mew let himself spin, grinding his sword against the molecules in the air to build up heat in his blade, and slash it all out at Beerus.

Beerus pulled the flames apart at the center and widened his eyes, ferociously charging against the blunt edge of Mew's blade.

Mew held on for dear life and electrified his blade to force the God of Destruction off. Millions of volts were a brief sting to him, but it gave Mew time to strike him as hard he could with his sword.

He then dispelled the blade and charged in, grabbing Beerus by the face and diving straight towards the ground.

Beerus, with his cat-like nimbleness, however, spun around to Mew's back and then grabbed onto the back of his skull, smashing his face hard against the ground.

Mew felt his skin peeling off as Beerus took him for a brief ride across Sancturia, ending by dragging him up into the side of a store.

Beerus then casually broke the wall with Mew's face and let go, shoving the heel of his right foot into his back.

Mew went spiraling through the grocery store, maintaining just enough consciousness to avoid hitting any of the customers.

Beerus charged after him, his aura exploding any food that it touched and making a huge mess of things.

Right before Mew hit the next wall, Beerus collided with him and dragged him to the ground outside.

Mew pressed his elbows down and with one hard push shoved Beerus off him, but continued to eat the ground for a few feet longer.

With blood smeared over most of his face Mew took a stand nice and slow while his foe slowly glided around, swiping his tail against the air.

"Guess you're not playing around then...!" One of Mew's eyes widened with a battle-hungry urgency beaming from it, and he drew his sword to stab it into the ground.

He managed to defend against Beerus' charge and the ensuing claw swipes to the best of his ability. He built up energy within the sword with every strike, then unleashed it all as a point-blank explosion.

Beerus clawed through the explosion with a mighty palm thrust, forcing Mew's blade out of the ground and making him tumble back.

From there Beerus glided in a hunch over the ground and used his hands to trip Mew up, then palm him in the gut with a bone-cracking shockwave.

A few drops of blood leaked out of Mew's mouth after he forced himself to stop mid-air and dive to meet Beerus' charge. The God of Destruction had him outclassed to a frightening degree and Mew was instantly knocked out of the sky, crashing upon his back.

Beerus then gestured his pointer finger down and set a volley of purple orbs after him.

While stumbling to rise Mew slashed his blade wildly to cut through the orbs, all the while thinking, _"I can't fight him like this. Time to go to the next level...!" _

He swung his sword straight out to the side and twisted it so his finger hovered over the white trigger. However, Beerus immediately dropped down in front of him and grabbed onto his wrist hard enough to make him drop the blade.

"You're too reliant on that sword!" Beerus gave a scathing remark.

"_Shit, again!" _Mew grit his teeth as Beerus casually tossing him behind him like yesterday's trash and fired a blast from his palm to explode and knock him out of the sky.

All the while he stopped and yawned, stretching his head back all the way and saying, "If you're going to be destroyed at least try and make it interesting."

Mew's smoke covered form rose to full height and then he hunched over, coughing blood onto the back of his hand.

He swiped it under his chin and then clawed his hands out towards Beerus in a fierce fighting stance, _"I just have to make an opening...!" _

He wagged his fingers at himself and Beerus cracked a minor smile while he turned and dug his feet into the ground. A ring of smoke puffed out before he launched forward, dragging the air behind him as a destructive whirlwind.

Mew braced his feet for impact and swung his palm out to strike Beerus'. His body was shoved back but he forced himself to remain balance, enduring the flurry of each devastating blow the God of Destruction thrust his way.

The waves rippling off their clashes sliced through the ground and nearly hit the nearby houses. Mew scowled and tightened his hand around Beerus' fist, catching him by surprise long enough to toss him overhead onto his back.

Beerus was quick to try and stand but Mew beat him to the punch by diving forward and punching him square in the nose, dragging him to the ground.

He then slammed his open hand onto the ground and commanded it to rise around Beerus as an adamantium cage.

Beerus merely groaned aloud "This feels familiar..." and expanded the strength of his aura to shatter his cage.

Mew pulled back and drew his sword out, hastening to pull the white trigger before Beerus could begin to move.

Beerus stood up and flinched as an overwhelming flash of light flooded over him.

Mew drew the diamond katana from his Light Form's sheath and barreled straight at the God of Destruction, who calmly put his palm up...and found himself pushed back.

Beerus' eyes widened momentarily before the intensity of his aura grew, adding a light shade of pink to the edge.

Mew pulled away and, as he did so, whipped his blade down in such a manner that it assaulted Beerus with a flurry of cuts.

Beerus deflected them all with one finger and then pointed that very same one out to fire a thin beam. Mew made a hard swerve to the left and tucked his katana under his other arm, using the tip of the blade to deflect the beam skyward.

He then threw himself at Beerus and attempted a hard slash across his chest. Beerus grabbed the blade mid-swing and pulled Mew along in front of him, proceeding to knee him right in the gut.

Mew held on tight to his sword and swung down at his foe's foot, managing to get a cut in.

Beerus flinched long enough for Mew to pull away, leading his escape with a series of light blasts made from thin air.

Beerus countered the blasts with his orbs, all while approaching Mew at a brisk pace. Suddenly he dug his feet into the ground, hunched down, and lunged straight out, bypassing Mew's defenses to headbutt him in the gut.

Mew's cheeks puffed out until the air was forced to escape him. He then sheathed his sword and grappled his arms around Beerus' head, refusing to let go despite his clawing struggle.

He then leaped up and drove Beerus' head towards the ground.

Beerus' aura exploded, pounding Mew with a flurry of purple shots too numerous to count. Each blast was as tough as his punches, and left Mew feeling a little winded when he landed.

Beerus danced around on his back before floating upright, his hands proudly tucked behind his back as he cricked his neck around.

"Now you're starting to amuse me," He said in a slightly energetic tone while raising a finger up, glinting with gold light, "Dance, hound dog."

With the glimmer reflecting off his frightened eyes Mew grabbed hold tightly his sword and thrust it out horizontally to deflect Beerus' beam into the air.

Beerus smirked and then dove in, thrusting down into Mew's left knee. A loud snap was heard, upon which Mew began to crumple towards the ground.

He slammed his hand down for support, find himself face-to-face with Beerus' palm. Beerus showered him with explosive force and broke the ground beneath Mew while he was launched back.

Mew flipped and landed, drawing his sword back into the sheath and waiting patiently for the God of Destruction's next charge.

Beerus started with a brisk stroll, locking eyes with Mew hard enough to make him squirm. Mew's smile shook, his heart pounding against his chest.

He hesitated, allowing Beerus to waltz right in with his fist drawn back with all his might.

Mew coated his wings in thick light and swung them out as a shield, only for Beerus to crash it apart like glass with ease. But Mew stood there valiantly, parting his wings and drawing his blade right out quick as a whip.

He danced around Beerus, slashing him across all his limbs and chest with strong but graceful movements. He then zipped forward in the blink of an eye and stabbed his sword back into the sheath.

Bright gashes overwhelmed Beerus, cutting off parts of his fur, ending with an explosion that knocked him to the ground.

But, with his quick thinking, he used his tail to spring up over Mew's head and bring his foot crashing down upon him.

Mew's face hit the dirt so hard the rest of his body kicked upward, and he briefly got a taste of the blood from his nose.

Beerus laid the pressure on him, grinding his heel upon the back of his skull while taunting him mercilessly, "If you had any sense right now you'd cease this stupidity and accept your destruction."

"S-Sorry to disappoint THEN!" Mew pressed his palms down and summoned swords of light to fire at Beerus' face. The God of Destruction stopped one against his palm but the other cut him and drew blood.

He grit his teeth with an utterly deplorable scowl, followed by Mew smashing those teeth together as he suddenly broke free with an uppercut.

Beerus bounced away and tickled the blood dripping down his face. Mew, hunched over and panting slightly, thrust his palm out and shouted, "There we go! God bleeds!"

Beerus tucked his hands back and crooked his brows down, "How unfortunate for _you_ then."

His aura shot up some more, freezing the environment with an ominous chill. All the debris surrounding them rose up, atomized within an instant.

"Now I can start to **really** wreak some havoc." Beerus said proudly. The next second he was upside-down before Mew, his puzzling position blinding him to the state of Beerus' performing a guillotine kick coming down upon his head.

Mew raised his sword just quick enough to get his knees forced to the ground. Beerus then pulled away and fired a series of explosive orbs that shattered the ground around Mew.

Mew was tossed onto his back, his eyes barely remaining open and focused on his opponent.

"_If this gets anymore out of hand Sancturia'll drop out of the sky!" _Mew hastened upright and locked his sword in his sheath.

He shook around looking for his opponent, only to feel the hairs on the back of his head rise. Right as he glanced over his shoulder the light dimmed, consumed by a golden hue.

Beerus smirked as he tapped his finger upon Mew's neck, where the light collapsed into a massive explosion. Mew was launched hundreds of feet through the air, breaking off the corner of a building before landing hard on the ground and losing at least half his armor in the process.

His hand shook until he squeezed it into a fist and punched the ground, _"This isn't enough...!" _

He grit his teeth in a furious scowl, and a yellow haze began to cover his irises.

His anger stalled momentarily, as he felt the weight of the God of Destruction's pressure on his back, crushing him, oppressing him.

Beerus aimed his palm at his back and began to charge a miniature sun in it. Mew grit his teeth and flared his eyes open defiantly.

"Give up and surrender." Beerus advised confidently.

"I **refuse**." Mew growled.

"Another cocky warrior..." Beerus murmured.

Suddenly he shut down his energy and threw his left hand up to disintegrate a giant shaped fist of gas with his raw aura.

Mew stared out to the left and saw Maria hustling out onto the battlefield with her fists raised and two more gas fists joining at her sides, "Get away from my papa you mean cat!"

Beerus' eyes widened and he stuttered, "W-What?!"

"Maria, get out of here!" Mew swung his hand out to shoo her off but she refused to budge, even though her small knees were trembling.

"Atta girl!" Suddenly, Kairi's voice was heard very close by, her shadow dropping down on Beerus from behind.

Mew was surprised not just to see her flying ferociously into battle, but also going straight into the Neo Drive. Even Beerus had to pause and reconcile the madness unfolding before his very eyes.

With a sword drawn along her arm Kairi dove in for the attack screaming, "Get OFF of him!"

Then it wasn't Beerus, but rather Whis, who stepped up to the plate. Gently raising his staff he left her sword gliding down past them both all while remarking in a playful tone, "Ah ah ah, I'm afraid I can't let you interfere."

Kairi pulled her sword free from the ground and growled. Beerus leered behind his shoulder and remarked, "Whis, what is the meaning of this? Who is this girl?"

"I'm not quite sure," Whis gave his staff a twirl before positioning it upright beside him, "But I sense she could even give you a hard time."

Kairi started thrusting her sword and Whis seemed to dodge each strike without moving. All the while he took an ice cream cone out from behind and started licking it.

Kairi went for a wide swipe only for the tip of Whis' staff to meet the tip of her finger and shut off her blade. He then glanced at her from out the corner of his eyes and remarked, "Temper temper. Why don't you relax and enjoy some ice cream?"

Kairi pulled away and shouted, "We were going to before you bastards had to come and ruin everything!"

She then slapped a hand on her chest and screamed with all her might, "Why do all of you keep coming after Mew?! What did he ever do to deserve this?!"

"That's none of your concern, little girl." Beerus firmly stated.

"You **made** it my concern." Kairi swung her hands down, a blade in each one.

Beerus began to stretch a hand back, with aura bright and horrifying, "Seems you need to learn a lesson in humility."

The atmosphere turned suffocating, with Beerus' immediate vision becoming wrapped in a thick darkness. Through it to his right, he saw a pair of ghastly yellow eyes staring down at him with immense fury.

"Your fight is with me," Said Mew, now in Dark Form, grabbing tightly onto the back of Beerus' skull with his dark claw, "You don't get to hurt my friends!"

He ripped him off the ground and went hurtling straight up towards the outside of Sancturia's barrier. The moment they broke free Beerus turned around and shoved his foot into Mew's gut to push away. He then suspended himself in the air and stared up-and-down Mew's new form.

"Another form?!" He said, sounding more confused than irritated, "This is starting to feel very familiar...!"

Mew raised his claws up to his chest and narrowed his eyes towards his foe, _"This is as far as I can go...Please let this be enough!"_

Beerus smirked and then flew at Mew. Mew curled his fist and fired it out quick as a shotgun into the God of Destruction's cheek, jerking his lower body out in place.

Beerus grit his teeth and tightened it into a scowl, leaving Mew time to wind up his other fist and hammer the bottom of Beerus' chin.

Beerus flipped around and shook his head, swerving his head around to dodge two of Mew's punches. Mew kept his arms extended and then grabbed the back of Beerus' neck to hold him down, then dragged himself closer to knee him straight in the gut.

Mew then pounded his gut a few more times for good measure and began to spin around, tossing Beerus further into the sky.

Beerus jerked his limbs out and rocketed towards Mew, colliding fist against fist. A bubble of force popped around them and broke apart the ice blocks in the water, sending waves rippling towards the main land.

Mew grit his teeth and pulled back, slamming against Beerus while trying to lure him further away from the planet. Each time the two collided their shockwaves grew larger and larger.

Beerus stalled momentarily and arched his brows in surprise, "Good, good. You're finally living up to the legend!"

"Yeah well, at least one of us is enjoying themselves!" Mew curled his fist and charged Beerus, only for him to catch the punch and suspend him in place.

"Not having fun are we?" Beerus said all amused, before catching his other fist.

"Grrr...!" Mew growled and stuck his hands there, stretching his arms back and then rebounding forward to smash both his feet into Beerus' gut.

Beerus laid a hand on his stomach and used the other one to barely deflect Mew's furious fists flying every which way towards him.

When Mew landed a solid blow on his face he dug the knuckles in deep and set them on black fire, dragging the fist off with a hard crack that sent Beerus spiraling further into the sky.

Moving past the thin layer of clouds, the sky started to darken around them. Beerus began to surround himself with dark orbs, each one he launched being replaced by another.

Mew zipped around and hopped over the orbs, gathering darkness into his right hand until it was practically collapsing upon itself from the sheer weight present within.

He tried to slam the orb into Beerus' chest but he swerved behind Mew and then gestured his pointer finger at his back.

Mew opened a dark rift to make the beam go elsewhere and then whipped around to backhand Beerus across the face.

He brought the hand back as a fist to hit even harder, nearly pivoting Beerus' head off his neck.

Beerus brushed his bruised cheek and scowled, "You're really starting to irritate me."

His aura suddenly exploded violently as he shoved himself into Mew and began wailing on him with a dozen punches all at once. He then tapped Mew in the chest and created a explosion that hurtled him straight on up towards space.

Mew thrust his wings wide-open and gathered darkness in both hands. When Beerus came at him he clapped them together, siccing a dangerous shockwave across the sky.

Beerus glided beside it with a graceful spin, before immediately swerving around for a firmly delivered kick. Mew grabbed onto Beerus' ankle and went for a spin, holding on tight until he could dig his feet into the air and toss Beerus away.

He then started lobbing dark fireballs after him. The explosions barely fazed the God of Destruction, but they were just a smokescreen for the real attack.

Mew flew out of a dark rift and clawed Beerus down the front with both hands, knocking him down to be surrounded by four other rifts. A shade of himself emerged from each one and bent down to simultaneously kick Beerus from below.

Beerus grit his teeth and with an explosion of rage destroyed the shades with an onslaught of blasts. Mew nevertheless committed to the full assault by clobbering his fist straight atop Beerus' skull.

Pushing himself relentlessly was wearing on his muscles and he could feel it, badly. But even if his body would begin to break, he grit his teeth hard and refused to yield.

"_I can't slow down, not even for a second!" _Wrapping himself in an aura of black fire he grabbed Beerus by the shoulders while he was stunned and threw him even higher up towards space.

Now the blue skies were giving way to the black, starry darkness. But between here and a clear battlefield were the planet's floating satellites and space junk.

Mew grit his teeth and timed his punches on Beerus to push him around the satellites. But soon the God of Destruction recovered and immediately set his feet down on the nearest satellite, smashing a good chunk of it apart.

Mew flew right in eyes ablazed and threw a punch at Beerus' face. The God of Destruction swerved aside and let Mew fly past harmlessly.

Mew twirled around and landed on the satellite, taking a good long look at the blue seas of his home.

Beerus' aura quickly overwhelmed his sense of sight and drew his attention back down. Beerus started running up to meet him, ripping a scar through the satellite.

Mew ran after and the two leaped at the last second. Their collision rupturing a massive hole in the satellite, an unavoidable circumstance at this point.

Mew locked elbows with Beerus, sparks grinding off their skin as he tried to drag him out of this area. Beerus responded with a wry smirk and quick burst of energy to throw him off, followed by whipping his foot up towards his shoulder.

Beerus pulled back and went for a second kick, while Mew attempted to swipe at his face. Beerus ducked back and then spun around, whipping his foot hard into Mew's gut to launch him through a half a mile worth of space junk.

Mew grabbed hold onto a large rock and broke it upon Beerus with all his might. He then stretched his arms out to grab him and then whipped him around, destroying more debris in the process of throwing him further away from the satellites.

Mew then thrust his hands out and fired dark energy into rifts for later. He then curled his fists and rocketed after Beerus, who gracefully turned upright and skated along a satellite's solar panel, shredding it up.

Mew stopped him from having fun by throwing a punch that made him leap to get away. He then pulled away and started firing orbs, forcing Mew to slice through them before they could damage the satellite.

Beerus' expression began to sour, and he dully pointed his finger at Mew to fire a thin beam. Though Mew rolled out of the way, the energy set off a chain reaction that mass obliterated space junk and affected some of the satellites.

Mew then lobbed a punch across Beerus' face, following through quickly on the other side. He alternated punches faster and faster and faster, dragging them finally beyond the scope of the satellite ring and properly into space.

Beerus was at Mew's mercy and he took full advantage of that, grabbing both his hands together and hammering the God of Destruction's chin.

Then he thrust his hands down and his dark rifts, fully charged with cascading dark energies, exploded upon Beerus as a pair of crossing beams.

He then pursued Beerus further into space, gritting his teeth against the pressure crushing him from all sides to deliver his hardest punch yet.

Instead, Beerus suddenly froze in place and brief hints of blue and silver appeared in his aura. He closed his eyes, and evaded Mew's punch without much visible tension in his body.

Mew's heart skipped a beat, and slowly turned to look as his foe whipped their leg around and delivered a critical blow to his spine.

Mew went barreling straight through space like a celestial arrow, crashing right upon the surface of the moon to form a mile-wide crater.

Buried under a ton of rubble with his body feeling sore all over, the only thing motivating Mew to stand was a stubbornness even he could barely understand.

As he pulled himself onto his feet Beerus was there to greet him, his hands tucked confidently behind his back. His posture, unable to show weakness.

"I've offered you many chances to make this easy," He landed on the moon and took a couple steps forward, "And I am hardly merciful."

Mew felt his legs wanting to give in but only let one knee fall, dropping one hand upon the other one while he pulled himself back up.

"**This** is merciful...?"

"By my standards, yes." Beerus said in a mildly humored tone.

Mew's whole body trembled as he grit his teeth and punched his knee, rising quickly with a mutter of "D-Damn it...!"

Beerus paused and raised his brows, "Why are you frustrated? Is it because you're losing...?"

"No...!" Mew grit his teeth harder and then squeezed his eyes shut, "M-Maybe...!"

He cast his hand out and stood up to face the God of Destruction with a tired, almost tearful gaze, "You're threatening to kill me and damage my world, but its like...Its like I should give a shit about all that, but I don't! My body's wanting to fight you with everything its got!"

Beerus smirked and remarked, "You do seem like the type who craves battle."

Mew roughly shook his head and muttered, "D-Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not some sort of battle junkie...! Its just..."

Mew looked at his curled fist and shook it, "I want to fight opponents who are tough. That way I can improve myself."

"But...!" He raised his head and could barely keep his scowl going.

"_I couldn't beat Justek. I couldn't stop Dracula. And now I can't even defeat Beerus...! If I'm not even good for my strength, then...!"_

"_Stop running away from your responsibilities...!" _

"_You haven't thought about the future, at all?" _

Mew pulled his head back and screeched internally in frustration then smashed the ground, spreading cracks all the way to the edge of the crater.

He slowly stood, feeling like he was about to cry, and looked Beerus straight on.

"I have to know...just how much of your power are you using against me?"

Beerus grumbled, then softly closed his eyes and remarked, "This is only 80% of my full power."

"80%..." Mew aped, sounding completely dejected as he looked at the ground, "Only that much..."

Beerus lifted his head and spoke bluntly, "You hate that you're weak. You see it as frightening."

"You don't know what its like to feel weak!" Mew proclaimed, "You've never had anything you want to protect!"

Beerus grimaced and slowly drew his eyes shut with a murmur.

"I have friends and family living down there," Mew gestured bluntly towards the Earth, "And I have to be strong enough to keep them safe!"

He curled his fist and pounded it into his chest, "But lately there's been this feeling nagging at my heart. Like...someday, I'm going to reach the limit of my power. Which means...there's a limit to how well I can keep the ones I care for safe."

He then swung his fist down and glared at Beerus, "And I **hate** it!"

"Right now, you're the living embodiment of all my fears and limitations," Mew hunched down and resumed a battle stance, even though his body was trembling all over, "I have to beat you! Even if it destroys me!"

"..." Beerus opened his eyes, slowly widening his smirk, his tone much softer than it was moments ago, "Someone I knew once stood up to me in a similar way. He knew he was outclassed yet still fought with everything he had to save his world."

Beerus smiled and said in a humored tone, "I don't know why I keep finding myself attracted towards such...stubborn, prideful warriors."

"I will give you one last chance to surrender." Beerus said sincerely.

Mew grit his teeth defiantly and said, "I refuse."

Beerus puckered his lips in surprise, "You really **aren't **afraid to die."

"I don't give a shit if I die," Mew declared, "But I refuse to lose, not if it means the end of everyone else's happiness."

"...Very well," Beerus closed his eyes and the entire moon began to tremble, "Then I shall give you a special treat. Watch closely...this is something very few mortals have ever laid eyes upon."

The lights in the sky went out briefly, even that of the sun. Through it all Beerus' light radiated harder, turning pure sapphire. Divinity, refined to its purest, destructive essence.

The lights resumed in the sky, and Beerus smiled, "This, is my full power."

Mew grit his teeth, knowing full well he stood no chance of victory now more than ever. Yet his mouth hardened into a smile, glistening with the light of Beerus' fighting soul.

"Yeah...this definitely feels like a God of Destruction's full power," Mew closed his eyes and took one deep breath, perhaps what would be his last, muttering to himself closely, "Stay focused..."

All he heard was the tightening of his and Beerus' fists reverberating in tune with his heartbeat. Everything else was silence, even his thoughts.

His body sparked with white energy that dissolved into the moon's surface as his feet left it behind and leaped straight towards Beerus.

Beerus shoved off, destroying most of the ground around his feet in the process.

The two met in a mighty clash of elbows that popped a shockwave to further break the crater apart.

Mew felt a sharp pain in his heart like it was about to split in two and grit his teeth through it, then shoved with all his might against Beerus' god-like power.

Even though he made him budge an inch, Beerus responded much harder, launching Mew away from the moon. Mew tumbled into a dark rift and boded his time for Beerus to lower his guard for even a moment.

Beerus, however, stretched his hand out and muttered "Hakai", shattering the wall between dimensions and revealing Mew's cover in the darkness.

"Heh...!" Mew grinned, crossing his arms down to rip this massive tidal wave of darkness from the realm itself to wash over Beerus, bombarding him with a flurry of stabs and cuts.

Beerus clawed his hands out to destroy all the darkness at once, but Mew flew through the center of it and smashed him square in the face.

He then started wailing on him, cracking down his knuckles as they pushed away from the moon.

Beerus slapped his right fist away and then wrapped his tail around Mew's stomach, pulling him in to freely punch his face and chest.

Mew headbutted him to break free, but the cat was unflinching. So Mew instead grabbed his sensitive tail and squeezed hard. That did the trick.

Then Mew pulled away and thrust his feet into Beerus' gut to send him away. He then barreled after him, white sparks continuing to spew from his body and giving Beerus pause for concern.

Mew suddenly shifted into Light Form and rapid-fired a flurry of light speed blows across Beerus' body. Beerus' hands flew around like mad to deflect them, upon the end of them he thrust his hands out to blast Mew with a cone of energy.

Beerus then sped behind him and elbowed him in the back, hurtling him towards the satellites.

Mew spun around and crashed atop a large satellite, tearing his way down to the halfway point. Beerus wasted no time diving down, smashing the satellite in halfway and throwing the offer half into utter chaos.

Mew reached for his katana and drained as much light as he could from the stars in preparation for Beerus' reappearance.

Beerus erupted out behind him with a glowing pointer finger aimed at the back of his neck. Mew spun to meet him but Beerus started moving so fast he left afterimages behind, all of them equally threatening in their presence.

Mew partially drew his sword out but waited just a little longer. He took a deep breath and heard the flicker of Beerus' energy close by.

Widening his eyes he turned back and lashed his sword out his all his might, tagging the real Beerus with a mighty white gash.

Beerus held the attack back with one hand and a smile.

Black sparks starting firing off from Mew's battered body, his muscles spasming out of control as he switched to Dark Form and swiped his claw back.

Beerus' now massive shadow betrayed him and bound his body tight enough for the light to overwhelm him completely. From there Mew went in for a full power punch.

Beerus unleashed a flurry of energy blasts in all directions to pelt Mew and hold him back, during which the God of Destruction thrust his hand out and a blast of air launched Mew off towards another satellite.

Mew crashed through it and barely made out the utterance of "Hakai" that led to the satellite's complete annihilation.

Beerus then raised that same hand up high, creating a miniature sun that swallowed up and destroyed everything in its expanding path.

Mew dug his footing atop one of the few stable satellites in the area and watched as the miniature sun was flung his way without a care.

His sight was burning with visions of vermilion and destruction coming straight at him. He squeezed his fists and then cupped his hands down beside his hip, gathering as many dark flames as he could into a sphere.

His body jerked, white sparks spewing from him and making him go back into Light Form, with black sparks shooting from that.

His body continued shifting forms almost uncontrollably, making it difficult for him to keep either light or darkness together between his hands.

The sun threatened his end, and he could only keep smiling.

"Screw it...!" He proclaimed, letting his body lose all control over itself as he grasped both light and darkness tight and his skin began to peel off.

He lunged the combined energies point-blank into the sun and caused it to collapse inward, eventually making a massive beam puncture its way through to the other side.

The sun burst apart, rocking Mew off his feet and leaving him partially deafened. And Beerus, never stopping, never ceasing, charged through the remains of his attack at blistering speeds.

Mew braced himself as his skin split and blood sprayed out, by pure luck some of it managing to get in Beerus' eyes to blind him.

Mew then grappled him under his arm and spun him around, throwing him towards the Earth.

He then landed on the satellite and charged after him, following through with a couple punches across his body. He wound up a particularly hard punch, throwing it straight into Beerus' teeth, and gritting his teeth feeling confident that it would hit.

Beerus' body suddenly moved out of the way at the last possible second, as he danced behind Mew and then smashed with his a powerful air blast.

Mew dug his claws into the satellite but went flying right off the edge, where he then began to burn against the atmosphere.

Beerus dove after him and pounded him from above, sending him crashing through the layers of the planet, splitting the clouds for miles around, and bringing him on a collision course with Sancturia.

But Beerus outsped his descent and met him in the city's grounds, kneeing him decisively in the gut. One more shockwave ruptured out and affected the clouds for even further out.

Beerus then stepped back and let Mew fall flat onto the ground, his arms and legs barely twitching.

Yet despite all this pain, all this anger, Mew clenched his fists and used them to stand. On his hands and knees with black and white sparks wildly firing off from his body, and blood dribbling out his mouth, he raised his head to find Beerus' hand hovering inches from it.

"Looks like you lose." He stated, not even maliciously.

Mew tightened his fist and stuttered, "I-Its not over until I say its over...!"

"Heh...!" Beerus smirked, "Sorry. That's not your decision to make."

As he began to charge energy a familiar scenario started to play out, only this time when Beerus was forced to raise his hand in defense he found himself snagging a certain round shield out of the air.

He then paused and raised his brows. Him and Mew looked and found themselves surrounded by Aurians, with Mew recognizing Kairi, Maria, Shina, Gabriel, and even Auris standing at the forefront of his defense.

Whis was standing close by Auris and tapped his staff on the ground while rolling his shoulders, "Sorry, Lord Beerus, but I _think_ we might be biting off more than we can chew..."

Beerus dropped the shield and put his hands behind his back, "What is the meaning of this?"

Auris advanced forward without flinching and addressed Beerus like one would reprimand a kitten, "God of Destruction, you're not welcome here."

Beerus leered at her and muttered, "And who are you to address me in such a manner? I should destroy you where you stand."

"Not even you'd be capable of that." Auris said, earning Beerus' attention for a brief moment.

Whis floated up between the two and leaned in to whisper to Beerus, "Apparently, this woman is the wife of the original Elemental Overlord."

Beerus leered at her standing mere feet from him and muttered, "Go on."

Auris gestured towards the battered Mew and said, "If you seek a way to the 'higher-ups', then you've wasted your time here. This one has no connection to them."

"And why should I believe you?"

Auris leaned in and started whispering in his ear. Beerus' brows raised and he murmured, "You're serious about this?"

Auris pulled away and softly nodded, the meaning of their conversation being completely lost on Mew.

"Hmmm..." Beerus closed his eyes and then turned around, taking a couple steps away while remarking, "Alright Whis, we're out of here."

"W-What?" Mew stuttered.

"Well it was nice meeting you all," Whis bowed to the crowd while following his lord behind, "Hope we can meet again under less...tumultuous circumstances."

Mew weakly gripped his fist and shouted "Wait!" causing Beerus to pause and look over his shoulder.

"Our battle is over. Be grateful you're still alive."

"I-I have to know...! Why are you after the 'higher-ups'?!"

Beerus turned away and scratched behind his ear, "You have good friends on your side, Mew. Cherish them and your world, as I never could..."

Mew gasped while Whis tapped his staff on the ground and waved the group off, "Ta-ta for now!"

A powerful pillar of light sent them flying right off the planet and for now, it seemed the rough times were over.

Mew stared at the ground and felt a terrible pulsation in his chest, as suddenly, he remembered something Justek once told him...

"_I have seen the 'higher-ups' take and ruin more lives than any living being could feasibly count."_

"_I-Its true...! Beerus' universe was destroyed by the 'higher-ups'. I-If they're capable of that much then..."_

Suddenly his heart stopped beating with one thick, deafening pound.

"Gck...!" He coughed up dark red blood in a puddle, with black and white energy firing off on all parts of his body. His vision fading, his body sank into the ground, sending him into the eternal darkness, with only one voice to lead him into a dreamless oblivion...

"_MEW!"_

…

...

Meanwhile, Beerus and Whis traveled rapidly through the depths of space. Thousands of stars, passing them by.

Beerus was scratching at the side of his face, letting out the occasional murmur.

"What seems to be the problem, Lord Beerus?" Whis inquired with a hum.

"Hmmm..."

_Age 780, 17:26 PM..._

_Beerus and Whis stood on a dying Earth, watching as the Super Dragon Balls turned to stone before their eyes._

"_What's going on? What happened to Goku and the others?!" Beerus screamed, frantically tearing apart the bare ground to try and find them._

"_It seems as though we've been tricked, Lord Beerus." Whis somberly turned towards the depths of space, where the white light of oblivion shone brightly outward from the center of the universe._

"_And we've run out of time." _

"_No...No no!" Beerus smashed his fists against the ground and grabbed hold of Whis' wrist, "I refuse to die like this! Get us out of here Whis!"_

"_But I-"_

"_You can damn it! That's an order!" Beerus said, tears swelling up his eye._

_Whis closed his eyes and calmly tapped his staff on the ground. They were enveloped in light and sent hurtling through space. Yet even at these blistering speeds, the light of Zeno's wrath was fast approaching._

"_Faster Whis, faster!" Beerus screamed, leaving Earth, nay, the galaxy behind to its damnation._

_Whis closed his eyes and tried to remain calm, ignoring the drops of sweat trickling off his forehead, "I can buy us a little time..."_

_He used his time reverse repeatedly to give them a few extra seconds, but Zeno's light simply sped up. It sought the death of all things, and not even Angels were an exception._

"_We're eventually going to reach the end of the universe, Lord Beerus...!" Whis said, slightly panicking._

"_I don't care! Keep pressing onward!" Beerus grit his teeth and thrust his hand forward, desperation driving him to tackle the boundaries of his world the same way he did all in his way._

"_HAKAI!" He screamed, throwing every ounce of destructive power coursing through his body into the barrier surrounding their universe. _

_And to his and Whis' surprise, they shattered their way through, narrowly escaping Zeno's omnicide._

_Time passed for quite a while before the two regained their composure and stared down the edge of their universe, seeing nothing but a pure blank canvas wrapped by a new, starry expanse._

"_Its all gone..." Whis murmured._

"_..." Beerus stared._

"_Lord Beerus...?" _

_Beerus raised his shaking hands and stared at them, "How are we...still alive?"_

"_Hmmm..." Whis hummed curiously, "You raise a good point, Lord Beerus. With our universe gone, so too should we..."_

"_They're all dead...Dead or gone...!" Beerus' hands trembled violently and he lashed his arms down to roar, his voice powerful enough to rock the heavens._

"_DAMN IT!" His energy burst forth, not fazing Whis in the slightest, "I wasn't strong enough! Me, a God of Destruction!"_

"_None of us were. Those monsters simply outclassed us..." Whis said in a somber tone._

_Beerus squeezed his fists and hunched over, "I was weak...! I shouldn't have been so weak...!"_

"_Goku...you were supposed to be the one to surpass me...and now...!" _

_Beerus shook for a while longer, then began to raise his body up, staunchly staring up into space, "...They'll pay for this, Whis."_

_His eyes narrowed and a thick aura surrounded his body, "Its fate that we're still alive. And I will use this opportunity to hunt down and destroy all the 'higher-ups', even if it destroys me in the process...! They'll understand...what it truly means to piss of a God of Destruction!"_

_Present Day..._

Beerus continued to crick his neck around while murmuring, "Nothing, Whis..."

"Well," Whis stood upright and looked towards the endless depths of space, "Where shall we go now?"

"Hmph!" Beerus tucked his arms behind his back and gave it some thought, "I'm starting to think the one who led us on this path hasn't been entirely upfront with us. Don't you agree?"

"Ah yes, that silver-haired person did strike me as a secretive sort." Whis said, rubbing his chin.

"What was his name again?" Beerus grumbled, scratching the side of his head while thinking.

"I believe he said it was...Alvis?" Whis remarked.

"Ah right. Alvis. That sounds right," Beerus put his arms back and stated, "Alright I've decided! Whis! We're going to force that Thanos fellow into an alliance with us and hunt down that Alvis person to demand answers from him."

"Sounds like a plan, Lord Beerus," Whis guided their ride through space with a smile, and a slightly curious hum, "It feels like we're uncovering a rather interesting mystery, don't you agree?"

"Yes, indeed," Beerus murmured, "And perhaps someday in the future, we'll need that boy's help to solve it..."

_Next Time: Vengeance of the Sins_


	70. Chapter 69

Casino Neptune. Voted one of the top vacation spots in all the universe, where hordes of different alien races converge to party and gamble away.

A golden paradise, floating in a sea of dangerous gases, invites trouble around every turn. But its two owners, the lovely couple Priscilla and Neptune, are usually able to handle whatever comes knocking on their doorstep.

But today, two small figures cast a massive shadow over this paradise. A strange human with chimera-like features, and a portly cherub with devilish pink eyes.

Floating afar, the cherub crafts wicked idea after wicked idea in her head as she stares bitterly at the tip-top of the casino.

"Today is the day I'll get my revenge on your pathetic lovebirds," The cherub cooed with subdued laughter, "Enjoy your last moments of luxury and pleasure, for I shall take it all away in an instant...! Hahahah!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Her laughter echoed grimly across the atmosphere.

**Chapter 69: A Sinful, Creeping Shadow**

Morning rises on yet another day for Casino Neptune. Up top in their humble, trillionaire abode, the odd couple of Priscilla and Neptune stir awake in their heart-shaped bed.

Priscilla has her fingernails dug softly into her pillow, having slept wonderfully to dreams of gold and adventure.

"Darling." The soft, tired sounds of her wife stir her eyelids open, where she then suddenly awakens to the sight of her wife, practically naked, staring at her from just a few inches away.

She was looking marvelous, her lavender skinned face dazzling like morning dew off a sapphire. But also, there was a hint of embarrassment pressed between her lips.

"You're doing it again." She said playfully, giving Priscilla a peck on the lips.

Priscilla's heart jolted, and at the same time, she felt a heavy object on her back rise up and throw their sheets off. As it turned out, her dragon tail had subconsciously appeared and wrapped itself around her wife in the middle of the night.

Priscilla's pink cheeks turned exceptionally red and she wrapped that wily tail of hers around her wife again, forcing her inward for a hug.

"Good morning, Belle."

"Mmmm, good morning to you too, Priscilla." Belle softly embraced her back.

With their morning affection out of the way the two rose out of bed and got dressed, albeit not without a little bit of half-naked flirting on Belle's end.

Priscilla had to keep her at tail's length, lest they both be late for work, even if it meant her body was left **screaming** for a pleasure that would not be satisfied.

With both their fancy suits on Priscilla pecked her wife once on the forehead and left for another day on the job, leaving Belle to just play around by her lonesome up in their house.

The train ride was short, as per usual, gave her time to shake off the last bit of tiredness with a yawn, and also put her lustful cravings on ice.

Midway through the ride, however, her scaly skin tingled and she suddenly turned to the left muttering, "What's that...?"

She narrowed her draconic eyes and swore she saw two mite-sized figures in the distance, but once she blinked they were gone.

"...Hrrrm," She pulled away and leaned her fist up against her cheek, letting out another yawn, "Just my imagination..."

When her ride reached the bottom she got out and stretched her arms up high, her suit snugly embracing her muscles.

She then tucked her hands into her pockets and headed out into the main lobby.

Business was hustling as usual, even this early in the morning. The slot machines played a melody of greed while dices and chips danced across the tables.

Two bulbous, top-heavy men without arms in black suits nudged their cragstone brows up while saying, "Boss."

"Gentlemen." She said back with a casual wave of her right hand.

She climbed down the stairs at a brisk pace and stared around at the immediate area. So far everyone seemed to be getting along, but all it took was one minor infraction to start a bloody brawl.

She decided to head towards the gambling tables and sniff out potentially some manner of cheating device. It didn't matter if it was made of silver, gold, copper, or some other type of metal, every scent that entered her snout she recognized.

After five minutes of this she suddenly stopped in place and thrust her narrowed gaze towards the poker table muttering, "Got you."

She strolled on up to the table and grabbed the wrist of a bipedal dinosaur alien roughly two feet taller than her, forcing them to turn around as she hoisted the arm up and peeled the sleeve down. Wrapped around their arm was a bracelet with dimensional transportation technology so that he could teleport in any card he needed for his hands.

Priscilla sneered and squeezed the patrons' wrist until the device broke, remarking, "You dumbass, what made you think you're special enough to break the rules?"

Through a series of grunts and growls the beast started nudging his head left and right. The other people at the table, dinosaurs of different species, all turned around drawing their laser guns from their suits, their laser sights aimed at Priscilla's head.

Priscilla's eyes darted around to them slowly, upon which she stared at the cheating ringleader with a wide-open, fanged grin and chuckled.

A minute later the cheaters were being carried out in stretchers, one of them having their leg twisted all the way around while another had their weapon shoved up their ass.

Priscilla clapped the dust off her hands and then waddled on up to the table, taking out a few chips from her pocket to ante up for a game.

"_I'll just play a few rounds to wind down..."_

After a while she walked away with a few chips more than she started with, on top of having her body's tension relieved like she had gotten a thorough massage from Belle.

"_That's the good stuff...!" _She took one look up at the pillar of clocks to the west and briefly freaked out upon recognizing that an hour had passed.

"Shit!" She muttered, huffing out a few embers with her sigh, "Belle's going to tease me for this later."

She got back to work, tightening her fists in her pocket as the gravitational pull of temptation radiated from each and every table she passed by.

This required a cold one to get her mind distracted. She made her way around to the escalator and headed on up to the second floor, feeling a tingling for a good ol' alien brew.

But on the way towards one of her favorite bars she overheard some vicious rustling coming from the slot machines.

"Eh...?" She tilted her head to the right and saw a large reptilian bipedal Krogan and a tall, furry Wookie having it out near some slot machines.

"Feh...!" She turned with a narrowing, pissed off glare, "Couldn't this have waited?"

She marched on up, listening in on the two's conversation being spoken in their alien tongues.

"(You keep winning! I want your luck, and your money!)" Moaned the Wookie as he grabbed onto the arms of the Krogan and prepared to rip them off.

The Krogan was stronger than appearances gave him credit for, as he fought back the furry fiend's incredible strength by headbutting him in the chest and exclaiming, "(Piss off, slave beast! This money is rightfully mine!)"

The Wookie charged right back in and clawed the Krogan across the face, knocking them to the ground as they roared triumphantly, "(Give it to me! I want it! I'll take it!)"

Priscilla jumped in front of the Wookie's violent claw swing and grabbed his wrist in her left hand. She then glared at the Wookie's black eyes and growled, "(If you want to take your anger out, do it on your own worlds!)"

The Wookie reared his head back and shouted, "(His luck will be mine! Get out of my way!)"

He then started swinging his other claw at Priscilla viciously, with her dodging and weaving around a bit before effortlessly tossing the Wookie onto its back. She then stamped her foot down on its chest to knock it out.

"Honestly...The nerve of some customers," She groaned, pulling her foot off and wiggling it around in the air, "You'd think our reputation would precede us by now."

Suddenly she found the Krogan jumping her from behind and embracing her tight around the waist, "(That was incredible! You have a powerful warrior's spirit! Will you be my wife?)"

Priscilla elbowed them in the gut and uttered, "(Already married, scale breath, now if you'll excuse me...)"

Leaving the Krogan hunched over shouting "(I love you!)" Priscilla rolled her eyes and continued on her merry way to the bar.

This bar, for lack of a better descriptor, was a quarter-mile wide and lined with stools for the customers to sit down and enjoy their drinks, while a couple of floating octopi with glow-in-the-dark tentacles served them.

Priscilla wandered on up to a stool and tapped her fingernails on the counter, "Hey bartender, one Fizzled Brimstone Ale."

One fizzy red drink was whipped up with a couple black ice cubes put into it, then slid across the table into Priscilla's hand. She then dropped a few of her chips to be cashed in for payment and took a sip.

The drink popped against her cheeks like magma bubbling, while the liquid coldly slid down her throat, leaving her huffing out a nice, black smoke ring and settling into a smile.

"That's the stuff..." She set the drink down and fiddled around with the ice using her fingernail, blending in with the crowd of universal miscreants around her to soak in some of the latest gossip.

There was some stuff about battles for territory on other planets, a few disgruntled mumbles about C.O.G.S., you know, the usual shit.

Priscilla finished off her first drink and ordered another. The customers shuffled out for new ones, and with it came new gossip. Nothing really struck her fancy at first, until she perked her ears up towards a conversation two Covenant Elites were having.

"Have you heard? There were whispers of the God of Destruction, Beerus, being seen in this galaxy."

"One of the twelve Great Destroyers? Impossible. Their existence is a rumor to scare childish races from conquest."

Priscilla drowned out the rest of their talk by stirring the ice in her glass. With a brutish scoff she muttered, "Beerus, the God of Destruction...He'd make a good opponent."

A fire stirred in her heart, and she puffed out a few embers in frustration, "But yet again, a powerful foe eludes me, drawn only to **his** world."

"Feh...!" She said, rustling her snout, "For once, I wish the Justeks and Ba'als of the universe would come here."

She closed her eyes and imagined herself standing face-to-face with a black silhouette that towered over volcanoes. Her draconic form battered, bloody, but thriving in the heat of battle as an empty planet exploded all around from the weight of their titanic duel.

Her body shivered from head-to-toe and left her scaly arms riddled with goosebumps, "Ooooh what a wonderful day that would be..."

"..." She pouted with another huff of smoke from her nostrils, then went and downed her entire drink in one gulp. Upon planting the glass on the counter she muttered, "Feh! Maybe I ought to just bite the bullet and fight that boy after all."

She left the bar muttering "I'll consider it on my next day off" and then went about her business feeling a little bit more refreshed.

She wandered around the second floor for a while. There were a few aliens sleeping near the coin fountain. A couple idiots were dipping their wiggly limbs in "secret" to snag a few extra coins, so she dunked their heads in the water to dampen their spirits and raise hers.

The second floor seemed pretty calm otherwise though, so she left to the third floor. One of the busiest ones thanks to the assortment of high-grade restaurants featuring top-rated chefs from across the universe.

Though the crowds were thicker she pushed her way through without much trouble. What was great about this job was that, among everyone else, she didn't really stand out that much. Which meant it was easy to pick out every single miscreant before they could try and run away.

For example...

"(Arrghh...! You're always winning! I want to win too! Let me have it! Give it to me!)"

An argument was breaking out between a Covenant Elite and a gangly, four-eyed green blob known as a Tyhrranoid.

It seems the Tyhrranoid was instigating the conflict by pointing his gun to the Elite's face, to which the Covenant drew his weapon in turn.

"Pick what you value the most. This money, or your life!" The Covenant growled, his hand firmly on the trigger, while the Tyhrranoid showed no fear.

"(Your life will be mine, and I steal your luck from your corpse!") The Tyhrranoid growled back.

"Another brawl..." Priscilla sighed and cricked her neck around, then began to shove through the onlookers.

During which, only one figure was walking away from the scene. A black-haired human, with goat legs and a snake-headed tail.

Priscilla froze momentarily and by the time she shifted her eyes back, the person in question was gone, leaving behind this strange chill in the air that had the halfling seeing her own breath.

"What was that...?" She took a whiff of the fouled air, and smelled a ghastly blend of fire and stone unlike anything she'd ever encountered before.

Her body on edge, she nevertheless continued to push through the crowd upon hearing the whirring of the miscreants' guns.

She dashed right between them, wrenched their guns out, and crushed them in her hands. The energy within exploded and left her skin covered in soot.

She cared more about glaring at both figures, particularly the Tyhrranoid, "(You can't steal someone's luck. Either you have it, or you don't. If you're going to hurt someone over something so stupid-"

She widened her eyes as the Tyhrranoid went feral and tried lunging at her to get to the Covenant Elite. His arms were flailing past her while the Elite just stood there looking dumbstruck.

"(Mine! I must have it! If I can't have luck, then I'll hate you to the heat death of the universe!)"

"_What is wrong with this slimy fuck?" _Priscilla grit her teeth and put her all into elbowing the beast in the gut, where its lungs lied, winding it into an unconscious state of mind.

Priscilla slowly brought the alien to the floor and then gestured to the nearby guards to come over and carry them out.

Before they were hauled off, she snagged their chips from their vest pocket and handed it off to the Covenant Elite saying, "Sorry for the roughness."

"Hmph...!" The Elite swiped the chips from her hand and then turned back to the roulette table.

Priscilla laid a hand on her hip and "Hmph"ed him back as she turned and walked away. There was now this itch in the back of her head that she just couldn't shake.

"_Two incidents practically back-to-back, both troublemakers demanding that someone 'give up their luck'," _Priscilla tucked her hands into her pockets and tried to keep an easy-going feeling about her to lower suspicion towards herself as she gazed around the casino, _"They spoke like men possessed. It seems...there might be some bigger trouble brewing here today."_

It was the scent she smelled earlier that got her most concerned. It evoked a sense of nostalgia of her home planet, only colder, and more malicious.

"_I don't like that smell one bit..." _She flared her nostrils to puff out some aggressive smoke, then tightened her fists and began to weave through the casino on the hunt for anyone suspicious.

Easier said than done in this crowd.

She asked her fellow bouncers if they saw anything, but they all said the same thing: "Nope. All clear."

She rounded the first three floors twice over, combing every square inch for a hint of that foul, lingering scent. Nothing. An hour was wasted on a seemingly futile search.

"Maybe I was imagining things." She muttered under her breath as she took a seat next to the fountain to rest.

"_I have been a little on edge lately..." _She admitted to herself. Then, looking down at her own reflection in the water, she saw bags under her eyes.

Itching the tiny folds, she squeezed her eyes shut and curled a claw into her palm tightly, "Feh...! Perhaps its time for another vacation."

She crossed her legs and leaned her back to catch some mist on her face.

The sharp sound of shattering glass jolted her upright to a groan of, "What **now**?"

She ran behind the fountain and peered over the fence alongside a bunch of other aliens, watching as a tall, four-armed red-skinned Tetramand ripped a slot machine out of the floor. His target seemed to be a member of the green-blue diamond built Petrosapien race.

"You hard-headed piece of Vaxasaurian crud...!" Yelled the Tetramand as he broke the slot machine over the Petrosapien's head.

"Ugh...! I didn't cheat the machines! You're imagining things!" The Petrosapien sharpened his right arm until a sword and swung at the Tetramand's chest.

Priscilla leaped right over the edge and smashed the ground beside both figures upon landing. The Petrosapien stopped while the Tetramand clobbered him across the body with all arms.

"I wish I was as crafty as you! It makes me sick to my stomach how much better you are than me!" As the Tetramand jumped in to dent his fallen prey's skin, Priscilla ran forth and with her hands now big dragon claws, stopped all four arms at once.

"Alright you, you're coming with me for question-" The moment she lifted her head she saw something very bizarre staring her back.

Each of the Tetramand's pupils were currently divided into three and shaped like a triangle. He kept struggling forth without showing any signs of ceasing.

"_What in the hell is this?!" _Priscilla bared her fangs and shoved the Tetramand onto his back, where his back pulled up the carpet until it rested on the back of his head.

Priscilla then clapped her hands clean and muttered, "Ok, something's wrong. I need to alert Belle immediately."

The Petrosapien patted Priscilla on the shoulder and she immediately turned towards him with a nasty glare. But he merely waved at her and said, "Thank you for the assistance."

She huffed calmly and muttered, "Don't mention it."

The Petrosapien then brushed past her and hovered over the fallen Tetramand, "I'll finish this myself."

He pulled his arm back and sharpened it even further. Priscilla froze up with a frantic look in her eye as the Petrosapien said in an all too natural tone, "Your blood shall pay tribute to my lovely Lady Priscilla..."

Before the killing blow was struck Priscilla ran in and rammed her shoulder into the Petrosapien's chest to knock him down.

"What are you doing you psychopath?!" She growled with a draconic echo in her voice.

The Petrosapien stared her right back and muttered, "I-I'm only doing this for you, my love."

Priscilla punched him in the face to get him unconscious and then stood up feeling an uneasy tingling down her spine.

"What. The. Hell...?"

Suddenly a Covenant Elite was being thrown across in front of her, and a Wookie jumped on top of them and slammed them against a table full of paying customers.

"(Your warrior spirit...! I want it for my own!)"

"You don't deserve it! Lady Priscilla only has eyes for mine!"

The two were tearing into each other and dragging other customers into their brawl.

Priscilla jumped in and knocked both lunatics out with one punch, then stamped her foot down and yelled "Nobody move!" to the rest.

Her voice echoed throughout the casino, but obedience hadn't been earned. Right away she heard the sound of creaking metal a couple floors up. A smaller Tyhrranoid was trying to strangle a Shroob against the fence.

Not far away from that, another Tetramand was beating up a Krogan.

The bouncers were jumping in to assist, only to be swarmed by many aliens of similarly burly builds to get dragged into a crowded tussle of violence.

Priscilla grit her fangs in a scowl and muttered, "This is getting way out of hand, way too fast."

As much as it pained her to leave the customers to claw, punch and bleed each other out on the floor, she knew she couldn't handle this alone.

"Belle...! Shit, she better not be in danger!" Priscilla bolted for the stairs in the main lobby, sliding and dashing around all the fights breaking out without losing her stride.

Pillars and machines were breaking down. Whoever wasn't screaming about "stealing luck" instead seemed to be gripped with an insatiable lust for Priscilla.

She roughed up a few of the nastier folk unconscious with elbow checks and saw the stairs fast approaching. Suddenly though, a yellow and white alien called an Arburian Pelatora dropped out of the sky like a cannonball and completely smashed the stairs to pieces.

He unfurled in an unconscious state but his assailant, a Wookie, dropped down from the fourth floor after it and continued to claw and punch it viciously despite breaking its legs in the fall.

Priscilla grit her teeth and leaped up past the brawl and tried to make her way for the door.

Suddenly she was blasted by a concussive beam from a Covenant Elite's gun and knocked a few feet back. Clearly not his intended target, the scaly warrior raised his gun without hesitation and nevertheless continued firing.

She dug her claws into the ground and braced herself against the next few blasts until the alien was close enough for her to throw over her head and face-first into the floor.

"Don't have time for this!" She ran straight for the train station door.

Meanwhile, up in their humble home, Belle was enjoying a lonesome game of billiards to pass the time.

"Hmm hm hmm!" She rubbed a cue on the tip of her pole and hunched over the table to line up her first shot.

The clacking of balls breaking off and bouncing around the table was like a soliloquy to her ears.

"Aaaah." She sighed, feeling looser than an untied rope.

She rounded the table to take another shot, only to peer her head up and see her darling Priscilla walk into the room.

"Oh?" She raised her head and crossed the pool stick before her chest, "What are you doing back so early? Is something the matter?"

Belle rounded back to the other side and met her lover in the middle. Priscilla was cricking her neck and rubbing the back of her head, "Everything's fine down below, Belle. I-Its just..."

Her pink cheeks turned rosy red as she muttered like a lovestruck child, "I-I need you, right now."

Belle paused and chuckled with a smile, teasing smile, then stood on her tip-toes to rub Priscilla's head fondly, ignoring the horns tickling her palm.

"You're such a puppy sometimes, darling. Come here, I'll hold you and pamper you for a bit."

"T-Tsk...Do you have to say it like that?" Priscilla muttered before leaning in and resting her head against her wife's chest. Belle held her gently and stroked the back of her head all the way down to her neck. Priscilla growled but eventually settled into a soothing purr.

"Thanks..." She murmured.

"Those customers are really a pain in the butt sometimes, aren't they?" Belle said in a humored tone.

"Yes, they are." Priscilla said, creaking out a very, very wide smirk...

Down below in the Casino proper, Priscilla was caught up in a flood of customers beating the hell out of each and everyone gathered without any logic as to who or why they fight.

Priscilla swung her claws in a wide breadth to toss the crowds against the wall and slowly crawl her way forward to the VIP train. Blood and sweat splashed upon her face and the violence started tearing away at her suit. She grit her teeth as the crowd clamored back on top of her.

"ENOUGH!" She roared, rising to the full height her hind legs offered in dragon form, and blowing away the entire crowd in her path.

She smashed her front legs down and quickly reverted back to normal, pulling the right shoulder of her dress back up as she made a mad dash for the train and tossed herself right through the glass door.

The moment she rocked the train it shot off for her home, with her slowly pulling herself up on one claw to get a better look outside.

With her ride continuing to rise she stared aghast at the casino, wherein every floor had devolved into complete and utter chaos. As though the customers had been reduced to primal beasts, they tore into each other with hands and teeth, bloodying the once pristine walls and reducing all that had been built up into something fit for a scrapyard.

Priscilla's whole body shook so hard she crunched the side of the door beneath her claw and growled loudly, "Whoever did this...will die a thousand deaths in Hell...!"

A foul air permeated the entirety of the casino, centering around a single figure that approached the edge of the fifth floor.

They had black-hair and human-like features, save for their goat legs and snake-tail. The person weakly planted their hand against the glass and their vapid breaths fogged the glass. Beyond that fog, Priscilla saw them smile, their expression otherwise filled with malice.

Priscilla's heart skipped a beat and she rushed to the other side of the train, only to find the figure gone by the time she got there.

She punched and cracked the glass upon her fist and turned away, watching as the train continued to climb to their home.

Her thoughts were everywhere as she kicked down the door and hurried to find her wife. Were they even safe up here? Could this madness even be stopped by them alone?

All this and more left her so flustered that by the time she rounded the corner to the big open room her wife played in, her heart nearly collapsed out of her chest in disbelief.

Her loving wife was pampering her, a fake, with as much warmth as she would the real deal. And all the while the fake lapped it up with a devilish smirk, which was turned upon the real Priscilla with clear and utter contempt.

Priscilla's pupils shrank as despair collapsed upon her in a heap outweighing a dense star.

She had tried to remain calm and strong for the sake of her wife. But now this _devil was_ violating the privacy and love they had valued more than all the gold and jewels in the world. And worse of all, Belle seemed to have no idea she was even being deceived.

So no long could the halfling constrain the magnitudes of hate in her quivering heart. Without so much as a thought for life or death she rampaged across the ground with her claw drawn back full of rage and screamed, "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU DEVIL!"

Belle perked up and looked befuddled towards Priscilla coming right at them.

Priscilla? laughed and began to rise to meet the real deal...

Only for the black-haired figure to suddenly lodge themselves between the two forces and grab right at Priscilla's claw mid-swing and stop it in place.

A windy shockwave blew back the figure's hair and revealed a triangular set of empty pupils in the middle of their emerald eyes, which stared straight into Priscilla's knowing nothing but hate, hate, and more hate.

"You're strong...!" The figure growled in a womanly drawl, "I HATE that you are...!"

The figure locked Priscilla in place for a solid ten seconds before she ripped her claw away, attempting to rip the figure's arm off at the same time.

"You bastard...!" She growled.

Belle turned to Priscilla? as they backed away. Immediately her eyes crossed and she swung the pool stick at them, which they dodged by making their way skyward.

Belle then followed through with a flurry of magic bolts from thin air, the deceiver gliding around them while a pink mist unfurled from their body.

"Heh heh heh...! Its all too easy with you mortals!" They laughed, their voice a mix of Priscilla's and that of an impish, old woman.

The veil subsiding, Priscilla? was revealed to be nothing more than a stubby, chubby cherub covered in pink.

Belle arched her brows and then swung her head to the right, calmly remarking to her darling, "I'm so, so sorry, Priscilla. I don't know how this little imp managed to deceive me."

Priscilla hunched over and a surge of power rushed out of her body, shaking the atmosphere around her, "Think nothing of it, Belle!"

She squeezed her fists and stared down the ebony-haired invader with grit and rage, "Who are you bastards?! And why are you doing this to our casino?!"

"Hmmm?" Belle stirred with curiosity and with a wave of her hand, she created a small portal overlooking the state of her casino. The sights of all her customers brawling each other with a relentless appetite for pain left her in a rare state of looking surprised.

She immediately shut off the portal and stared up at the cherub as they fell on their back, fluttering their tiny wings as their belly rumbled with laughter.

"Oh ho ho! Oh the look on your miserable mortal face is picture perfect!" She floated upright with a sinister smirk, her pink eyes glaring at her between eyelids made like porcelain glass.

"Doesn't it feel terrible? To build up so much, only for it to all come crumbling down in an instant?"

Belle narrowed her eyes with an icy, piercing glare and the cherub's smirk only grew.

"I am Amor, and that little patchwork freak over there is Vyvy. We are Leviathans of Sin. I'd assume _someone_ spoke that title to you once before?"

"...Yes, as a matter of fact, someone did," Belle drew her pool stick down by her hip and with a flick of the other wrist drew three magically infused cards between her fingers, "So, you're Aava'ris' siblings, and you're after us to get revenge for killing him? Am I off?"

"Only slightly," Amor grinned, "I'm here for revenge towards Ba'al's demise too."

"Hmm, we had nothing to do with that." Belle said proudly.

"That makes no difference to me, you'll just be a means to an end for that part of our vengeance." Amor said, licking her lips in delight.

"I'm sure you like hearing them monologue, Belle, but if its fine with you I'd rather just tear these bastards' hearts out!" Priscilla said, immediately tackling after Vyvy, only for them to swing their left leg into Priscilla's face to stagger her a few feet side.

Priscilla rubbed the back of her hand on a now bruised cheek as Vyvy puffed her nostrils open and muttered, "So violent...! I wish I could be like that too...!"

"Feh...! Of course it was you who cursed our customers!" Priscilla drew her right hand back aggressively and flared her eyes open, "Then I just have to kill you to break the curse!"

Belle closed her eyes and softly turned her head to Amor, "Which I suppose leaves me to punish you."

"So arrogant," Amor clicked her tongue a few times and then drew a tiny trident prong bow in her right hand, "You may have beaten Aava'ris with trickery, but I am the trick master. You will fall to me, and fall for me, as your world falls around me."

"Then you shouldn't have revealed yourself," Belle chuckled, "For now luck shall favor you no longer!"

"We will see just who lady luck smiles upon..." Amor drew her bow back, Belle tightened her fingers around her cards. Vyvy drooped over and glared straight at Priscilla, who was tightened up with an abundance of rage and aggression.

Thus was this the beginning of a battle for the fate of not just the two's casino, but also their love...

_Next Time: Jealousy Installation_


	71. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70: Lucid Dance of Souls**

Priscilla and Belle shared one last look over their shoulders and nodded, acknowledging the confidence in each other's strength. Then Priscilla broke off the ground at her feet and charged straight at her chimera-like foe.

Vyvy stood there with eyes thrust wide-open and her hair radiating off the back of her head like a lion's mane, catching Priscilla's hands when she went to grab her.

The two were dragged along the ground, pivoting and cutting into the glass floor in all manner of directions. Priscilla opened her mouth and shot a blast of purple lightning point-blank, grazing the side of Vyvy's face as she evaded.

Vyvy rammed her forehead into Priscilla's and drew blood, then slammed against her two more times, though the half-breed never yielded.

Priscilla grit her teeth, weaved her head back to evade the next blow, and then slammed her forehead in with a thunderous crack.

Vyvy was catapulted away into the nearby wall, sticking to it with the back of her goat hooves. Her pressure built up until the wall started to crack, upon which she tried to leap back into the fray.

Priscilla lunged up and grabbed Vyvy by the face, smashing her back into the wall so hard her head caved a hole into it.

She then pushed down and caved a trench down the wall with Vyvy's skull.

Upon reaching the ground one of the chimera's eyes gleamed between Priscilla's fingers, upon which she muttered, "Is that all you got? I hate that you're holding BACK!"

She then battered her hooves repeatedly into Priscilla's kneecaps, forcing the halfing to pull her up against the wall. Then she let go and hopped back, thrusting a foot into Vyvy's gut to wind her, then pushing back in and wailing across her face with her fists in tandem.

Vyvy ducked under the attacks eventually and rammed her skull under Priscilla's chin to knock her up, followed by leaping and driving her back down with a heel kick to the gut.

Priscilla coughed roughly as her body lurched and bounced on impact. Nevertheless she briefly unfurled her dragon wings off her back and threw herself at Vyvy with one flap, tackling and tumbling her around in mid-air until they were halfway to the ceiling.

Vyvy thrust her right hand at Priscilla's eyes but the halfling moved away and then bite viciously into the chimera's wrist, chomping down to the hallowed bone.

Vyvy's hand twitched then stiffened, gripping all its fingernails into the back of Priscilla's nape.

Priscilla roared internally and bit down even harder, bits of dark, pussy green blood splashing upon her face.

Vyvy grabbed onto the other side of her head and then tugged back as hard as she could. They turned upside-down and started plummeting towards the ground, hitting their heads against the floor at the same time.

They tumbled away from each other and rose to their feet, both having quivers throughout their body. Vyvy hung her arms down and continued to stare with that hollow gaze of hate.

Priscilla brushed the underside of her left cheek and spit a drop of blood on the ground, then grit her teeth and hunched down ready to fight.

Her eyes shook a little when her wife suddenly leaped between them, gracefully floating away from a line of arrows falling from the sky.

Belle fell to the ground and whipped her hand up beside her mildly sweating face, drawing a pool ball into her grasp.

Amor flew high in the air, her impish, hate-filled gaze having only the eyes for her. She pulled her bowstring back and dark pink light collapsed into her arrow from four, curved directions.

Belle made the last minute call to thrust the ball before her and sacrifice it to create a shield around her to block the arrow. On impact the arrow went off like a flurry of violent heart-shaped fireworks and rolled her quite a number of feet away.

She glanced back to find her back against the wall and her foe arming another deadly arrow.

She threw one card from her sleeve as quick as a lightning bolt past Amor, who laughed and tugged her arrow prepared to fire it.

Belle hid her smirk behind another card she just drew and then, magically infusing it, she let it loose and it grew to cover her body and fly around her.

In the blink of an eye as the arrow went flying, Belle and Amor had swapped places via the cards. Amor looked behind her all dumbstruck as her attack smashed into her body and pummeled her with explosions.

"Hmm hmm!" Belle chuckled, waving her magically glowing pointer finger around in the air to carve out a rune suspended in place.

She then dove to the ground, ducking back as Priscilla and Vyvy's brawl passed her by, and then gliding along towards Amor.

Amor was a tad scuffed up but her anger seemed to stem more from the insolence of her enemy than any pain she may have felt.

When she saw Belle charging towards her she readied her bow and fired. Belle danced through the air over each shot, her pool stick glistening like light made of diamonds behind her back.

When she was a foot away she swung her stick out as quick as a whip, only for Amor to duck out of the way and then slide between Belle's legs.

Once behind her she fired a few dozens tiny arrows into her back to pin her against the wall before charging up an exceptionally bigger arrow.

Belle leaned back with a smirk and then tapped her knuckles upon the wall. The part she was on immediately opened up and swung her around to the other side, catching the large arrow on its back.

Dumbstruck again, Amor was unaware of the rune glowing in the air behind her until it was already spitting a massive multicolored fireball her way.

Try as she might to fire arrows to slow it down, it burned right through them and hit her, creating a towering inferno on impact.

Another part of the wall then flipped a few yards overhead and Belle dropped down with her stick still glowing, clobbering Amor right atop her head.

She then did a ballerina's pirouette to land on her feet in front of Amor and then bounce away. Amor was steamed and made her feelings quite clear on the matter, "You think you're funny with your little parlor tricks, don't you?"

Belle held her stick behind her back and leaned over her shoulder with a small smile.

"Ooooh!" Amor pulled back on the bowstring and fired a large arrow that Belle jumped out of the way of.

The arrow continued to fly onward, passing by Priscilla's hip and eventually into the hands of Vyvy, who immediately leaped out and tried to stab it into the halfling's eye.

Priscilla crossed her arms and checked the chimera in the neck, but all her strength didn't seem to faze the damn thing.

The arrow tip was centimeters from her eye and all the danger left Priscilla's heart pumping like crazy. She turned her arms to claws and swiped them out to throw the chimera off.

Then she coated the tips of two of her fingers in venom saliva, followed by charging them with electricity. She fired a lethal purple lightning bolt down at Vyvy's hand to singe the skin and destroy the arrow.

Vyvy's pupils shrank and she pulled her legs away from a second lightning bolt. Priscilla then dragged her claws back, all of them coated in that same lightning.

"You shouldn't have fucked with us, you damn beast!" She then lashed her claws out, lightning screaming in multiple directions before ultimately converging upon Vyvy's location one at a time.

The multiple shocks pulled the chimera off the ground for the final, most lethal bolt, to then smite her back down with earth-trembling force.

Priscilla had no confidence that her foe was downed and immediately charged in to try and scoop her up and continue the assault.

Vyvy suddenly thrust their hands out from the smoke and grappled them around Priscilla's arm. And with one hard twist, the halfling heard their bones crack.

Vyvy then pulled her down to the ground behind her and got on top of her, pinning her down with the pulled back arm.

"Ghhh...! Get off of me you mangy beast!" Roared Priscilla.

"That lightning is cool...! I wish I could shoot lightning like that...!" Vyvy said, clearly entranced by the shocking power at the halfling's disposal.

She reached one hand down slowly to the back of Priscilla's skull as she struggled to break free. When Vyvy grabbed onto her skull Priscilla felt a jolt throughout her body.

"You bitch...!" Priscilla grew her tail out from behind and whacked Vyvy off and quickly rose to stand. She then grabbed onto her throbbing arm and locked the bones back into place with one tug.

Gritting her teeth she swiped her hand out and then suddenly froze up, glancing back at her hand and wiggling the fingers around a bit.

"What the hell...?"

Static clung to the air viciously in front of her and she slowly turned to find Vyvy's body exploding with purple electricity, a bold smile crested across her face.

"Now this electricity is mine...! I have something you don't have! Don't you hate it?" She sounded so childish, though her tone was hollow and dead inside.

"Pfft...!" Priscilla pulled her arm back and spat mildly in annoyance, "Nice trick. Won't help you in the slightest!"

She lunged forward and Vyvy raised her hand, indiscriminately firing lightning every which way as each massive bolt jerked her arm around in the air.

"All that power and you don't know shit about controlling it!" Priscilla yelled over the roar of lightning.

Dodging between the bolts she eventually saw a chance to leap into the air and plunge her draconic feet into Vyvy's chest, the scales shielding her from the searing, lethal lightning.

Stray bolts were blocked by her scaly arms until she could pull a fist back and punch Vyvy square in the face. Her knuckles stuck to the chimera's face like glue and they seemed uncaring towards the blood dripping out of their nose.

"Control...? You're able to control this? I hate that so much...!" Vyvy's eyes glowed with a pale light and she pushed Priscilla off her with just her head.

She then kept the lightning surging around her body as she assaulted Priscilla with wide-sweeping kicks.

Priscilla let the legs glide harmlessly along her scaly arms as she pushed closer and clobbered Vyvy in the chest. Then she backed away when Vyvy tried to kick her in the gut, and repeated this process two more times.

For the final approach Priscilla pummeled her thick, scaly knuckles into her enemy's vagina all the way up to her face, ending on a particularly vicious strike to her forehead.

She then spiraled into the air wreathed in black and pink flames, opening her mouth extra wide so that said flames would be sucked together into a fireball.

"I've learned plenty of ways to kill people like you!" She growled with a deep voice. The fireball grew to the size of her body, drenching Vyvy in a deep shadow.

"Feel the wrath...OF THE SCOURGE DRACONIS!" She launched the fireball out and its sheer gravitational might swallowed the chimera up in an instant before it hit the ground.

It then collapsed like a star getting denser, going from black to white, before exploding into a vicious shockwave that tore up any cracked glass on the floor and damaged the lowest walls.

Belle and Amor took flight away from the shockwave and blew each other's projectiles right out of the sky. Amor sneered in the direction of the other fight and said, "That useless bitch can't do anything right on her own..."

She narrowly escaped a pool ball to the face and fired an arrow at Belle upside-down. Belle twirled her stick to knock it away and smiled.

"Not her fault my darling is so powerful," She said calmly with pride, "Even among our ranks, Priscilla is stronger than us all."

Amor turned upright and let out a brash "Hmph!" before stating, "No wonder that weakling Aava'ris perished like a run-over dog."

Belle cautiously drew one hand behind her back and flicked up a card from her sleeve to between each finger, "You sure think lowly of the one you're trying to avenge."

"Avenge?!" Amor reared her stubby head back and nearly busted her gut laughing, "Hahahaha! You stupid little girl! Why would I ever want to avenge those idiots?!"

Belle closed her eyes and whispered, "Ah, I see now. 'Revenge' and 'Avenge' have no relation to each other here."

"That's right..." Amor said coldly, "Ba'al and Aava'ris deserved to die. They were eyesores that'd only impede me later on. But to die to mortals? Ugly, clay-faced MORTALS, of all things? That is an offense I can not, will not, SHALL NOT stand for!"

"And just why, pray tell, do you hate mortals like me and my darling?" Belle said, more amused than anything to find out.

"Why DO I hate you...?" Amor growled viciously between her teeth, opening her eyes wide and trying so, so very hard to smile, "What's there NOT to hate?"

"Love, love, love, all you mortals are so sickeningly sweet and intoxicated with love in all its many forms. But you aren't content just expressing love in one manner oh no no no. You spread your filthy ways with such a vast expanse of variety that it almost makes me sick to think of them all!"

"You're a bunch of kissy-faced, tongue-dipping, dick-throating, feet-sniffing, snuff-loving, bondage-freaks, piss-leaking, anal-smashing, blood-playing, nipple-penetrating, ear-blowing, BELLY-WORSHIPPING, FART-WHIFFING, SCAT-LATHERING, CUM-GUZZLING, FUTA-LOVING, ARMPIT-PAMPERING ANIMALS!"

Belle calmly closed her eyes and said with a chuckle, "Sounds to me like you just don't have a taste for some fetishes."

"I've had more than a fair taste you putrid womanizer," Amor growled, "I AM **Lust**. I don't just see your crimes of passion I FEEL them! Every time you animals come up some new way to satisfy your throbbing meat I'm forced to feel it crawling in my skin!"

The cherub squirmed viciously in place, "Love is already a happiness you actual fuckers don't deserve, but time and time again your craven instincts find new ways to express love and make that torturous emotion exist in this damned universe! You defile all rational instinct just so you can cum more frequently!"

"Hmmm..." Belle gently shrugged, "Experimentation is good for a lasting relationship, I'd say."

"Nnnnrrrghhh!" Amor nearly snapped her bow in twine with her hand, "To hell with **your** love! There is only one type of acceptable love in this universe, and that's unbreakable obedience!"

The little cherub raised her head high with a gaudy smirk and said grimly to Belle, "I shall fell the concept of love with my own two hands, and turn all mortal life into mindless, obedient servants that shall worship me forever. This attack on your putrid home is merely the start of my reign."

Belle shook her head, almost pitying the cherub, "Love isn't something you can destroy. It exists in the heart of all-"

"Oh spare me," Amor spat out in disgust, "I will raze this universe in hellfire until all love is undone."

Belle opened her eyes narrowly and murmured coldly, "There's a special place in Hell for someone like you."

"Yes," Amor grinned and began to draw her bow back, "Its called a **throne**."

She fired a tri-shot of arrows and right away Belle whipped her hand out behind her back, linking the cards together into a chain that sliced through the middle arrow and lodged itself into Amor's chest.

Belle then pulled herself closer between the other two arrows and laid one more card against Amor's forehead. Waving goodbye, she floated away as Amor grabbed for the card and failed to pull it off. Slowly, it built up magical energy and exploded loudly, hurtling the cherub towards the ground.

She followed through by lining up a white cue ball before her stick and summoning a triangle of ten more colored balls between her and Amor. Taking the shot, the other balls ricocheted around Amor and slowly converged upon her location.

"Its time to put the finishing touches on this little show," Belle kissed two of her fingers and flicked the heart-shaped glowing imprint towards the ball with a wink, "I do have a casino to attend to, after all."

Amor grinned and stiffened in place with her bow pointed upward, "Yes yes I agree. I've humored you long enough, you sickly little witch."

She fired a shot that seemed no different from the rest into one of the ricocheting balls, then continued to spin around and fire her shots randomly until she hit all the balls around her.

All the balls' energy was overcome by a shade of pink and suddenly stopped in place, the kiss of death Belle had sent flying harmlessly past them.

Amor then gripped her bow below the middle prong and pointed at Belle. The balls faced her direction and, much to the magician's surprise, flew towards her aggressively.

Belle dashed through the air to get around the balls, wary of letting them even graze her body. Meanwhile she gathered energy in her pool stick in preparation to flick it towards Amor.

Yet upon seeing the cherub readying her bow with a smirk, Belle _hesitated_, allowing the shadow of her bewitched pool balls to get the drop on her from behind.

They all came crashing down atop her together like a small pyramid and pinned her upon the ground.

Priscilla noticed this from far away and grit her teeth as she charged forward to help, "Hold on, Belle!"

She was locked in place by the bite of a snake's fangs on her right leg. Grunting and turning back, she found Vyvy rolling onto their stomach to pull her to the ground.

The chimera's hair was partially on fire and half her shirt was burned off, but her skin looked fine. In fact, her eyes simply shined greener.

"You're mine...!" She growled.

"Take a hint and die you waste of space!" Priscilla pulled herself up and thrust forward to try and punch Vyvy in the face. The chimera veered out of the way and clamped the fangs deeper into Priscilla's skin.

Priscilla turned her leg draconic so the hardness of the scales would force the fangs out, but she felt a little dizzy when they left.

And because of this, Vyvy threw herself up and squeezed her hands around Priscilla's neck, forcing her mouth open.

Her body then surged with electricity, particularly within her mouth. Screaming and shouting like the air was being ripped asunder, the electricity clambered out of her throat and wailed into Priscilla's mouth with vigorous force.

Tears were forced out of Priscilla's eyes as billion of volts went down her throat and exploded within her stomach.

Vyvy happily kept this going for ten whole seconds, in what felt like ten minutes for the poor halfling.

But when it was over, Vyvy drew her head back slowly and smiled timidly towards the smoke filled maw of her victimized foe.

...And that mouth, creased into a grin, as a gray smoke was puffed from the halfling's nostrils. Purple electricity crackled around Priscilla's body, and she laid into her foe with a quiet, merciless, verbal beatdown.

"You dumb fucking oaf."

With one quick blast of lightning from her mouth Priscilla forced Vyvy to her feet and continued to pressure her into the nearby wall, taking large, thunderous steps forward.

She then clamped her mouth shut and ripped her claw down by her hip, thrusting forward tirelessly to try and impale each and every claw through Vyvy's skull.

Vyvy pulled out of the way with her eyes maddeningly wide-open, frustration and anger swelling up in her irises.

"You're so cocky! It really PISSES ME OFF!" She swung at Priscilla's hind with her leg only for the halfling to grab it with her tail to then raise and bash Vyvy repeatedly against the ground.

On the last impact when Priscilla let go she then turned and clobbered Vyvy across the chest, hurtling her into a nearby wall.

"Get a new act you low-life," Priscilla stampeded forward, starting slowly and then building up steam as she cracked her knuckles, "All this talk about hating this and hating that?"

She spread her wings behind her back and set her whole body ablaze with black flames, "A hate-filled person like you...!"

She reared her head back and gave the chimera an ugly glare, "HAS NO RIGHT BEING HERE!"

She charged in full force and smashed Vyvy through the wall, gripping tightly onto her face as she dragged her through the halls of their home.

Grinding her up against the walls to peel her skin away, Priscilla continued to endure the punches and kicks of her enemy the whole while. They weren't aiming for anything. It was the flailing of a child throwing a tantrum.

Once she had made a full loop around the building she shoved back out into the battlefield and threw Vyvy to the ground. With both their momentum going full-throttle Priscilla lashed her limbs and wings out and charged all of them with a different type of energy ranging from atomic to gravitational.

"GRAND SCOURGE RAY!" She condensed all the energies down to beams upon Vyvy's location, creating a massive multi-colored explosion that shifted spectrums every few seconds.

Priscilla then dropped to the ground and shed her fully draconic parts, brushing the steam off her smoldering limbs and letting out a huff of relief.

She then laid a hand on her hip and muttered, "That should be good enough."

She raised a brow towards the circle of ashes left on the ground and saw Vyvy's silhouette rise up from the center of it, where she easily shook the ash off and her skin looked barely any worse for the wear.

"You've gotta be shitting me..." Priscilla rolled her head around and began to march towards the chimera with her claw swung by her hip.

Vyvy was trembling all over uncontrollably, her hands squeezing tightly into fists.

Nearby, Amor was watching with great interest, taking the occasional glance at the ball stack her foe was buried under.

"Perhaps you should pay closer attention, little cherub." Belle suddenly taunted her from above, having used her card warping to make a magical reappearance into battle.

Amor fluttered away before Belle could drop the tip of her staff into her head, laughing all the while.

"Something funny?" Belle remarked calmly.

"Oh, I suppose that wench will have one use after all." Replied Amor, putting her fingertips along her sneering lips.

Priscilla stayed her hand momentarily as the chimera grit her teeth so hard it chipped the enamel right off.

"Why...? Why why why why why why why why WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?!" Vyvy clawed at her skin, tore her hair right off her scalp, and generally tore into her body in a vicious, unpleasant fashion.

"I hate it...I hate hate hate hate hate HATE IT!" She lashed her hands down and her mouth ripped over with a desperate, saliva-dripping scream, "AAAAAAH! I'm so...so tired of this...! I hate, and hate, and hate...each and every one of you so much! You have everything I want, everything I can never have! You get to smile, love, be happy...!"

Her eyes flashed violently with green and she began to wail, "I take from you to feel the same things you do, but its never enough! I CAN NEVER BE HAPPY, ALL I CAN DO...IS HAAAAAAAATEEEEEE!"

Her whole body snapped in twine as she lurched her head back full force and screamed, "AND I HAAAAAAATE IIIIIIIITTTTTT!"

Her body exploded into green flames like a bomb at ground zero, the shockwaves pushing Priscilla back a few inches and forcing her to dig her claws into the ground.

"Grrr...!" Priscilla could feel raw, cold power washing over her, and it made her sweat just as coldly if not more-so.

The whole building rumbled and parts of the ceiling came collapsing down around them. A shadow rose from the flames and grew to a massive size, pushing the flames up from its massive, furry back, before shedding them off completely with a full set of six bat-like wings.

Standing thirty-feet tall, this creature of nightmares had the animalistic features present in its prior form, only amplified in size and strength. Its long, thick goat-like legs could now fell a mountains in a single kick. Its long, hissing tail could swallow even a beluga whale whole.

With a muscular, curved abdomen contrasting its thin, bony bird-like hands and small, mane-like shoulder, it was a wonder this beast could even stand the weight of its broad, veiny, throbbing pecs. Atop its shoulder was a head with a caved in nose and stitched together mouth, and thick, curved horns that coiled into the back of its neck. Its eyes were hollow black, save for a vague, triangular shimmer of emerald where its pupils once laid.

Priscilla trembled at the knees as this monster hung over her and glared down at her like an ant retreating to its nest.

And it spoke, but only with the visceral pounding of anticipation from its heartbeat.

Louder, and louder, the sounds from its hollow chest grew.

Belle felt goosebumps all across her skin, while Amor grinned wide with pride.

"Finally sister, you look positively _ugly_."

As the beast continued to lean its bones creaking and moaning echoed throughout the room. Priscilla stood her ground gritting her teeth and scoffing at the face of this mighty foe.

"Crush that little lizard into paste, my dear, sweet Invidia. Crush this love-struck fool with all of your HATE!" Amor cheered on.

The beast spread its wings and raised its arms slightly, ready to obey. For she was...

**INVIDIA, LEVIATHAN OF CEASELESS HATE**

_Next Time: Crimes of Passion_


	72. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71: Rage Against Oneself**

Priscilla eyed the fell beast with her pupils thinned to a paper-thin slit. She brushed off all the quivering of her skin with a scoff and then spread her claws wide beside her.

"Finally, you show your true colors! But all you've given me..." She raised her wings and took off like a rocket from the ground screaming, "IS A BIGGER TARGET!"

Invidia's pupils shimmered and its body creaked and moaned with every movement. It raised its brittle looking hand towards Priscilla and then, to her surprise, thrust it out incredibly fast.

Priscilla found herself swinging out of the way only for the wind coming off the blow sending her flying many feet away.

By the time she had stabilized herself the beast was leaping straight after her with the stiffness of a statue. Priscilla pulled away before she could be crushed underhoof, watching as black and green light radiated from the cracks it left on the ground.

"Tsk...!" Priscilla grit her fangs into a scowl.

Meanwhile, Belle was hyper-focused on her darling's conflict that she nearly failed to pull her head away from one of Amor's arrows.

"You have bigger problems to worry about, you harpy." Amor sneered, drawing her bow back a second time with greater emphasis.

Belle whisked her hand behind her back to draw out a few more cards, all the while waving her pool stick through the air to create glistening lavender fireballs.

They floated slowly towards Amor and then plummeted right to the ground to explode. Amor fluttered back away from them and continued to spring a volley of arrows towards her prey.

Belle felt hesitant to defend with her stick after what happened to her pool balls and kept her distance, returning one salvo of projectiles with some of her own.

Once she found steady footing on the ground she peeked over to her darling, finding her assailing the fell beast with a steady stream of fireballs. But her efforts only seemed to singe the hairs on the beast's chest.

She quickly shifted back to Amor and pulled her upper body to the left, an arrow grazing her by. She then flipped backwards and, once on her feet, snapped her fingers out to open up a series of portals all around her.

Each one came packed with a giant colored dart to be flung one-at-a-time towards Amor. The flippant fairy nimbly dodged around most of them, but Belle purposefully held one back to thrust at a much higher speed that finally, managed to land a hit.

Amor was cut along her left cheek but instead of bleeding, her skin hollowed out. Her smirk immediately snapped into a scowl and she started firing arrows with even greater fervor.

Belle whipped herself across the battlefield, mesmerizing her foe to the point they couldn't see straight. Until the point where she was underneath her, upon which Belle drew her cards at last and whipped the cherub's underside, wrenching her right back down to the ground.

Then she immediately turned around and leaped at her with her magically infused stick swung behind her head. Amor rolled away and sprung back into the air with her bow drawn back.

Belle hopped away and the arrow landed harmlessly at her feet. Amor then sneered, and Belle quickly looked back down at the arrow to find it glowing a vivid shade of pink.

It blew up, unsurprisingly, and knocked her off her feet with an electrified shockwave. Belle gracefully turned this into a flip and landed right on her feet whilst taking a bow.

And when she raised her head, she nudged her stick up a little behind her back to summon a huge party cannon filled with energy.

It exploded with confetti and a huge beam of light that Amor avoided. Belle kept the light in play with a series of funhouse mirrors to bounce it around.

Amor evaded the light and armed her bow, firing an arrow into one of the mirrors to hold it in her grasp similarly to the pool balls.

The mirror shifted and turned the light back onto Belle. Belle held her hand out and summoned a giant top hat to catch the light, then created another one to fire it back out.

Amor, however, fired another arrow where the second hat would appear and turned it upon its master. Belle swiftly looked at it in surprise and then disappeared into a giant handkerchief that fell on top of her.

She dropped down on top of Amor and took a swing at her back of her head. They fluttered away and aimed an arrow at Belle's back.

She landed and hopped away, drawing her free hand behind her back and shifting the position of her fingers rapidly. Amor fluttered overhead with three lights at the front of her bow, and a big sneer on her face.

Belle narrowed her gaze and briefly shifted her attention towards Priscilla's struggle with the fell beast.

Priscilla was currently trying her damnedest to avoid getting swatted by the beast's swift hands. Her flurry of fireballs and electric blasts were doing nothing, and she couldn't afford to get close.

She landed on the ground with steam spewing from the sides of her scowling face and the beast creaking its head to stare at her.

"Feh...!" Priscilla smashed her hands upon the ground and exclaimed, "It was worth a shot! Now the real fight can begin!"

With a mighty roar that shook the foundation of the building she transformed into her full dragon form, coming closer to the fell beast's size.

She immediately lunged at the beast's chest and tackled them off their feet. The beast moaned and their eyes glistened briefly with shock.

Then they took their arms around Priscilla's neck and pulled them both to the ground at the same time. Priscilla cracked her jaw wide-open and blasted the beast's face with a point-blank spread of flames.

Whereas the beast, without hesitation, went and stuffed its fist down her throat. Priscilla got choked up momentarily, then clamped her fangs down on the beast's arm.

The beast squirmed, but refused to budge. And the more Priscilla pressed down, the harder the pressure got to **her** fangs. They were feeling ready to crack without making any progress, so she gave up the ghost and reared her head away to force the beast's fist out of her mouth and allow her to breathe once more.

She then stood up on her hind legs and smashed all her weight down upon the fallen beast through her front legs. The beast reared their head back and a massive tremor rippled throughout their body.

Nevertheless the beast started pounding their fists into Priscilla's chest. Each blow rippled into her rib cage and affected her ability to breath cleanly.

Priscilla's coughs were like distorted thunderclaps. Her girthy body cobbled away from the fell beast all on its own, allowing it time to stand again.

It then grabbed onto the sides of Priscilla's head and smashed her chin against the floor, pressing her hoof down onto her spiky nape.

Priscilla growled and roared defiantly, pushing the beast's leg off slowly until her mouth was line up with the other one. Then she scorched it with a wide breadth of flame, setting the whole thing ablaze.

The fell beast hopped off and shook its leg around, making the flames climb further and further up its body. Priscilla made a mighty leap away and lowered her head, sharpening the horns on her head with pure steel, and stampeding head-first into the beast's gut.

Ramming the beast into the wall with thunderous force, Priscilla reared her head back and ground the beast against the weakening walls, blood trickling down her roguish mane.

The beast dragged their fist back and clobbered Priscilla across the jaw, dislodging her from their abdomen. As both forces smashed upon the floor the beast hunched down and tackled Priscilla's neck between its horn.

Forced onto her hind legs, Priscilla pressed her front claws against the beast's shoulder to slow it down. The beast reared its ugly head back as hard as it physically could, ripping her free from gravity's protection in an instant.

Priscilla was flung overhead and then hit the ground hard on her back, her spine making a sharp "CRACK!"

Her whole body trembled as she tried to stand, and the fell beast wasn't going to give her a moment's rest to fight through the pain.

It came charging forth like a force of nature, undeterred by the whims of gravity that should have been holding back its stampeding speeds.

Priscilla stretched her maw and bombarded the beast's chest with explosive fireballs to hold it at bay for a little while. The beast continued to rear its fist back until she struck it with a fireball as big as it was. Finally, the beast took pause.

"Grrr...!" Priscilla growled and with one hefty thrust of her head flipped herself back onto her feet. She then took this chance to swing her tail like a thick club into the fell beast's hip.

The beast dug its hooves into the ground and grabbed onto the tail, letting itself get dragged around until it suddenly let go and propelled itself straight at Priscilla's face.

Priscilla's eyes bulged as the beast plunged its fist into her jaw and dragged her all the way across the room into the opposing wall.

Flames spurted from Priscilla's jaw only for the fell beast to clamp its hand around her snout. Then it dragged her head down the wall and buried it into the floor.

Belle, meanwhile, continued to dance around Amor's arrows in a mad attempt to land hits with her magic. The cherub was as agile as she was ornery, she could be granted that much.

Perhaps she could admit that Priscilla's condition was making it hard to concentrate at the moment. But she needed to keep her attention on Amor at all costs. She felt as though they hadn't revealed all of their tricks. She needed to force her hand somehow...

Belle continued to weave signs behind her back with her fingers and left her major magic work to her stick. She rapid-fired some small pool balls across the air and managed to get a couple clean hits to toss Amor around.

The cherub continued to lock her sights onto the other balls and hit them with arrows to turn them on their master.

Belle caught them in a magical hat and then switched up her volley to include a few dozen darts. It was improbable for the cherub to light an arrow into every dart, so she forced herself to continue flying away and turn the arrows back onto Belle.

Belle waved a hand of five-cards before she smirking face and then swung them out around herself as a protective ring. One card was sacrificed to protect her from the arrows, and the remaining four boxed her in safely.

She leaped towards the cherub and whacked the back of the card in front of her. Lightning blasts erupted from all the cards, which in turn began to spin around and strike Amor multiple times over.

"Y-You...!" Said Amor in a fizzy tone, ripping her static clung body away to charge up a very large arrow.

Belle suspended herself in place and swung her hand out, commanding the four cards to stack up and keep the arrowhead inches from her face.

Belle's heart raced and it made her smirk. With a snap of her fingers she flipped the cards around and then whacked the arrow out with her stick.

Though Amor got out of its way the breeze spun her around like a top. Then Belle rushed in and whacked her up, down, diagonally, getting quite a numbers of hits in with the glistening streaks off her stick. Ultimately, culminating in her pressing the tip of her stick against Amor's nose and surrounding her in a barrier shaped like a pool ball.

What happened next obviously was Amor getting bounced around the walls like she was trapped in a pool table, and after ten seconds of this Belle broke the protection by whacking her down into the ground.

She then prepared to launch forth to assist Priscilla when a glint of pink forced her back from an arrow's path. She looked down and saw Amor's face creased up at every corner in rage, "Leaving so soon? Why? WE'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!"

She lobbed a trio of arrows while lifting herself off the ground. Then Belle, holding up a card to catch them all, proceeded to slice through it to break it apart and rain magic droplets upon Amor.

Then she swiftly turned her hand towards her darling and through a fission of magical gates, threw dozens of magic meteors at the beast.

The beast hurled its head back as the meteors burned down into its skin and then swatted its hand around, trying to deflect the rest.

Priscilla's eyes ferociously thrust open and she shoved the beast's hand off of her mouth. Then she reared herself up on her hind legs, waiting for the moment where the beast's hollow gaze turned on her to spray her with her flames.

The intensity of the flames quickly turned them pure white, and the beast just stood there even as the ground melted to nothing behind it.

Priscilla clamped her jaw shut and headbutted the burning beast towards the hole. It stumbled on the edge, clawing at the air as its face was fully on fire.

Priscilla charged in for one more headbutt for good measure.

Then, the beast threw out a massive punch into the front of her skull that held her completely at bay. She dug her claws into the ground and kept pressing on, watching in utter shock as the fire parted the beast's head with but a huff from its nostrils.

At worst, its horns were starting to melt and embers lingered on its stitches.

Priscilla nevertheless kept inching it closer and closer to the hole, shouting, "Just DIE already!"

She began to push its hand back into its elbow and its bones breaking sounded off the wails of a hundred undead souls.

Priscilla froze there, leaving the fell beast to swiftly kick her underside the chest and knock her airborne. Priscilla spread her wings to suspend herself and pulled away when the beast went for an uppercut.

Then, just as quickly, it spun itself around trying to decapitate her with a kick. Priscilla ducked under the foot and blasted the body with massive fireballs.

The fell beast crashed down covered in smoke but continued to keep leaping up and take its shots at her. Priscilla used her head as a hammer to swat it down.

A mistake roughly born of frustration at this point though, as it allowed the beast to grapple onto her horns and drag her down with it, laying her body out against the ground like a fresh rug.

It then proceeded to start wailing on her back, but the pain in her spine only swelled the frustration in the furnace that was her heart.

She forced herself up and charged through the beast's legs to knock it up, then spun around and pounced onto its back to pin it down.

She then sharpened her claws in black steel and started slashing away at its bare skin as hard as she could. She couldn't get much blood from it, and her claws were beginning to wear away like pencil lead over time.

The beast's head creaked around a full 180 degrees, her spine literally snapping like a twig. Then its arms rotated around a similar way and grabbed onto Priscilla's neck.

"Not THIS TIME!" Priscilla blasted it with pure white flames, this time throwing electricity into the mix for extra "oomph!"

She made sure to personally ensure that she was damaging the beast's face before even considering relenting in the slightest.

The beast's hands began to pull away, looking rather limp and frailer than they ever were before.

Meanwhile Belle continued to engage Amor in projectile combat with the cherub briefly getting distracted by her partner's fall.

"You useless fucking thing, get up!"

Belle pelted Amor with a flurry of pool balls and smirked, telling her, 添ou seem to have underestimated us.

Amor drew her bow back with incredible fury that almost caused the bowstring to snap and remarked, 泥on't be stupid! I am still winning!

"This is what you call winning?" Belle flipped her stick around overhead and then lined it up like she was about to break pool balls, "Don't speak such mockery to a gambler."

She rushed forward with blistering speed through her magically charged legs and Amor just froze in place with a mischievous smirk.

Suddenly a pink fog drifted over Amor's body, and in her place stood Priscilla's regular body. Belle's eyes thrust open and she continued to push forward. Yet when she was ready to strike a fatal blow to this impostor, her body completely froze inches from them.

Her stick shook as she tried desperately to strike. Every neuron in her brain knew she faced her enemy donned despicably in the skin of her darling. But every instinct, every muscle, and even her eyes, betrayed what she knew for a fact.

The fake's skin glistened. The eyes shone with tenacity and timidity, struggling with feelings of love behind a rough exterior. Her sweet, tender lips. Her lovely, hand-picked suit.

To be denied her moment of triumph by being stared at by this beautiful lie was by far the cruelest act this cherub had performed at her on this day.

And while she struggled to break this spell over her body, Belle felt her back lunge out and a hefty gasp of air escaped her lungs.

She was hurtled across the room glued to one of Amor's huge arrows and crashed into the weakening wall, the debris above dislodging on top of her in an avalanche.

Amor's disguise then fizzled out with her wearing the biggest sneer ever.

Priscilla turned from her battle with her flames reduced to embers and gasped, "BELLE!"

The fell beast pulled itself up from the ground grabbing tightly onto Priscilla's neck, dragging even her hind legs up as it stood.

It twisted its upper body back around and bashed Priscilla's girth against the wall, then lifted it up and bashed it down. The mighty Scourge Draconis, now treated no better than a trash bag.

Amor floated towards Belle with her bow drawn once more. The rubble began to move, with Belle using a barrier to push it aside. Her normally clean hair was disheveled and her tuxedo was undone at the collar.

She took a moment to fix her collar and then rubbed a hand over her hair to put it back in place. She glared at Amor and drew a hand behind her back, raising the pool stick towards the cherub with a gesture towards herself signaling "Bring it on".

Amor fired her arrow and Belle zipped forward past it. She drew giant darts out from her magic portals and thrust them forth with lightning speed.

Amor took to the skies and volleyed a rain of arrows around her enemy. Belle dropped into a slide and spun her pool stick around to deflect as many as arrows as she could with magical force, then thrust the discus up at the cherub.

Amor rode the disc to the ceiling before hopping off, firing a gigantic arrow that split into a circular rain of smaller one upon hitting the ground.

Belle swiped her stick to the left briefly to fire small meteors at the fell beast, then swung it back the other way to deflect the arrows falling directly towards her.

Amor plunged out of the sky and rammed straight into her using the trident shape of her bow to lock into Belle's pool stick and hold herself in place.

The cherub's frenzied expression thirsted for pain, her pain. Belle began charging energy in her stick when Amor donned her deceitful disguise yet more.

With the false face of her lover leaving her body stiff and unresponsive, Belle was left to Amor's aggressive whims and received a giant arrow point-blank to the gut yet again.

But this time Belle managed to slip her pool stick between her gut and the arrow head and with a little slicing magic, cut through the arrow in one fell swoop.

Amor charged forth again with the same disguise, thrusting her trident bow repeatedly into Belle's body with her unable to mount a response.

"Isn't it frustrating?" Amor spoke with a perfect mimicry of Priscilla's lovely voice, "To be SOOOOO helpless while your enemy wails on your wearing the face of your loved one?!"

Belle grunted and twitched, her body failing to do anything but stand there and take every attack head-on. Amor guffawed, the echoes of sheer insanity radiating out of Priscilla's mouth hurting Belle down to her soul.

Belle tried to close her eyes and ignore the presence of this fake, but her body so thoroughly believed this lie that it was impossible to break the spell with her own deceit.

The one thing she could do was put her free hand behind her back and continue to move her fingers around in a variety of manners.

Amor's brows raised in a hefty fervor and she declared, "How cute! But there's no breaking this spell!"

She drew her bow back hard and fired an arrow that curved around Belle and aimed for her open hand.

In a moment of panic Belle flipped around with her stick to deflect the arrow, but instead the arrow lodged in deep and spread its glow throughout.

Belle immediately let go of her stick and watched as it started taking swings at her, firing a plethora of magic pool balls, darts, and lightning bolts in all directions.

It was pure, undiluted chaos, just the way Amor liked it.

All Belle could do was snap her fingers and dispel the stick for the time being. She was beginning to sweat and the cherub putting her bow to her back was not helping matters.

"Run run until your mind is done." Amor said in a grim tone.

Belle athletically flipped over the cherub and got behind her, coating her hands in magic to apply a firm grip to their neck. But then the cherub cast their illusion and Belle could do nothing except watch her body freeze in place.

Amor creaked her false smile back and chuckled, "You can't hurt me, I'm your darling dragon."

She then drew her bow before her face and nearly took Belle's head off with an arrow. Belle ducked out of the way and stepped back, tucking a hand behind her back and moving the fingers around some more.

She summoned a lone pool ball in her other hand and drew it around her body as a protective shield, deflecting a flurry of arrows from Amor's bow as she began a slow, methodical stroll towards her.

"Being Lust has its perks, I must admit," Amor chuckled deeply, "Like how I'm able to make anyone see the person they care for the most. An illusion so entrancing, it prevents **anyone** from doing harm to them."

She pulled her bow back to create a larger grow, the glow of the arrow casting a sinister light on her sneering face, "Even the toughest souls have their spines crumble like jello. And you are no different, my **darling** Belle."

The arrow was set loose and crushed Belle's barrier apart like glass, sending her tumbling along the ground.

Priscilla freed her face from the floor to scream "BELLE!" only to be smashed back down, the fell beast hunched over with a firm grip on both her skull and neck.

"Cgh...Cgh!" Belle coughed up a little blood as she pressed her elbows down to rise. The cherub, still donning that horrible veil of lies, stood over her with a sneer.

"You've. Lost," Amor said grimly, "You lay on the floor, defeated. Your lover, laid at the mercy of my beastly sibling. Your casino, soon to have its reputation plummet into the deepest abyss, its customers' souls a banquet to my father's ravenous appetite."

"All that you've built will be torn down. All your hopes assailed."

And in this moment, where Amor had Belle completely at her mercy, the cherub bent down and grabbed her by the chin and brought her in closer.

Still wearing the face of her beloved, Amor let out a chilling whisper of, "But it doesn't have to be that way..."

She grinned from cheek-to-cheek, "I can give it all back. Your life, your casino, even your wretched lover. With just a snap of my fingers, chaos bends to my will."

"All **you** have to do is...make a _certain _bargain with me," Amor pinched Belle's cheeks between her fingers and wiggled her pouting face around, "See there's a certain person I've been...forewarned not to lay a hand on. You know him as...the Elemental Overlord, do you not?"

Belle's eyes widened briefly.

"Yes, of course you do," Amor chuckled in a deep, fatal tone, "See, he needs to pay dearly for his insolence in daring to challenge our kind. We...who were birthed in the shadows cast by the flames of creation...

"So! My offer is simple..." Amor stiffened Belle's eyes directly in front of hers, "Help me and my sibling **kill** the Elemental Overlord and all his friends...And your life will be yours once more. All the freedom you could ever want, as one of **my** personal favorite people. I will even tolerate your acts of lechery. Go wild! Defile any sense of reason you dare wish!"

"You will be granted the greatest freedom a mortal could ask for. And all it costs is the lives of a few, miserable souls you likely care little about."

Belle's body trembled, her gaze slowly panning over to her darling pinned down by the fell beast. Through the brutality inflicted upon her, Priscilla shook her head and tears ran down her scaly cheeks.

Belle was granted freedom from Amor's grasp and immediately hung her head.

Amor gently set her hands upon Belle's shoulders and murmured, "This shall be your finest wager. Your lives? Or **theirs**?"

Belle lifted her head and slowly began to raise her right hand up. Amor smiled her brightest smile and raised her hand as well.

Priscilla frantically lashed her head around, struggling to break free. Her moans of desperation seeming to have no hold on her darling's ears.

Belle took her hand in Amor's without hesitation, and the cherub sneered.

You made the right decision, Belle. She said, hardly containing her laughter.

Priscilla collapsed onto the floor, her tears streaming down into a puddle below her chin.

Belle slowly turned to face her beloved...

And winked.

Priscilla paused, her heart thumping loudly against her chest.

Belle then faced Amor, taking in her fake appearance with naught but a confident smirk, and proclaimed, "I have never been more confident in my decisions than at this very moment!"

Amor's eyes widened as a near-endless stream of handkerchiefs started flying out of Belle's sleeve, coiling around every square inch of Amor's body in seconds.

"W-What...?!" The cherub screamed, as her body was bound up from head-to-toe and sent crashing against the ground. Her lie became undone, her cherub body now trapped within these silly, multicolored chains.

Belle stood and shook her right hand around, disgusted at the filth that now dirtied it, "That's a more fitting look for you, deceiver."

Amor squirmed around trying to face Belle, her eyes practically firing out of their sockets from the sheer rage she was now experiencing.

"IMPOSSIBLE! This illusion is unbreakable! W-What...what the HELL are you?!"

Belle whipped her hand out and summoned her pool stick, now cleansed of the cherub's filth, then used it to tap the side of her mouth.

"Methinks you speak too much," Belle smiled, "You said it yourself...'I can do nothing to harm the one I love'."

"Fortunately for me, a couple thousand years of marriage forces us to experiment with new ways to spice up the love-life and keep things fresh in the bed," Belle tenderly poked her stick out from her hip towards Priscilla,"And my darling has sort of taken a liking to bondage."

Priscilla huffed a hefty amount of reddish steam from her nostrils and growled.

"FREAKS! FREAKS! YOU MORTALS ARE ALL FREAKS!" Screamed Amor.

"Its rather funny isn't it, how our fetishes have proven to be your undoing?" Belle couldn't help but chuckle, though she quickly toughened up and snapped her fingers, "Oh, but that reminds me."

"Speaking of undoings..." She extended her hand out and opened up a magic viewing screen to the casino.

There, Amor stared blankly as she saw not a mountain of corpses littering the facility, but rather a bunch of sleeping, yawning aliens, all adrift in a sea of lavender fog.

Her blood-shot eyes curdled at the sight of Belle, who wiggled her free hand playfully in the air, "You were so worried about my hand crafting something to fight you when that was the farthest from the truth. This whole time I was working on a spell to put my customers to sleep so they couldn't act under your influence."

"GRRRR...!" Growled Amor.

Belle leaned her arms atop her pool stick and smirked, "You asked a simple question...Who am I?"

"I am Belle, a business owner...And a passionate lover!" Belle stood and flourished her hand out to the right, "You cannot put a price on what I cherish, for that is my sole invaluable treasure! So poison the wells with your satanic ways as much as you wish! The power of love shall purify it every time!"

"I. Will. Fucking. END Y-"

Amor had a fat piece of tape slapped over her fat mouth, upon which Belle leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, "You shouldn't have fucked with this witch, little cherub."

Amor grunted madly while Belle set her priorities elsewhere. Quickly aiming her gaze upon the fell beast, she sprinted forth as fast as her lithe legs could carry her and charged her pool stick full of magic.

The fell beast released it grip on Priscilla's neck and tried to crush Belle under its fist. Belle leaped and landed on its arm, running all the way towards the shoulder while lashing up its arm.

At the end she leaped towards the beast's with a big smile and told it calmly, "That's my wife you're messing with, demon!"

With a snap of the wrist she cracked the beast across the cheek with her stick and forced its head to look behind the spine.

The beast turned with its bone structure coming undone like brittle stone and a devilish gleam in its eyes.

Suddenly its other hand was forced up and Priscilla rose to full height, throwing the beast towards onto its back while roaring loud and proud.

Priscilla crashed its full weight upon the beast's chest and a loud crack could be heard echoing within its body. She then clamped her fangs into the beast's neck and began lifting and flailing it around with incredible ferocity.

Belle stayed out of the way and let her have her fun for a while. Once Priscilla tired she flung the beast over to the center of the room where it trembled the whole time it struggled to stand back up.

Priscilla crash landed beside Belle and embers flared out the sides of her mouth and nostrils, "I think its time we wrapped this up, Belle!"

Belle twirled her stick around and thrust it diagonally at the air beside her hip, "Lets make this a grand finale!"

She shot a few orbs from the tip of her stick while Priscilla took flight to the ceiling. The orbs splashed out into a tower of three runes each larger than the last, all intertwined by a series of energy strands and glistening sparkles.

Priscilla ripped her head back, struggling to contain the pent-up white and lavender flames in her mouth. Her eyes roared with light as she forced her head downward at the runes.

Belle raised her hand up high and declared, "Now my darling, lets show them a good time!"

"WITH PLEASURE...!" Priscilla roared, letting rip a massive flame blast that was magnified through each of the runes, "MALPURGIO ZETTAFLARE!"

The runes shattered apart and the flames scorched right through the fell beast's entire body. The roar of flames would've been deafening, had Belle not prepared herself ahead of time.

The flames busted a hole through the floor and continued to fly further and further away. Millions of light years away, it'd continue to shine, and be worshiped as a good omen on roughly five other aliens worlds.

For now though, it served its purpose well.

The fell beast had been reduced to ashes, albeit one with a small lump in the very middle of it. There were holes surrounding where the beast's figure once lay, and the suction of space was pulling the ashes off.

Belle patched up the holes with some magic and then floated on over to lump, finding, to her surprise, the one called Vyvy lying there in a genderless state of nudity.

Before Belle had a chance to examine their body Priscilla came crashing down onto the floor looking completely exhausted.

Belle floated on over and Priscilla reverted to her normal form, collapsing into her lover's embrace.

Belle greeted her with a warm smile and helped her hang on her shoulder as she stood. Priscilla looked at her and scoffed, "T-Thanks, Belle."

"Were you REALLY that worried about me?" Belle teased.

Priscilla turned away with a pout and muttered, "I-Its been a long, annoying day, give me a break."

"I think we've BOTH earned a break after this," darling, Belle said with a chuckle, "Though first we'll need to clean up the main building and explain to the guests what happened..."

As they both seemed content to just go along their merry way, they both caught Amor squirming and bouncing around in her bindings.

Priscilla's mouth drooped and she muttered, "Ah right...What are we going to do about these things? I ain't got the strength to kill the beast one."

"Hmmm, I'll get in contact with Catherine to see about detaining the chimera until we can figure out how to finish it off. As for this one..."

The two walked on over to her and Belle smiled brightly, "Have fun, darling."

Priscilla huffed out one puff of embers from her nostrils and smiled, "Oh, with **pleasure**."

Amor froze stiff as Priscilla turned her foot draconic and smashed right down on top of the cherub, shattering their whole body to glass pieces.

Priscilla pulled back and muttered, "Good fucking riddance..."

Belle patted her on the back and with a slight blush in her cheeks, they turned and slowly walked away.

Suddenly the hairs stood up on the back of theirs necks and they looked over their shoulders to see all the pieces of Amor rise up into the air. Her eyes and mouth stretched out and became flushed with white light. A terrifying dark pink flame burned her body whole while she let out a long, piercing wail whose pitch grew higher and higher.

Right as the two lovers clamped their ears shut, the wailing stopped, and Amor vanished entirely.

Priscilla muttered, "Annoying even in death..."

They continued to trudge forth towards their room with Belle inquiring, "So where would you like to go vacationing at this time?"

"Feh...You know, we haven't been to Pokitaru in forever. Maybe-"

A sudden tremor throughout the building made them stop and take pause. Priscilla looked at the ground and grumbled, "Shit, don't tell me I damaged the gravitational core."

The tremors worsened, a thick pressure following suit. It was like a gravity swell, only they were being pressed down by a sheer, unworldly cold.

"...No, I don't think that's what this is, darling." Belle murmured, hesitating to turn back and face the direction the pressure exuded from.

The tremors grew one final time, this time a sharp, slimy and massive appendage penetrating through the ceiling. And with one mighty tug it ripped the whole roof of the building right off.

Behind it stood a stone face carved into marble as big as their building alone. It depicted a divine beauty with sealed eyes and a big, bountiful smile. The appendage, looking akin to a dark and murky tentacle, withdrew behind the stone face as it slowly began to float away from its meager prey.

And more and more of the statue was revealed, displaying a woman of average measurement bared naked before a horde of hundreds beneath her feet. Her hands gestured towards their approach, but at her wrists were cuffs lined with chains hung tightly around each figure's neck.

The figures looked starved and meek, their bone-like hands clamoring for even a suckling of the goddess' beauty. And the further down you gazed upon the statue, the more violent and bloody the depiction of the figures got, until there was literal blood rusted onto the very bottom of its body.

The statue towered at least a few miles tall. The dozens upon dozens of slimy tentacles drawn out from its back, on the other hand? Each at least as long, if not longer, than it was tall.

"Look at the little love birds, trapped inside their cage...!" Amor's voice came beckoning out from the statue as a planet trembling echo.

"You think you've won...Just because you got a little lucky?!" She screamed, the weight of her voice pushing the weakened Priscilla onto her knees.

"Why cower?" The statue's tentacles squirmed around it, "I have plenty of love for EVERYONE and EVERYTHING! And I'll squeeze that love into you, until you POP!"

First you two shall be crushed, and then the rest of the degenerate mortal life in this universe shall follow suit! She bellowed, "AND THERE IS NO ONE WHO CAN STOP ME!"

And at this point that may very well be true. For having discarded her chains of mortality at long last, Amor bore the armor of the one who waged war on the first heavens alongside her brothers of the first hell. She, now and forevermore, only desires for her true name to be wailed by man's last dying breath...

**LUXURIA, LEVIATHAN OF DEATH'S EMBRACE**

_Next Time: Sinful Resonance_


	73. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72: Sin and Punishment**

Priscilla could hardly see the towering beast hovering over their home, but she could feel it, hear it, **smell** it. Its odor was that of pure chaos dissolved, choking the life out of every microorganism that surrounded it.

Priscilla herself gasped and found it hard to breathe. She knew she wouldn't feel this way were she at her full strength. But she was exhausted. Beating one of these beasts took everything she had and now it took her lover's caring embrace just to keep her from falling to her knees.

She looked to Belle with rosy cheeks and a sense of embarrassment in her scowl. She could barely look at her wife standing tall, defiantly, against this seemingly insurmountable wall.

Then again, Belle practically never showed any signs of wavering in all their years of marriage. The type of world she grew up in had made her a stronger soul than most.

But this wasn't a good thing in Priscilla's eyes. A part of her felt as though Belle was putting on a brave face just for her sake. Or perhaps she really **was** that confident. In this most critical moment, she couldn't read her lover's face, and that worried her the most of all.

She grabbed onto Belle's arm and held it gently, deep, deep down believing a forthright act of love would make Belle take off her mask temporarily. Confirming or denying her suspicions, it didn't matter, she just wanted to see her genuine self one last time before the end.

"Now...DIE!" The titanic beast thrust one of its appendages towards them with lightning speed and Priscilla's eyes squirmed shut with a whimper.

The entire building rattled and Priscilla's scaly skin turned cold, welcoming oblivion. She excepted silence, a long fall towards Hell, and then the roar of flames to torment her forever.

Yet instead she heard a grunt of resistance, shoving back the grasp of death with all their might. She slowly opened her eyes, watching as Belle twirled her stick in front of her to project a shield against the appendages' wrath.

She held on with all her might and sweat manifested all over her silky skin. The shield she made began to crack, but when it gave way the shards hurtled themselves across the appendages' tip and made it withdraw in the blink of an eye.

Belle then bent down and gently laid her darling to kneel on the ground, the halfling gazing upon her with a wobbling look of shock.

"We're nowhere close to being done!" Belle declared henceforth, taking a swing at the mighty beast with nothing but an open palm, "Thrash and flail all you wish, this wall will keep standing between you and the rest of the universe!"

"Is that a challenge?" The titanic beast chuckled, "A pity you boast such things to an ancient one."

It lashed another tentacle out just as fast as before and while Priscilla shouted "Watch out!" Belle swiftly raised her stick and defended herself with another barrier.

She was shoved a few inches back and let out a loud huff as she continued to press forward against the leviathan's wrath.

The barrier started to crack when another tentacle lashed down from the left side, not only smashing through what remained of the wall, but also tilting the building in that direction.

Belle dug her feet in hard as her and Priscilla went sliding. First she broke the first barrier to repel that appendage, and then she made a second barrier to halt the second tentacle.

She then swung back and grabbed onto Priscilla's hand before she slid too far away, pulling her in closer and then applying a little magnetism to her body so she'd stay still.

Another tentacle came flying in the other direction, shifting the building harder the other way. Belle jerked her stick to the right and slammed another barrier into the appendages path, causing it to bend into itself multiple times.

With her defenses now established she put her eyes towards the main monster and stuck her pool stick into the ground. A veil of magic spread throughout the building and re-stabilized it.

Then she pulled the stick up and swung her hand out, firing off giant magic bolts into the statue's face. The leviathan let out a few grunts and shook, which in turn rattled the building some more.

The two appendages made a hasty retreat over the beast's head and then slammed back down hard into the part of the building closest to it. The building slanted and another chunk of it was taken out.

Belle slid a little closer to the center and then magnetized herself to the floor. Then, as the building wobbled around her she tried focusing all her attention towards the statue's forehead.

She used giant pool balls as meteors to unsure that at least a few of them would hit her target. A series of explosions went off across the beast's body and it pulled back, flailing its appendages around like it was in incredible pain.

"Y-You're doing it!" Priscilla cheered on.

"Are you really surprised?" Belle said with a smile back for her most favorite fan of all. But as she turned back her expression stiffened a little, and she let out a curious hum.

The leviathan pushed back into the building with ramming speed, causing the train tubes to snap off from the building.

Belle hunched down and waited for the tremors to cease before continuing her onslaught of magical attacks, going back to the magic bolts for the time being.

Two appendages raised and then sliced towards Belle together, which she flipped forward over, only for a third one to come barreling straight at her.

She summoned her barrier and got shoved away closer to her darling wife, and kept herself from falling onto her butt with a couple short hops.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up?!" The leviathan taunted, a failed attempt to entice Belle to attack unfocused.

Belle paused to catch her breath and then whipped a set of five cards into her hand. Then she lashed them through the air, using magic to increase their size tenfold.

With each finger connected to a card she wiggled them around to weave them around the appendages that tried to impede them. Ultimately the cards lodged themselves into the statue and blew up.

The leviathan pulled away and roared in pain, with chunks of its body crumbling off into space. It then shoved itself back into the building, repaying the loss of its stony flesh by taking off more of their home.

Belle hunched down and then dashed to the edge of the building, swerving out of the way of the incoming appendages until she was directly before the statue's face.

The staggering difference in their sizes made the impending pain she'd inflict upon the beast oh so satisfying. With plenty of magic channeled into her stick, she leaped forth and stabbed it into the statue's forehead.

The leviathan pulled away and tried lashing her off like she was a mosquito. Belle hunched down and covered herself with a dome barrier while shoving more magic down into the statue.

Four appendages rose together for one slam that'd surely turn her into paste. But with a wink and wiggle of her nose, she dispelled the barrier and pulled away at the very last moment into one of her warp cards, leaving her stick behind.

The tentacles slammed down on the stick and shoved it deeper into the statue, triggering all the pent up magical energies to explode.

Belle viewed the beautiful, flourishing magical fireworks from the safety of her broken home and raised her hand to catch her stick as it flew back in a perfect arch.

She then twirled and held the stick behind her back, watching as the leviathan's appendages drooped onto the edge of the platform, a massive chunk of stones plummeting and taking more of the platform down with it.

Behind the broken forehead was a few trickles of black blood, the equivalent of rivers to the mortal eye. The leviathan slowly pulled itself up with a feral growl of frustration and then started lashing its appendages up in the air.

"You miserable witch!" It screamed.

"Keep it up, Belle! You have her on the ropes!" Priscilla proclaimed.

Belle was breathing repeatedly at a quiet pace, a few dews of sweating glistening off her brow. She took a gulp of spit and then twirled her stick around, thrusting it towards the massive wound on the statue's head.

The statue leaned in closer with a gigantic roar, paying no heed to the glittering light gathering at the tip of Belle's stick. Belle shifted her brows and glared at the beast's eyes, waiting as its horde of appendages wiggled to the forefront.

She then fired off a very, very thin beam of energy through the center of the statue's wound, where it shot out the back of the head dragging dozens of gallons of blood out with it. Then, a moment after, the back of the statue's head exploded.

"RAAAAAHHH!" The leviathan recoiled with a massive blood-curling scream.

Belle widened her eyes and then gliding her stick around in the air, summoning trails upon trails of glistening pearl orbs. With no end in sight for her barrage, she fired the orbs into the beast's wound, each as captivating as a newborn comet.

The beast lashed its tentacles to-and-fro to clean the pests from the sky, but instead the mere touch of this purest light made its flesh sizzle and melt off.

Belle's breathing quickened, and she felt her heart touch the rim of her chest. Nevertheless she pressed forward with a confident waltz, whisking her stick around in the air to send more and more of those orbs her foe's way.

Until finally, a horde of them had assembled around the statue's body like a storm of dust flakes. But they were certainly the prettiest dust flakes out there.

The beast swerved around a little while Belle performed a little dance, twirling her stick feverishly over her head, as a whirlwind of sparkling diamond dust gathered around her.

With her body glistening brighter than the brightest jewel, she slammed the tip of her staff down into the ground. The remainder of the building became covered in bright white runes and for a brief second, the leviathan paused, only to then be bound in thousands of barely visible strings.

"W-What is this...?!" They screamed.

"A truly **grand** finale." Belle said with a smirk and a twist of her stick. The lights, as small as dust, began to express their radiance truly magnificently, overwhelming even the titanic scale of this leviathan once they were fully aglow.

"Banisher of Radiance!"

The lights all collapsed into their smallest forms and then, all this build-up culminated in a dazzling white cross that also collapsed upon itself and then spread out diagonally, binding itself against the statue's body before exploding.

"GAAAAAAAHHH!" The leviathan's screams were barely heard over the sounds of light, but Belle could clearly see smoke of all sorts rising out of its now plummeting body.

Its tentacles flailed upward, then fell limp at its back.

Belle breathed incredibly slow, her best suit now drenched in her own sweat. With one satisfied breath, she collapsed onto her butt and kept herself up with both hands.

Priscilla crawled over to her and propped her up on her back, trying to move into a soft embrace as she said with glee, "Y-You did it! I...I can't believe it...We're...We're alive."

Belle's expression subtly turned downward, her eyes especially doing little else but staring blankly towards the cloudy horizon.

"..." Priscilla nudged her head in closer to her wife and muttered, "Belle?"

Belle smiled slightly and remarked, "I did the best I could, darling."

The building trembled and the two watched as an appendage latched itself onto the edge of their platform. Suddenly the whole leviathan came tearing up into their view, laughing maniacally.

"N-No...!" Declared Priscilla, completely aghast.

"Fooled you!" The beast bellowed with the utmost glee, "You actually BELIEVED you could kill me, didn't you? ME?! I am older than your pathetic magics! Nay...I am older than creation itself!"

The statue was cracked all over but it didn't matter. None of it did. The demon was spry with laughter that echoed within the cold confines of Priscilla's body.

Its appendages spread out like deadly flower petals that began thrusting across their view at light speed. They punctured through what remained of the building everywhere except where the two rested. It took its time, fully absorbing itself in the heat of the moment.

It didn't even care that the body of its sibling was bashed away in the process.

The lovers could only watch as their belongings and their beloved home were desecrated to the finest detail, leaving nothing they cared for intact save for each other.

And even that was questionable, with the titanic shadow looming over them. Priscilla glared into the still face of this leviathan as it wobbled closer, their remaining ground hardly big enough to host them both.

"Now all you have is your 'love'. And how will that save you now?" The leviathan coddled them with a mocking, baby tone.

"I told you didn't I? I would completely destroy you. Had you took my offer, you could've had everything you ever wanted still. Now you have nothing. Nothing but a worthless feeling."

"Ghhh...!" Priscilla trembled with rage, stopping only when Belle began to stroke her cheek.

"I still have everything I could ever want," She said with a closed-eye smile, "And I did everything I could to keep it. I have no regrets to speak of."

Priscilla's eyes watered and showed great hesitation mumbling back, "B-Belle that's...that's what I was going to say."

"Ugh, you make me sick," The leviathan moaned, slowly pulling away from the two as their heads gravitated towards one another for one last kiss, "I almost don't want to kill you. Your sickeningly sweet poison will get all over me...!"

Once hundreds of feet away it wiggled one tentacle around before its body and said nonchalantly, "Oh well! These can be replaced!"

Priscilla held onto Belle, hands and tail involved, and trembled uncontrollably. Her scaly skin was very cold, a side of her Belle had never felt before.

And Belle warmed her up with an embrace of her own, as the spectre of death came speeding towards them.

"There's...one regret I have, Belle." The halfing murmured.

"Oh?"

"I...always sort of wanted to raise a child." Priscilla said with reddish cheeks.

"You...did?" Belle's eyes widened and she fluttered them about for a bit, "But you always told me no."

"Feh...!" Priscilla wobbled out a last-minute smile, "I said I didn't want to have a child! I-If we were going to do, you'd be the one getting pregnant!"

"Oh," Belle giggled, "So my big tough dragon wife was afraid of a little childbirth?"

"S-Shut up..." Priscilla murmured.

Then, they looked each other in the eyes, and held each other softly.

Their world could never truly end.

Even when death came crashing down upon them, their world would live on.

For their love was the world to them.

And that's all they could ever ask for.

They closed their eyes, and embraced the end of this chapter of their lives...

…

…

"Do not close your eyes so readily you two. Rejoice! For this has been your finest hour!"

A strange voice called out to them from very, very close by, and they couldn't help but open their eyes and be shocked to find that the appendage hadn't yet reached them.

No, it had been stopped completely. Not by some powerful divine influence, or a luck of the draw.

No.

One man, one solitary man, stood against death and its feral wrath.

"W-Who are...?" Muttered Priscilla.

"You. You're..." While Belle seemed to recognize them.

"YOU?!" And the leviathan screamed, their rage unable to be withstood by the cosmos, "HOW...HOW DARE YOU!"

The name of this last-minute savior was the mysterious Macros, who currently levitated in the air before the two lovers with the tip of the appendage speared through his chest.

He calmly folded his hands behind his back and shook his head, "I thought I had made my point clear before, but you never were a good listener were you?"

In the blink of an eye he grabbed onto the appendage and began to drag it out of his body. The leviathan froze stiff and did nothing to stop him.

"Shit, you pull that out and you're going to die!" Priscilla exclaimed in worry.

"You're worried about me? I'm sincerely flattered," Macros leaned over his shoulder, smiling as he ripped the tentacle out with ease, leaving behind a massive hollow wound in his body, "But there's no pain out there that can fill the emptiness inside of me."

He then glared towards the leviathan and remarked, "Especially not from this disobedient child."

He shoved the tentacle back towards the leviathan, who let out a pail shriek of, "So you side with these mortals after all, PRIDE?!"

"P-Pride?!" Priscilla stuttered in an alarmed tone.

"She's speaking nonsense I assure you," Macros said, his insides pulling back together with a visceral suction sound. As he dusted a bit of liquid off his gut he then leaned over his shoulder, looking at Belle specifically, "I am Macros. Isn't that correct, Belle?"

Belle slanted her brows and raised a rather wily smirk in response, "Thank you for the help."

"I think both parties here are mistaken..." Macros dryly scratched the side of his face, "I just so happened to wander into the path of an appendage while observing the battle."

Priscilla narrowed her gaze and muttered, "You ain't convincing anyone with that bullshit."

"Least of all me! You human-loving filth!" The leviathan raised its tentacles and lashed them down, "You're a disgrace to us all!"

When the tentacles came crashing down Macros waved his hand out without even turning to look at them. The tentacles became bound by a thin azure light and stopped moving.

"Gghhh...!" The leviathan grunted, but they didn't budge an inch further.

Macros then tucked his hands behind his back and fully faced the couple cracking a tiny smile, "But if you want my help you'll have to make a pact with me."

Priscilla growled in suspicion while Belle asked "What do you want?" without hesitation.

Macros' brows tingled in surprise and with a dry, amused chuckle he said, "Nothing major. Just a promise to never tell a soul of my presence here today. I DO have a reputation to uphold, surely you of all people understand that."

"I don't know about this," Priscilla growled, "You sure are susp-"

"Its a deal." Belle remarked, eliciting a quick tremor of shock from her partner.

Macros closed his eyes and said, "Very well. Oh, but just a quick warning..."

As he began to turn he reached for his lens and twisted them right off, his eyes along with it. He tucked them away in his pockets and as he did so, dark azure flames began to overflow from his eyes, guiding the tiny hands of hundreds of dying skeletons to rise up and grab the sides of his sockets.

"Whatever you do, _**don't look into my eyes**_." His tone now carried a deep, cold echo, like the sounds of legion were at his tongue's beck and call.

He then cracked his knuckles before gently raising his right hand towards one of the tentacles. It began to break down at a cubical level all the way up to the main body in a matter of seconds.

The veil over the other tentacle and broke off and was immediately sent hurtling towards Macros by the raging leviathan.

Macros blocked the tip on his palm and then shook his head, "I warned you, Luxuria. And yet you hastened towards your defeat regardless."

He broke down that tentacle while another one shoved out of the socket left behind from the first's destruction and thrust itself towards Macros.

"I had won! Victory was mine! But noooo! You never let me have anything you glory-hound traitor!"

Macors broke down another tentacle with a simple wave of his hand and laughed, "Curse your own incompetence, you unruly child."

He kept the tentacles from approaching with the ease that his actions proved to be, "You? Make up some grand scheme that'd topple the Elemental Overlord? Ha! There's a reason **I** was chosen to lead. Left to your own devices you're incapable of accomplishing anything without succumbing to your feverish emotions."

"You underestimated your prey just as you continue to underestimate me. These two outlasted you with the very power you cursed as weak. It was a triumph worthy of the utmost praise, now proving to be the instrument of your defeat."

"There's that old arrogance of yours surfacing once more! UUURGHHH!" The leviathan roared and started sending more tentacles after him, "Lets see how you handle this!"

Macros raised his other hand to double his deconstructing efforts, "Not even a challenge, you ugly beast."

Priscilla and Belle found themselves very out-of-place as spectators in this battle of otherworldly forces. Nevertheless the halfling found the gumption to shout, "HEY!"

Macros tilted his head back ever-slightly and Priscilla grunted, "I get you're enjoying this but when are you going to actually attack this beast?!"

"Cough...! Right, did I neglect to mention that?" Macros chuckled nonchalantly, "See, I can't actually do any major harm to her. And neither can she to me. Its sort of a safeguard our father implemented to keep us from betraying each other."

"She put a hole through your chest." Priscilla muttered.

"I said it didn't hurt, didn't I?" Macros said, getting a little short with her, "But yes, I get what you're saying. All my powers of deconstruction can do is keep her from killing you. If we want to win this battle, you'll have to do the job for me."

"Well..." Priscilla grunted weakly.

"I hate to say it, but we're both exhausted." Belle remarked.

"Hmmm, I thought so. Good thing I made a quick stop at the item store on the way here." Macros drew his hand down into his pocket and a tentacle came speeding down towards him.

Belle pulled her stick out and blocked it with a quick, if not weak barrier. Macros then pulled out a couple of yellow, jelly-like crystals and tossed them back remarking, "Much appreciated."

He then resumed his efforts while Belle looked at the crystals and remarked, "Ethers?"

"They never have Elixirs in stock, I swear..." Macros said with a chuckle.

Belle stuffed the Ether into her mouth and gobbled it down, and after a sigh and shrug Priscilla just rolled along with it and ate hers too.

Though their bodies didn't look any better, the veil of magical energy surrounding them made them feel refreshed.

"Now then, I need you both to prepare to launch one powerful attack at her weak point on my cue." Macros briefly gestured his pointer finger upward at the statue's chest.

"The chest?" Priscilla murmured in surprise.

"Yes, her mortal shell is hidden within there. If you can break it open, then I will handle the rest." It was no boast he made, but rather a statement of fact. His belief in them was so strong, it was its own form of strength.

"Not the face but the chest..." Belle nodded slowly, "How vain of her."

"Yes, the girl thinks she's clever." Macros dryly chuckled and then swerved his hands out to narrowly deconstruct a couple more tentacles.

"I would advise getting ready now though. She's starting to make progress...!" Macros let out a light grunt and then thrust his hands out, firing a pulse of deconstructing energy to take out a wave of tentacles, "And I'd rather not...hahaha...push myself too hard here."

Belle began to raise her stick and Priscilla immediately put her claw down on top of it. With a rough, somewhat embarrassed scoff she muttered, "Can't believe we're still fighting this out...We've got all the luck on our side, don't we?"

"No..." Belle shook her head and smiled, "This has nothing to do with luck. This is something greater. Something that cannot be quantified."

She then widened her eyes with a hint of fire in her pupils, "Let us make our mark on history with one all-or-nothing effort, my darling!"

"Heh...!" Priscilla gripped the stick and began funneling her purple lightning into it, facing the monstrosity with a fierce expression, "You're the best wife in the universe, Belle!"

Belle funneled her magical force into the stick and they waited for their chance to strike.

The leviathan's efforts grew increasingly frequent and angered. She consumed her opposition's surroundings in her flailing appendages, watching them deconstruct and regrow by the dozen per second.

"I. Will. WIN! Not even you can stop me, Pride! NO ONE CAN!" All her boasts were delusions grasping desperately at some veiled manifestation of reality crafted inside her hollow head.

Macros merely kept his position steady and slowly shook his head, "Maybe acquire a victory or two in your repertoire before making such boasts, Luxuria."

"You're so insufferable...! DIE! DIE! DIE!" She pulled all her tentacles back and lashed them out simultaneously. Macros' sockets flared open and consumed all the tentacles in blue flames that held them in place. He then swept his hands clock and counterclockwise to deconstruct them all.

"And once again, your hubris shall make you fall," With that cold remark Macros glanced ever-so slightly over his shoulder and shouted, "Now! Hurry!"

Belle's stick was so charged up that cracks were forming over the surface. But she gripped it extra-hard and refused to let go, even as it was burning hers and Priscilla's palms.

The two hunched forward together and centered the stick between them, glaring up at the mighty leviathan as they hastily worked on manifesting more appendages.

"This is bullshit...! I did everything right! I should be winning! This was my victory! Mine! Why?! Why why why do you goodie two-shoes keep winning?! Why does this universe favor your ilk, when we were the firstborn sons and daughters of creation?!"

Macros tucked his hands behind his back and clicked his tongue twice, "Because this universe isn't so easily molded to your childish whims. Its flawed, yes, but its always changing, always growing. Always full of surprises, like these two behind me."

He gestured his hand back and floated aside. The lovers grasped the stick tightly and braced themselves as the ground was beginning to disintegrate from being in contact from their combined power.

"You want to know why you lost?" Priscilla roared and reared her head back, "Because you don't know a single goddamn thing about love!"

"Bitch!" Belle added immediately.

With one solid thrust of their stick the energy exploded out of its disintegrating form as a gigantic heart-shaped violet beam, crackling violently with electricity and magical juices.

Before the appendages were fully restored they were shoved in the path of the beam, and quickly reduced to dust. It then slammed into the statue's chest and its back arched, cracks splitting it apart all over.

Finally it caved in to pressure, the combined energies exploding out of its entire back in one mighty, deafening burst, splitting away a quarter of the planet's gases.

In the center of the statue's chest Amor's body floated in the hollow shell gasping and wheezing angrily. She grit her teeth in a scowl, her mighty body collapsing all around her.

"No...No! I refuse to accept this conclusion...!"

But the very moment she budged, Macros appeared in front of her and muttered, "Accept it. This is the end."

In the blink of an eye he throttled his hand around her stubby neck and hoisted her inches before his howling face.

Amor's entire body trembled, but her scowl never faded. And as a matter of fact, she was **laughing**.

Macros tilted his head while she boasted spitefully in his face, "So what now, you'll punish me? Hahaha! You. Can't. Do. ANYTHING. To me..."

"You have no choice but to let me go. This is only a temporary setback. You won't always be able to save these suicidal morons from my vengeance!"

Macros' smile faded and Amor's only grew in scale, "What can you do about it? **Kill me**?"

"Ha...!" Macros let loose that one chuckle, and Amor's porcelain skin started to grow pale.

He pulled her face directly before his and grinned as wide as his thin, bony cheeks would allow. With his glare burrowing into her eyes he muttered, "Oh my dear, naive cherub child..."

"_**I don't partake in such...childish games." **_

And then there was **silence**.

From Belle and Priscilla's perspective they saw the statue definitively crumbled apart to the last stone. And once they watched the last speck of dust fade away, they let their exhausted bodies collapse forward, barely able to fully lay out on this tiny, tiny platform.

"I-Its over..." Belle let out a huff of relief.

"I really, REALLY...want to just lay here for a few days...Is that ok?" Priscilla mumbled.

"Go right ahead, you've earned it." Uttered Macros, reappearing before the two with his "eyes" back in their proper place and a tiny smile.

Priscilla poked her head up and muttered, "You're still here?"

"You still haven't said 'Thank you'?" Macros replied with a chuckle.

Priscilla arched her brows and huffed "Thank you" without making eye contact.

"Glad to have been of assistance." Macros bowed.

"So, wait...what happened to that pest anyway?" Priscilla glanced around wondering, "And the other one, the chimera thing?"

"I took care of them," Macros said nonchalantly, "No questioning it."

"..." Belle hummed for a short while and then shook her head, "I'm afraid I can't accept that."

Macros turned his head and let her speak up without interruption, "I want answers. About **everything** involving you and the extended family that's been causing us trouble these past few months."

"..." Macros closed his eyes and chuckled, "You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Aurian Neptune. I've already overstepped my bounds enough by involving myself in this fight."

"So that's a 'No' then?" Belle began to smirk.

"I'm afraid so." Macros nonchalantly replied.

She closed her eyes and chuckled, "Then it'd be a pity if _someone_ were to let slip that the famous biologist Macros had a big, dark secret."

Macros flinched and perked his eyes up attentively.

Belle looked at him and remarked, "Why, just think of how Catherine would react if her assumptions were proven true."

"She'd hound me to the edge of the universe..." Macros gasped and weakly chuckled, then began scratching the side of his face, "W-Wait, am **I** being blackmailed? ME?"

"Think of it more as us working out a mutual agreement." Belle smiled.

"You cheeky girl..." Macros tucked his hands behind his back and let out a wily laugh, "Ha! You know, I'm not even mad. Rather...I'd say this is a pleasant surprise."

He then gestured one hand out to say, "Very well, lets consider this a major upgrade in our business relationship then, shall we?"

"However..." Macros glared narrowly at Belle, "I will only tell **you** what I know."

Priscilla immediately flared her nostrils and with a wave of his hand Macros replied, "I jest, I jest."

He then put his hands back and remarked, "But why don't we stow this talk away for later? You two deserve a long break and what I have to say requires a true strength of heart."

"Hey, before you go..." Priscilla grunted and gestured her head back, "Mind fixing up our home?"

"..." Macros closed his eyes and stated sternly, "Sorry, my powers don't work in reverse."

He then flapped one hand up and let out a jolly "Ta-ta!" before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Then Priscilla definitively collapsed upon the barren ground and mumbled, "Thank god we got all of our money..."

"And each other." Belle patted her on the back.

Priscilla pouted and turned her head away, "Ok you can stop that flowery shit now, its turning me off."

Belle rubbed her back even harder and Priscilla melted into the ground in a state of reluctant bliss.

_Aftermath..._

_Having narrowly escaped the machinations of Amor with their lives, Belle and Priscilla got to work rebuilding their lovely casino with the help of their friends._

_The aliens who were bewitched by thoughts of Envy and Lust had the situation explained to them. A lot of them still aggressively turned on one another but Priscilla quickly knocked their heads around. _

_The casino was only closed down for a week and when they re-opened, business was positively booming. They had their most thriving day and got lots of money off of their customers gambling their days away._

_As for personal matters between the two, Priscilla was perfectly content with some peace and quiet for a while. She got a great fight in and that's all she ever wanted...for now._

_But Belle, on the other hand, started thinking intently about Priscilla's sole regret. "A child" she thought, sounded like an interesting venture. But what their love lacked was the ability to produce a child. Surely there were...ways around that, but the last time they used "that" spell things got really awkward in bed. _

_Accepting a donor was out of the question. If they had a child it had to be something they made together. Thinking about it in her spare time, Belle was reminded of what the Leviathans looked like in their mortal bodies, specifically Vyvy. A doll that looked like it had been made out of clay. A homunculus..._

_Hmmm...perhaps this is an idea worth pursuing._

_Though, speaking of the two missing Leviathans..._

Macros wandered into the comfort of his laboratory whistling a heartfelt tune. He immediately turned left and raised a bucket of popcorn before his chest.

Separated from all other capsules were two more tightly put together ones with Vyvy and Amor floating inside a vat of visceral ooze. Dozens of wires were attached inside of Vyvy's skull and she had this dreamy, melting smile across her face with glazed over eyes.

Amor, however, was bound up by hundreds of chains and her eyelids were taped open. She was clearly screaming and flailing in agony.

Macros nibbled on some of his popcorn and then turned to the television screen glued before Amor's capsule.

Amor screamed so loud that it was a wonder her voice didn't give out.

For hers was a fate worse than death. This was a Hell that even Satan would cower in the face. The face of this tormentor had but an eight letter word attached to it. Its existence bringing woe and misery to many young adults and lulling seniors into an endlessly repeating cycle of unoriginality.

"We now return to our 24/7 Hallmark Movie marathon." Uttered the narrator on the TV.

Macros cracked a tiny smile and wagged his popcorn piece at the screen, "Ah, Lacey Chabert is in this one too! I do truly enjoy her old work..."

Amor tried to twist her eyes back into her skull as her screams only got louder and louder.

Macros glanced over his shoulder nibbling on his popcorn, "Isn't this fun? We're finally spending time as a family again."

Amor rattled her cage around violently while Macros stared blankly at the screen and let out a dry chuckle, "Ah, good old B-Movie romance..."

_Next Time: The Clairvoyant's Secret_


	74. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73: A Witch Without a Name**

_Floating._

_Drifting._

_A sea of endless seas stretches out before you._

_Wandering._

_Wondering._

_A dream of endless time carries you._

_The waves of time's march wash against your ears and you drift forward to a destination unknown. There are seagulls cawing in the air tonight. Or this morning. The moon sets, the sun rises, the moon rises, the sun sets._

_Eventually you feel no motion beneath yourself besides the tides attempting to pull some sand back with it. _

_You hear footsteps in the distance, crunching down upon the hundreds of grains of sand that surround you._

_You raise your head and the sky swirls around before your face. You feel dizzy, but try and remain focused. You see an unfamiliar sight: A suburban neighborhood. _

_...Something's wrong._

_Roofs are caved in, some houses look like they were set on fire, or crushed into a heap. There was half of a massive spaceship plunged into the ground a mile away like the tip of a giant's sword._

_The sky was sunny. The world wasn't ending yet. But there was an omen in the air._

"_Why did __**you**__ let this happen?" The sky whispered back._

_You thrust your head down to ignore this but when you do, the world conjures up a surprise for you._

_Alex Whiter stands before you, looking like he always does. There's a heavy expression on his face. He appears mournful too. _

_You approach him, but he takes one step back and you stop._

_He shakes his head and looks at you with only his sorrow speaking for him. Finally though he looked you right in the eyes and says the words that'll shake you to the core._

"_Something's coming, ^&%," The occasional word left his mouth eclipsed by static, and the state of the world began to distort in a fuzzy manner, "%$#^%$ said it'll be the end of the universe. No...all of # !# !$^&^."_

_He then lifted his static filled hand up, the fuzziness crawling all the way up to his shoulder in seconds, "If we're to survive, I need you to tell me where-"_

_The world is devoured completely in static, as your brain flickers back on like a lightbulb on its last legs..._

"_Ugh..." _

In the current reality, Mew creaks his eyelids open slowly with a groan and finds himself staring up at a ceiling. When his vision stops being grainy for one second he can tell that he's not back home but at the Aurora household.

He opened his eyes some more and tried lifting his head. His body felt fuzzy all over, especially in the chest. His mind, however, was lucid and barely able to register the rest of his surroundings, or even how he got here.

After pulling his back up against something solid, possibly the arm of a couch, he immediately dipped into his memories to try and recall what happened last.

Flashes of conflict with Beerus floated through a sea of fog, ending on the clear and concise image of him staring up the God of Destruction's open palm. After that his brain retaliated with a painful scratching feeling that left him collapsing flat on his back.

"Ow..." He groaned.

"_So that's what happened. I...lost...?" _He left his arm draping over the side of the couch and squinted his eyes partway shut.

Now his body was feeling sore all over, especially in his upper arms. If he tried moving a muscle he worried that he'd risk tearing a tendon or two.

"Ugh, I've lost fights before but I've never felt THIS sore afterwards...Guess this is just the power of a God of Destruction..." He said, his tone lifeless.

He pivoted his head towards the front door and found it was quiet. Too quiet.

"Where is everyone...?" He muttered.

With a few forced coughs to sort of warm up his sore vocal cords, he tried shouting out for someone, "Kairi! Maria! Shina! Auris! Heeeeellooooo?"

No response. Nadda. Zilch.

He flopped down with a heavy sigh and remark of, "Well SHIT."

He plopped a hand on top of his stomach and said, "They couldn't have bothered putting a blanket over me or something?"

At least his sense of humor wasn't gone. That's good.

"Haaaa, nothing else for me to do except lie here and wait..."

He laid there in a state of contemplating silence. His body was slowly getting better, and after an hour he could feel his arms and legs again.

He started drawing circles in the air with his pointer finger, then went on to try and count all the bumps in the ceiling paint. He got to 500 before stopping himself from falling back to sleep.

He rested his hands behind his head and crossed his legs. The couch was starting to feel uncomfortable but he just didn't feel like getting up yet.

It was soooo lonely in here. Where the hell could everyone be?

Loneliness. A terrible disease. It infects the mind and forces it to think negative thoughts. In Mew's case, he started to recall more about what happened between him and Beerus.

"_You have good friends on your side, Mew. Cherish them and your world, as I never could..."_ For a brief moment, the God of Destruction had sounded remorseful...and scared.

And it reminded him yet again of what Justek had said, about how the mysterious ones called the "higher-ups" brought ruin to many lives.

Riku had mentioned that the Marvel Universe had been destroyed too, but when Alex was confronted on that he danced around the issue entirely. And honestly, given the knowledge he had up until this point, it made it sound like Alex was used as an instrument of destruction by the "higher-ups".

A name, or rather, a figure had been brought up by Alex before: A witch in gray. They pitted Alex and Shina against each other and nearly thwarted all their efforts to reclaim the Cosmos Drive.

And if they would go that far to spite Alex, then who is to say they wouldn't also force him to stain his hands in blood.

Alex had become deranged by whatever had occurred in the three-year gap and despite all the evidence compiled in his head, Mew realized that he really didn't know the full story. He only had **Alex's** perspective to go on.

There was one other thing though regarding the "higher-ups". He HAD heard their name uttered one other time.

Three-years ago, in the battle to save reality from being wiped out, he had met a being called the Chronicler. They explained that the "higher-ups" were observing over the battle, one of the very few survivors in the face of Mr. Reality's corruption at the hands of the Parakali parasites.

Their numbers were three, he remembered that clearly. But they had done nothing to interfere in the battle, even though clearly they were stronger then the erasure of reality.

But if their M.O. was destroying worlds then why would they care anyways?

…

However, that didn't make any sense either. They let the universe be restored without any fuss not just once, but twice. When Justek was defeated, everything was back to normal.

But at the same time, they had punished the Star Spirits of Mario's world for intervening in a battle between Alex Whiter and Joe Dark.

"Uuuugh, this is making my head hurt...!" Mew grabbed and ruffled his hair around, feeling immensely frustrated with himself.

"I'm trying to make sense of the motives of beings I can't even see..." He flopped his arms down by his sides and sighed.

"_I need to narrow it all down. What do I know about these 'higher-ups'? They've wiped out entire universes in the past, seem to govern the higher powers of other worlds, have a connection to the Elemental Overlord AND the Dark King somehow, and might have had a hand in Alex going crazy..."_

And that made them dangerous. But at the same time, were they a **threat**?

…

"_Why would I think that?" _Mew thought in a mild moment of confusion.

He did not consider at the time that, in truth, despite the threat level his knowledge painted of the "higher-ups"...He really didn't have a motive that made sense of WHY they were a major threat.

As hard a pill as it was to swallow, he was ignorant. He needed to learn more.

The front door opened from the corner of his eye and in walked Auris AND Shina carrying bags of groceries. Mew narrowed his gaze at them and thought, _"And I know just the people to ask..." _

Shina was the first to catch wind of him being up and let out a gleeful proclamation of, "Hey Mr. Sleepyhead, welcome back!"

She tip-toed around the other couch. Clearly she was running out of shirts to wear as her swollen belly was poking out. Her cheeks were positively glowing, not in the way her personality let them shine, of course.

Mew weakly waved his hand up and uttered "Yo" casually.

Auris strolled on up beside her, her eyes narrowing in a stern glare his way. She then nudged her head to the right and said, "Shina, can you sort the groceries out for me?"

She handed them off and Shina hoisted the six heavy looking bags up in both hands with a smile, "You got it mom!"

As she wandered off to the kitchen she said, "Glad to see you're doing well, Mew!"

Mew then tried sitting up and stretching his hands in the air. Auris sat herself at the couch in front of him while he let out a long yawn.

"I was wondering when anyone was getting back," Mew chuckled to himself, "Truth be told I was expecting Kairi and Maria to be hovering over me when I woke up, ha ha ha."

Auris closed her eyes and murmured, "They would still be if I didn't force them to go back to school."

Mew flinched and laid his arms down upon his knees, "Oh really? ...Huh."

He rolled his shoulders around and despite a little cracking, he felt pretty good.

Auris then peered at him with a mild smile and said, "Riku came running to Sancturia the moment he heard what had happened. He gave you some of his energy to heal, but I told him not to overdo it."

"Heh, that's my brother for ya. I hope I didn't worry him too much though."

"Mmm..." Auris continued on softly, "Later on Joe Dark came in. He called you an idiot. I'm sure you're not surprised."

"Not in the slightest." Mew chuckled.

"He then sat down next to you for twelve hours. He didn't eat, he didn't move. He was staring at you the whole time, mumbling 'Why?' occasionally."

"...I-I see." Mew stuttered.

Auris bridged her hands under her chin and closed her eyes once more, "Gabriel applied some herbal remedies to your skin to keep your muscles from atrophying while you rested."

Mew stared at both his arms and shook them around, "They were definitely effective I'll give him that! I'll be sure to thank him later."

"...Catherine popped in then immediately left, claiming that she 'got lost' on the way to a meeting."

Mew stared blankly at Auris and muttered "Uhh, what?" while she immediately peered open a narrow gaze and said, "Even Solaris stopped up to check on you. Admittedly he spent that whole time trying to shake your body awake, but still..."

"R-R-Really?" Mew was a little taken aback by this, "That's...something."

Mew leaned comfortably back into the couch where, after a short, silent pause, Auris' fingers began to curl inward and she mumbled bluntly, "What the HELL were you thinking?"

Mew flinched and as he was ready to muster a response Auris was right there to cut him off, "When you first saw the God of Destruction did you brain tell you 'Run' or 'Avoid conflict' or was your cranium so flooded with adrenaline that it kept the message from its destination?"

"Uhhh..." Mew's jaw dropped and Auris continued on, never raising her voice, though her words still raged on like an erupting volcano.

"Its lucky for me that you lived cause I'm half-tempted to kill you myself right this minute."

"What're you ragging on me for?" Mew shook his hands about and didn't know how to best deal with her temper cause, to his recollection, she'd never been this outwardly mad before, "Everything worked out just fine. Beerus left and I'm alive!"

"...You consider this 'fine'," Auris creased her eyes shut and pulled herself off from the couch grumbling, "Of all the nerve..."

She then whipped her right hand forward with a stern glare, summoning her blade towards Mew's face. He raised his hand defensively but on reflex, nothing spurted out of his skin but a few measly embers.

Auris turned her gaze aside and then swung her hand down to dispel her blade. Mew was left staring at his open palm, shaking it around to try and get some more fire out.

"Uhhh, what's going on here?"

"Did you learn NOTHING from what happened to Riku? These powers aren't something you can just experiment with willy-nilly." She settled down back into her seat and looked Mew straight in the eyes.

"Do you honestly not remember the state you were in when you blacked out?" She murmured, as Mew stared back into her eyes with a blank expression.

"I can't even put words towards what your body looked like," Auris bridged her hands over her mouth but it was clearly she was scowling from the way she glared at him, "Honestly. Trying to brute force your body to achieve Chaos Form was tantamount to suicide. So again, I ask...What the HELL were you thinking? And don't give me one of your smart-ass answers or I'll banish you from Sancturia forever."

Auris was really laying it in to him far beyond what was necessary. Mew wondered why she was so pissed all while he told her honestly, no kidding around it, "I was just trying to beat Beerus."

"...I figured that'd be the reason," Auris dropped her hands down and said bluntly, "And its a **stupid** one at that."

"So either its too stupid or too smart-ass for you. So what did you want from me?" Mew bluntly bit back.

"I want you to consider your choices with a little more thought than that. But clearly your fighting instincts overrode any sense of reason you may have had." Auris droned off into a mumble and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

Mew arched his brows at her and remarked, "Well maybe if you had given us a heads-up that he was coming we could've been better prepared for him!"

Auris grimaced and then froze up, her eyes blanking out like she was seeing a ghost. Mew stared at those eyes of hers and said, "I mean I get not wanting to throw the future out of whack but I think someone like Beerus warrants a **little** warning don't you think?"

Auris squeezed her eyes shut and stuttered, "D-Don't try to divert the issue here, Mew. This is the present moment now, so realize your mistake and owe up to it like a person should."

"Mmrrr..." Mew felt uncomfortably pushed into a corner of dishonesty here, _"All I was trying to do was..." _

With her staring him down he knew he didn't have any free time to come up with a convincing argument. For now, begrudgingly, he closed his eyes and said while rubbing the back of his head, "Fiiiine, I went too far this time. I won't try pulling a stunt like that again."

"You better not, or there might not be anything left of you to salvage next time." Said Auris, rubbing further salt in the wound.

"I'm all done, mom!" Shina broke the gloomy atmosphere with a cheerful entry, upon which Auris stood up with a half-smile and wandered towards the kitchen.

"Thanks for the help, dear. I'll handle the rest and then start preparing dinner."

She patted her on the shoulder and then wandered into the kitchen. Shina, meanwhile, tucked her hands behind her back and strutted on up to the couch in front of Mew to take a seat.

"Heh heh! We haven't gotten to sit and chat for a while, huh?" She said with a beaming smile.

Mew, recovering from the talk he just had, took a moment to pay her any heed, "O-Oh, yeah..."

He looked at her stomach and remarked, "How's the baby doing?"

She rubbed her stomach gently and said, "Still kickin'!"

"That's good to hear. You're like, two months away now right?"

"God, that's going to take forever at this rate!" Shina playfully rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch, "I just want to shove this little tyke out already and get it over with!"

"Please don't say stuff like that." Mew mumbled meekly.

She giggled with her fingers before her mouth and then rested both hands on her legs, "You really had us worried for a while there, Mew. I mean, ya fought Beerus, the God of Destruction!"

"Yeah well clearly it wasn't my finest moment to **some** people..." Mew crossed his arms against his chest and sank into the couch, propping his feet up on the table.

"Yeeeeeah well..." Shina awkwardly glanced aside and let out a hiss, "Maybe you shoulda had one of us as back-up?"

"Kairi and Maria TRIED to jump in and help but Whis held them off."

"Oh no kidding?" Shina's eyes lit up in surprise and with a pump of her fist by her chest she grinned.

She then settled back down and giggled, "Sis really likes to keep an eye out for you, that's for sure."

"Maybe a little **too** much. Sometimes it feels like she's got a chain around my neck..." Mew rubbed his neck and the two of them chuckled.

But then Shina rested a hand upon her cheek, and rubbed it around sighing, "Oh Mew, so naive..."

"Eh?" Mew perked up and Shina immediately jumped at the chance to say "Oh nothing!" to shut him up.

She then clapped her hands down upon her knees and leaned a little closer to say, "I'll give you a hint. She's gotten sick, and you're to blame."

"S-Sick?" Mew stuttered in a panic, "Aw man, I hope Beerus didn't carry a contagious disease to Sancturia..."

"No not like that kinda sick! You know, the other type...?" Shina fiddled her fingers against her chin as Mew sat there staring at her all dumbfounded.

"No, I...don't think I get it." He said.

"Iiiii think you do." Shina said teasingly.

Mew shook his head and uttered "Nope" before shrugging his shoulders.

Shina closed her eyes and while still smiling, started to mumble aloud, "Oh my god there's no way you're this dense."

She laid a hand against the side of her face and sighed, "Darling you give love, a bad name..."

"I can hear you, you know."

Shina's eyes thrust open with a red tint in her cheeks and she quickly brushed her hand up in the air, slapping Mew upside the face with a plank of aura, "Well who asked ya to?!"

"Ow!" Mew rubbed his sore cheek bones.

Shina then let out a frustrated huff and said more hastily, "You do know sis was sitting by ya while you were out, don't you?"

"Yeah yeah Auris told me all about that..." Mew grumbled, "I'm not surprised. Besides, I wasn't out that long..."

Shina sat upright and her sudden silence was unnerving. Her smile turned to a confused pucker and with a tilt of the head she said, "Uhhhh, did mom not tell you how long you were out for?"

"N-Not that long right?"

"Mew, you were out for a year," Shina said in a dismal tone, "This is my second baby, Joe Dark's child."

Mew stared long and hard at Shina and she stared back. He then nudged his brows down and she pouted out in an annoyed tone, "Nothing doing huh?"

"That's not very funny." Mew said coldly.

"Oh fine! You were only out a week." Shina puffed her cheeks and grumbled to herself for a while.

"A week?!" Mew shot upright and then started coughing up dry air, "H-Holy shit, ok, point taken Auris...I'll definitely not try anything crazy like that again. Jesus, an entire week?!"

"I've missed so many shows!" Mew exclaimed, grabbing the sides of his head.

Shina fluttered her eyelashes and chuckled, "A-At least you got your...priorities straight?"

Mew then stared at the ground and thought, _"I'm getting distracted here by shenanigans..." _

He clapped his cheeks and sat up to look Shina in the eyes, "Hey, Shina."

"That's me! What's up?"

"It kind of occurred to me that I've never heard the full story of you and Alex's travels." Mew slapped his knee and leaned back into the couch.

"Oh, you want to hear a few tales while you relax?"

"Sure, but there's one part I'd like to hear about first," Mew waved his hand out to ask, "Can you tell me what you know about a 'witch'?"

Shina froze entirely, her smile wobbling for just a few brief moments. She then closed her eyes and murmured, "What good's a story where you jump around all the over place? Why don't I start from the beginning?"

Mew shook his head and remarked, "We can get to that later. Its really important I learn more about the 'witch' who targeted you and Alex."

"Is it REALLY?" Shina tilted her head the opposite way, "Don't ya wanna hear about the time we helped Spyro collect some gems?"

"Like I said, later."

Shina curled her fists and a vein popped out of her forehead as she proclaimed, "God Mew I'm being about as subtle as a sledgehammer here, take the friggin' hint!"

Mew jolted upright and Shina slowly settled down with a large sigh. She then shook her head and apologized profusely, "Sorry sorry...I didn't mean to yell but like..."

She opened her eyes and had a melancholic expression as she whispered, "Why'd you have to go and mention that person? I was finally getting over them too..."

Mew sank back into the couch and said, "No I'm the one who should apologize...I figured that whole experience was a bad memory for you."

"But even still..." Mew looked her straight in the eyes, "Its important I know who that 'witch' is."

"...Why?" Shina whispered. Then, taking a deep breath, she rested her hands between her legs and let out a sigh.

"Mew, before we continue this conversation, there's something really, really important I want to say to you. And you gotta promise not to tell anyone else."

"Oooookay?" Mew let her be.

She laid a hand on her chest and remarked, "I've been giving it a lot of consideration about the best way to handle this child after its born. He's gonna grow up without a real father around..."

"Yeah, I think we talked about this before, right?" Mew nodded.

"Well..." Shina perked up with a big bright smile and said, "I...want to name you the kid's godfather."

"..." Mew sat still and heard his heart begin to thump.

"M-Me...?" He let out a short, tense gulp.

"There's no one better that I can think of." She said with a tender smile.

"I mean..." Mew collapsed against the back of the couch letting out a huge puff of air. He then stared up at the ceiling mumbling, "Me...help raise your kid?"

"You do a great job with Maria!" Shina nodded a few times, "Plus you've always been good at listening to people when they need someone to talk to."

"_Yeah, but then...that's just another person I'll have to protect," _Mew stared at his right hand and found it shaking all on its own. He squeezed it into a fist and couldn't find the strength to smile, _"And when I couldn't even beat Beerus, how..." _

Mew lifted his head towards Shina and whispered to her, "Thank you."

Shina smiled back.

"But that's just all the more reason why I need to find that 'witch'."

And then she frowned, her eyes sinking in suit.

"Please Shina, can't you just tell me their name?"

"Mew, I..." She shook her head feverishly and then thrust her eyes open with fury, "Absolutely will NOT!"

She squeezed her fists up against the sides of her chest and rose up over him shouting, "Mew, I won't let you go down the same road Alex did! Going after that witch isn't worth it! So just drop it, ok?!"

Her voice blended together timidness, fear and confidence all into one sentence, and through it carried a great power. But that wasn't enough. It could never BE enough, to stop Mew down his determined path.

Yet he acknowledged the strength of her conviction and tried to reassure her, "I'm not going to suffer the same fate as him, that'd be stupid."

"YOU'RE being stupid!" And just like that she quickly devolved into being childish, albeit an emotion that's likely been influenced by her pregnancy, "You're not Alex! If you die, you die! That's it! No resets, no 1-UPs, nothing will bring you back!"

She then threw her fists down and leaned in to scream, "And if you do anything to make sis cry again I'm going to hound your ass to Hell and kick it a thousand times over!"

She then flinched in pain and slowly sat herself back on the couch going "Ow ow ow" over and over while rubbing her belly.

Mew just sat there flat out and saw Shina going through some labored breathing for a bit.

"What's going on here?" Auris suddenly walked into the room and Mew felt a chill down his spine.

Shina raised her head and shouted, "Mom, can you slap the stupid out of Mew for me?"

"Actually, I need you to go back to the store for a minute. I forgot the onions."

"You did? Mom!"

"I know, I know, its very unlike me..." Auris sighed in embarrassment.

Shina jolted right back up and proudly said, "Well don't worry, leave it to me!"

And she was right out the door without another word.

Mew blinked a couple times then felt a whip crack at the back of his head that knocked it over.

"OW!" He grabbed the back of his head and saw Auris wandering past shaking her right hand out.

"Perhaps that will put your brain back in alignment." She said coldly as she took a seat back on the couch.

He sat up, grit his teeth and muttered, "Did you have to hit so hard though?"

"Frankly you deserved a harder hit to the skull after what you were saying to Shina." Auris remarked, her motherly instincts kicking in full force here.

Mew grimaced and hissed through his teeth, "Ooooh you heard all that..."

"Hard not to when I hear her screaming and begging for you not to go after that 'witch'," Auris shook her head and muttered aloud, "I tolerated your ridiculous behavior in the past out of necessity for the future but now you're testing my patience, Mew."

"When did you suddenly develop a death wish, hmmm?" Auris gave him a few seconds to respond and than snapped her fingers sharp enough to make him flinch, "You're trying to contend with powers you can't even begin to fathom let alone want to piss off."

"...Yeah, I sort of got that from what Justek and Beerus were saying," Mew said with a sigh, "Its not what you think though. I'm not trying to find the 'witch' or the 'higher-ups' to fight them."

"...Oh, this isn't just about the 'witch' then," Auris narrowed her eyes and her voice got cold and angry, "You're after 'them' too."

She summed it all up as "Ridiculous" and shook her head in disappointment, "How did you even hear about 'them'? Did that mangy cat run his mouth?"

"No?" Mew gestured his hand out and said, "I heard it from a guy called the Chronicler years ago. Beerus and Justek sort of just helped me remember them."

"Of course..." Grumbled Auris, bridging her hands over her mouth.

"From what I understand the Elemental Overlord knew them, so...It sounds like you did too."

"I never met them personally but I knew them through my husband..." Auris shook her head and murmured, "And the visions of the futures they've destroyed..."

Auris glared his way and asked, "Does that not register in your empty head, Mew? These beings are capable of destroying **universes**. Not worlds, not galaxies, not cosmos, ENTIRE universes. And they can do so on a whim."

"Yeah but still-"

She suddenly punched the table and looked towards him with her eyes flared open larger than they've ever gotten.

"Listen **here**, Mew Whiter," Auris spoke stern and quiet towards him, "You cannot beat me in a battle of attrition. No matter how long you keep this conversation going my stance will NOT change, and the name of the 'witch' you want to hunt shall remain locked up behind my lips beyond your reach, even after you've grown old and died. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

Mew glared back at her but felt his body pull back in retreat all on its own. He gripped the edge of the couch until his fingernails dug in and then shook his head.

"Loud and clear, but quite frankly..." Mew flared his eyes open and told her, "I'm not going to stop, just cause you asked."

"...!" Auris gasped and her pupils shrank with fury, her fist shaking on the table.

He then crossed his arms against his chest and told her, "**You** don't understand how important this is for me to do."

She grit her teeth and turned away muttering, "Of course I can't..."

She stared him straight in the face yelling, "Its completely incomprehensible why you'd even consider going down such a futile path!"

"...Its not futile. I've survived everything the universe has thrown at me. Black holes, Gods of Destruction, reality-consuming leviathans..."

"There's a point where luck isn't good enough anymore," Auris narrowed her eyes and asked, "And when it fails you, will you be able to laugh in Death's face? I **doubt **it."

"Why are you so antsy all of a sudden, Auris?" Mew plopped his heels up on the table and scoffed, "You already know what's going to happen, right?"

Auris grimaced, her eyes widening in a rather blatant manner, as she quickly went silent and turned her head away, hung in shame.

"..." Mew slowly sat up and stared at her, prompting her to turn her head further away and brush a hand up beside her cheek.

"..." Mew narrowed his eyes and stood up, approaching her from the front and leaning down to stare directly at her face. She pulled away some more, but it was too late.

Mew took a close enough look at her eyes to finally see that something looked off about them, and in truth, that they had been this way for a while now...He had just never given it any thought until now.

"...Auris, you...Can still see the future, right?"

Auris forced a smile and let out a dry "Hmph!" before resting a hand on the other side of her face and stroking her fingers through her hair.

"So you've seen me vulnerable, and you believe that makes you right?" Auris stood up and gave Mew an aside glance, "That's right. I've been unable to see the future for a while now."

Mew crossed his arms and wondered, "How?"

"That's none of your business." She shut him down immediately while facing him directly.

Then, like a flash of lightning, her hand blistered him across the cheek. And while he was stunned she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, reminding him that bundled underneath all her robes was an amazonian build.

"Did that take you by surprise?" She said with a playful giggle.

"OF COURSE IT DID!" Mew shouted angrily.

"Now take that feeling of surprise and multiply it a millionfold," Auris glared into his eyes, "That's the level of stress my body's been enduring ever since I was cut off from seeing the future. Every waking moment my body is tense with concern about what might come next. I used to dread what I could see and now I dread that which I cannot see, and the fear is a exponentially worse than you could possibly imagine."

"So when I see you fighting Beerus, or making light of going after the 'witch' and even the 'higher-ups', I feel all those fears come crashing down on top of me all at once, crushing me into oblivion."

She crushed his shirt in her hand and pulled him in inches from her face, "Right now is the only point in time where you're weak enough for me to stop you from making a terrible mistake that'll end us all! So I don't care if I have to meticulously break every bone in your body or make you comatose again to do it, I will NOT let you go off on some damn witch hunt!"

"DO. I. MAKE. MYSELF. CLEAR?!"

With his heart beat and breathing rapid Mew kept his eyes focused deep in Auris' pupils. He saw two-thousand years of pent up rage burning outward at him, and behind it, a wetness swelling in her eyes.

"I just," Mew grit his teeth and whispered, "Wanted to protect everyone..."

"..." Auris closed her damp eyes and let him go. He stumbled back, falling onto his butt.

She tightened her fist by her hip and used her sleeve to dry her eyes. By the time Mew stood up she was already turned around, making her way towards the door.

She glanced over her shoulder to whisper "There's something you need to see" before taking one step out the door.

Without hesitation Mew followed her out with his hands in his pockets. His legs felt like crap but he knew bitching about it would earn him another slap.

And it wasn't a short walk either. They were going all the way to the opposite side of Sancturia, where the temple they first met at lied...

The place still looked like crap, but that was never going to change.

Auris silently pushed the door open and they wandered through the dust-filled insides. Finally she stopped at the back wall and rested her hand against a pressure plate hidden among the architecture. Suddenly another part of the wall pulled back, revealing a secret passage.

Mew's eyes widened and Auris prompted him towards it with, "Follow me."

It was surprisingly narrow and lightly lit, with no dust in sight, meaning it had been used recently. At the end of the hall was an enclosed room glowing with torch alight altars.

And in the center of the room was a slightly bigger altar, which Auris plunged her hand down into the flame lighting it up. Mew cringed even knowing that she'd be ok. Then, he heard a click.

The altar let out a depressurizing hiss and rose out of the ground, carrying up a hefty chunk with it. There was a large, rectangular glass case containing a brown and gold coffin, perfectly preserved in both beauty and structure.

Once her hand healed she placed it on top of the glass case while Mew wandered closer, hesitating to put his own hand down.

"_I feel something...familiar in this coffin. Like I've sensed this once before..." _

Auris closed her eyes and remarked softly, "You know who this is, don't you."

"Inside this coffin, is my husband's body."

Mew reeled back with goosebumps all over his skin. He slowly turned to Auris and gasped, "H-How is that...possible?"

"...The story goes that the Elemental Overlord was punished for a terrible sin and forced to lose his body," Auris turned to face the coffin and softly stroked it, "And that's not a lie, its just not the full truth."

"His soul was extracted from his body and placed inside the Genesis Orb until the day his successor would appear to claim it, and the powers within. And with his body empty, I carried I back with me to Sancturia, placing it inside of this coffin that has preserved its condition for two-thousand years."

Mew stared longingly at the coffin some more and then looked puzzled at Auris. She was staring at the coffin so deeply that it seemed like it wouldn't be possible to grab her attention anymore.

"..." Mew put his hand on the coffin and closed his eyes, finding he could sense a trace of elemental energy within the body.

They were there for quite a bit before Mew felt the courage to speak up, "You're preserving him? Why?"

Auris hummed and her hand began to glide to the edge of the coffin, uttering a single word, "Hope."

"Or rather...the hope of a scared, broken little girl..." Her tone went somber, "She wanted to believe in a potential future where her lover's soul could be returned to his body...That the ones who doled the punishment would be punished instead."

"But all she saw was the emptiness of destruction staring her back at the end of every road. The enemy can not be beaten. Attempting to do so will end the universe she and her lover were in."

"And so the last traces of hope were squeezed out of her, leaving nothing but a bitter shell that could only march forward on an empty road."

"Mmm..." Mew looked at Auris for a moment and then faced the coffin yet again. With a heavy feeling in his heart he reminded her, "Not to mention when Alex died..."

Her face curdled and Mew sucked his lips in murmuring, "N-Never mind."

She pulled her hand away and said, "Yes you are...right. They are gone. They are never coming back."

Her tone was odd, like she was trying to accept that, but somehow...She wasn't? She was clearly in a bad state emotionally so he wasn't going to say anything about it.

She then turned sideways and locked eyes with Mew, her hand firmly atop the glass. And, without any condescension, she spoke to him slowly, and gently, "Sarajin's life goal was to protect everyone. He couldn't accept a world where everyone wasn't happy or at peace with themselves."

Mew felt a twinge in his heart and a curling sensation in his stomach.

"And the 'higher-ups' exploited his good-nature, working him tirelessly across many worlds until he was broken and worthless to them."

Her fingers subtly curled into a fist and she took a brief knock at the glass, turning up the sternness in her voice a little bit, "He saved countless lives, but what was his reward for all that he did? Not a grand welcome in the afterlife. No burial surrounded by loved ones. No triumph on a grand battlefield against an insurmountable foe..."

"He was made hollow, his soul confined to a prison of glass, and then a prison of destructive flames."

"You think you can find glory in being an Elemental Overlord?" Auris scoffed, "There's none of that in this role. There NEVER was. Your name is hated by many across the galaxy. Suffering and hatred from the past will follow you around every turn. And you can never turn your arms against the ones who cursed you with his fate, unless you wish to lose everything you ever cherished."

"This..." She pointed to the coffin, "Is the end of your story."

"..." Mew made an idle glance at the coffin...and shook his head.

"You and Justek both have said I'm...similar to the Elemental Overlord. But there's one major difference..." Mew put his hand on his chest proudly, "I'm still here. I'm still fighting the good fight."

Auris' eyes widened with a closed gasp.

"I never got to know Sarajin. I wish I could've...He sounded like a great guy," Mew turned to look down at the coffin, "But I don't think he regrets the life he led. Part of me feels he's smiling right now..."

Auris' hands slowly reached up for her face, cupping over her mouth.

Mew stared at her and closed his eyes, shaking his head, "And he entrusted us to keep that dream alive. And if he did that knowing who the 'higher-ups' and what they were capable of, then maybe there's a chance that-"

"STOP!" Auris gasped, tears wrenched from her eyes.

Mew stared blankly at her quivering hands being pulled away from her face.

"I-I can only hear my husband's voice coming out of you...! And no matter what I say or what I do, you won't change your mind at all...!" Her voice's usual confidence was gone.

She was scared, fully losing herself to fear, powerlessness, and rage.

"What do I have to do to stop you from walking the same path as him? Is it not enough to watch your loved one die once? Must you make me suffer that again?!" Auris pushed forward and slammed her fists against Mew's chest, staring deeply into his eyes, "And would you inflict that pain onto Kairi too?!"

"N-No...I wouldn't...I would never..."

"You have so many people who care about you...! Isn't that ENOUGH for you?!"

"I..."

"Swear to me that you won't go after the 'witch'! Or the 'higher-ups', or anyone close to them again! Forget Beerus! Forget Justek! Forget all of it!" She grit her teeth and draped herself against Mew's body like she was attempting a hug, "You've fought enough...Please just live the rest of your life peacefully..."

Mew's heart sank and for the first time, he felt his determination waver.

He was seeing one of the strongest people he knew breaking down in front of him. Because of what HE was trying to do. She was so miserable and ugly with her tear-ridden face that he didn't know how to help her. HE was the one feeling powerless. And god help him, if this decision to pursue the 'higher-ups' hurt HER that much...How devastated would the rest of his friends and family be?

"_...I can't do this." _

It was true what Auris said. She would always win a battle of attrition. Both physically...and emotionally.

Mew put a hand on the back of her head and held it against his warm chest.

"Ok. I promise not to get involved anymore."

She slowly pulled her head back and with a fond sniffle she smiled and said, "Thank you...You don't know how much that means to me."

It had been a long last few days...or rather a week at this point. But Mew had reached a conclusion, reluctant as he was to accept it. Maybe it was just time to stop fighting, and settle down. Or least, give some greater thought towards his future than what he had done so far.

After Auris wiped her face dry she let the coffin sink back into the ground, and the two walked out of the temple, leaving the past behind...And moving towards the future.

**STORY 9: Destructive Impulses END**

**NEXT: Story 10: In Times of Peace**


	75. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74: Be Mine**

It is now mid-February, and while the bitter nip of winter is soon to be a thing of the past, its clouds still linger. Citizens look to the skies wondering "Will it?" or "Won't it?" regarding snowfall, and bundle themselves in warm jackets and the like.

...All except for Alura. Having grown up under a "vampire's" roof, she was used to the cold. In fact she found it very pleasant.

So while she worked her job in her usual gothic style t-shirts and pants, her co-workers Jeff and Stewart were wrapped up in thick ribbed jackets and what looked like two layers of pants.

Jeff in particular was on the stepladder attempting to fidget with the heater in the back corner.

Stewart rubbed his gloved hands together as fog blew from his mouth, "C-C'mon man, I'm gonna become a popsicle here! And not the good kind either!"

"N-N-Not my fault this things older than your mom's toenail fungus!" Jeff twisted some wires together and then closed the grate, whacking it shut with his wrench.

After a few seconds the heater whirred and Jeff threw his arms off, the stepstool wobbling around beneath him until he bent down to hold it in place.

"Hell yeah!" Stewart immediately began to unzip his jacket only for his whole body to tremble fiercer than before.

As he zipped back up Jeff glared at him and said, "It takes a while for it to heat up, idiot."

"I-I remembered that!" Stewart said with wildly impossible levels of confidence.

After folding up the stepstool Jeff went to sit in his chair beside Stewart and melted into his seat. He then turned his attention to Alura who, at the moment, was tending to a customer.

"That'll be 15.98 ma'am." She said in her stoic tone, holding up an electronic card reader for the middle-aged lady to use.

As the lady paid for a CD she bobbed her head in appreciation and remarked, "Thank you so much. My son loves Fire Storm Crackin'."

"Yes," Alura nodded slightly in turn, "I like their music too. People say that they are...the bomb diggity."

"Oh you're precious," The lady wagged her free hand down and then, once taking her card back, leaned a little bit closer to Alura and whispered, "Say are you free tomorrow? My son's looking for a date and I'd just love to hook you two up."

Alura just stood there tilting her head with a deer in the headlights look. Fortunately the lady stopped any further awkwardness herself by mentioning, "Oh? You must have plans...F-Forget I said anything. Thanks again!"

She then left the building. Alura continued to tilt her head as she wandered back to her seat near the two nitwits, where he guitar rested in wait for her.

"Good job holding the fort, Alura." Remarked Jeff.

"No kidding, that's your third sale today, a new record!" Stewart followed, clapping twice.

Alura struggled to smile and turned away from the two with a shy giggle. Then she picked up her guitar and pick and started to play around with it.

When the heat came on, finally, Jeff and Stewart shed their winter wear a little and Stewart stretched his arms high.

"Mmmm! Goddamn! I hope it ain't like this tomorrow..."

Alura poked her head up and wondered, "What's tomorrow?"

Jeff and Stewart froze up, stared at one another in shock, then Stewart took the lead in explaining, "You don't know what Valentine's Day is?!"

He sounded incredibly offended. Jeff put his hand up to his face and then tried taking a more...softer approach.

"Every year on February 14th we celebrate Valentine's Day."

"Its a day to feast on chocolates and go make-out with a bunch of women!" Stewart cheered, "O-Or men...in your case. Unless you swing the other way...W-Which would be totally cool but-"

Jeff gave a couple rough coughs and then sighed, "I mean that's what we do NOWADAYS but in truth Valentine's Day is supposed to be a commemoration of St. Valentine, a religious man who stood up against the prejudice of the Roman Empire in-"

"NEEEEEEEEERD!" Stewart shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth.

After flinching to a stop Jeff glared over his shoulder at his friend and then back to Alura...who was simply tilting her head around and looking a little dizzy.

"Haaaa," Jeff raised and twirled his hand around to get to the meat of this topic, "Basically its a day of love."

Alura stiffened in place and remarked, "...Love?"

"Yeah. Maybe you spend time with someone you really like, or maybe you work up the courage to confess your feelings to them."

"I see..." Alura nodded slowly. She understood the message...Just not exactly how much weight it carried.

Stewart leaned comfortably into his chair and remarked, "Just don't be surprised if you get rejected."

Jeff turned and said with a dry chuckle, "Yeah, you would know."

"Bah!" Stewart scoffed, "This year's my year dude! I'm going to get so many ladies it'll fill this entire building!"

Jeff rolled his eyes and faced Alura once again, who immediately asked him, "How do you 'confess your feelings'?"

"Uhhh, good question." Jeff was left gawking for answers.

Stewart shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "Jeffy boy's only had one date in his life and that's with his rosy palms."

Jeff widened his eyes and turned, hissing through his gritted, "S-Shut up, she doesn't need to hear that!"

Stewart grinned and stood up, gently brushing his hand out at Jeff's face while telling him, "Scoot aside and let an expert handle this."

"Oh this ought to be good..." Jeff pulled his chair away but kept close just in case he needed to intervene.

"Alright Alura..." Stewart walked in front of her and then jerked around, thrusting a pointer finger up towards her face, "Step one! You walk up to the person you like and tell them you want to talk to them."

"Ok...?" Alura nodded obediently.

Stewart then backed away, turning around and raising his second finger behind his back, "Step two! You take the person somewhere romantic and bring them a gift."

"Oh, this sounds like Christmas again." Alura remarked.

"Exactly!" Stewart snapped his fingers, "Except this time when you give them a gift you follow it up by saying 'I love you' instead of 'Merry Christmas'!"

"I see..." Alura closed her eyes and liked this idea of Valentine's Day, "And then...?"

"Step three!" Stewart raised three fingers before his lips and then squeezed them into his fist, "You pucker up, and give 'em a big fat kiss on the lips!"

Alura's eyes suddenly thrust open and a pinkish tint appeared in her cheeks, "K-K-Kiss...?"

She had heard of kisses through books and some movies. Two people press their lips together while very beautiful music plays.

She's felt her heart fluttering every time she witnesses a kiss and, hearing the word now, the feeling's no different.

Its something she's never experienced and the lack thereof has left her feeling empty in her chest. Confounding her further was that the first thing she thought of when the word "kiss" was mentioned was a brief flash of Joe Dark's face in her mind.

She sucked her lips in and cooed like she was in misery, but not loud enough for the two to pick up on. In fact Stewart was trapped in his romanticized little world, imparting one last bit of advice like it was the key to eternal life.

"And finally, if it all works out, your love will carry you to the nearest bed where you'll-"

Jeff threw the nearest empty water bottle at Stewart's head and told him, "Alright casanova put some ice on those loins, you've made your point."

Stewart rubbed his forehead and grumbled incoherently for a bit. Then he turned to Alura and told her, "Yeah, what he said. Even you ought to get what I'm saying, right Alura?"

Alura paused for a few moments, resting her hand on her chest until the beating in her heart slowed back down to normal. She then let out a tiny breath and muttered, "I-I see..."

"_Valentine's Day is a day of love. But...what is love?" _Was a question bearing many thorns.

Jeff patted Alura on the back and said, "Don't fret over it. Nobody finds love right away."

"Uhhhh..." Stewart crossed his arms and scoffed, "You...you're kidding right?"

As the other two stared at him Stewart gestured a hand out with a smirk and said, "Its obvious who Alura's in love with. That Joe Dark guy!"

"Meep!" Alura squeaked while Jeff's eyes bulged out.

"Y-You're kidding me..."

"What, you didn't notice? Seriously, dude?" Stewart craned his head back proudly and chuckled, "THIS is why I'm the expert."

He closed his eyes and flaunted his expertise right in his friend's face, "I mean come on the signs are all there...She's always joined to his hip, she always eats his lunches and never anything else, she's got her clothes in the same style as his..."

"Oh good grief..." Jeff hunched over and covered his face in shame.

And during this rundown Alura was frozen stiff with her eyes wide open and her face looking increasingly pinker over time.

"Don't know what you see in the guy though," Stewart shrugged, "He's moody, thin as a toothpick, looks like he could turn into a serial killer at the drop of a hat..."

"Alura...?" Jeff raised his head and looked at her, but she had completely shut down, refusing to respond even as Jeff waved his hand before her face.

"Oh crap I think you broke her..." Jeff murmured.

Stewart reeled back, teeth grit in a grimace, "Oh SHIT I don't want to be his first murder!"

Jeff tried waving his hand in front of her again, following up by saying, "Alura...do you actually...love Joe Dark?"

"I-I-I..." Stuttered Alura, her mind sinking back a ways to a horrible memory...

"_I don't want her to walk the same path I do."_

Joe Dark's words that day squeezed at her chest whenever she happened to think about them. She laid both her hands over her chest and murmured, "I-It hurts..."

Jeff roughly shook his head around and said, "We should drop this, man...I don't feel right getting involved."

"No." Stewart remarked in a blunt manner.

Jeff looked rather pissed off at him and said, "Dude, seriously."

Stewart raised his hand up at Jeff briefly and then faced Alura to say, "I don't know what's going on with you, Alura, but its a bad idea to bottle up your feelings."

"If you really do love him, then you're disrespecting the bond you two share by not telling him that," He paused and sighed, "You just... got to be prepared for the very real possibility that he might not love you in the same way."

Alura's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. So many strange new emotions were firing off all at once and she barely understood any of them at even the most basic level.

But she did know pain. And this was the worst its ever felt. Suffocating, intoxicating, a poison on her soul, and a venom on her peace of mind.

But nobody can understand pain if the victim remains silent, and silent she stayed, for she knew no other way.

Jeff and Stewart took up the brunt of the work for the remainder of the day, leaving Alura to strum her guitar slowly. There was this heavy vibe in the building that didn't go away until closing time.

Then Alura was picked up by Joe Dark, continuing to remain silent on their ride home, while she also avoided looking him in the eyes.

This continued on into dinner time too, but there Julius' watchful eye came into play. After the plates were cleaned and Alura quietly retreated into her bedroom, Julius walked up to her doorway and gave it a couple soft knocks.

"May I come in?" He stood at the doorway until Alura barely mustered the effort to look his way from the comfort of her bed.

He then strolled up beside her bed and took a seat, taking care not to sit too close to her. She shifted away from him and crumpled her pillow up below her face.

"Something has got your spirits low tonight," Julius remarked, "Care to talk about it?"

"Mmmrrr..." Alura dug her fingertips into her pillow and tucked her legs into her stomach.

Julius sat there for a couple minutes and then slowly pulled himself up, remarking in dismay, "When you're ready, you know where to find me."

Alura trembled and shook with feelings of anxiety and, in that moment, let slip, "Julius...what is...love?"

Julius had his hand on the door and held onto it tight. With a deep, heavy breath he turned around and simply uttered, "Ah."

He returned back to her bedside and remarked, "Feeling your first Valentine's Day blues, Miss Alura?"

Alura flipped onto her back with her pillow clasped tightly against her chest, a bit of her flushed face poking up from up top.

"I...I don't understand, Julius...Love sounds like its supposed to be...good. But whenever I think about it, my chest hurts so much..."

"Its because you're not used to feeling that way," Julius pondered on that for a few moments and then, tapping his fingers on the bed, let out a sigh as he remarked, "No that's not correct. Rather..."

He looked her in the eyes to say, "Its because you feel very strongly about a certain someone."

He gazed fondly into the distance and murmured, "Love is something...magical, beautiful, yet unfathomable at the same time. We love to fill the emptiness inside of us, we love because we care for the people around us, we love because we want more from those we know. Love explains away irrationality, yet is irrational all its own."

"These twists and knots in your chest are normal, Miss Alura, I can assure you. And just because you don't understand why you feel this way, doesn't mean its unnatural that you're feeling it."

"But I don't want to feel this pain," She stuffed the pillow against her face and her voice started getting muffled, "It hurts, it really, **really** hurts."

Julius rested his hand flat on the bed and whispered, "Then let it go."

"H-Huh?"

"Set your heart free. Tell the person you love exactly how you feel, and that pain will go away..." Julius smiled and closed his eyes softly, "That's not to say you might not experience another type of pain, but...I feel confident that **he** will, at the very least, understand how you feel."

He then patted her bed twice and stood up, whispering, "If you need anything else, I'm here to lend a ear."

He then left the room and finally, Alura slid the pillow off her face. With a groan of discomfort she murmured, "Tell him...how I feel?"

Her heart was pounding.

"Mmmmrrr..." She rolled onto her other side and reached for her drawers. In the top shelf was a folded up piece of note paper that she slid out and opened up.

Inside she had written down some lyrics for a new song she had made up and had planned to show to Joe Dark as a Christmas gift...

But now, looking back on it...WHY did she make it for him to begin with? Looking over her words just made her heart beat faster, and her breathing quickened.

She clamped the paper against her chest and tried to calm down, but her body was in a cold sweat and the pain in her chest was so tight it felt like her heart was about to burst.

"Mmrrr...!" She laid her hands over the paper, clasping it down as hard as she could, and pulled her head back while paddling her feet against the bed.

"I don't want to feel this pain anymore..." She murmured all to herself, trapped in a cage of wild emotions.

After resting on this pain for a few minutes, she slowly pulled the paper up and stared at it, remembering Stewart's advice about how to confess one's love.

"...I have to do this." She slowly sat herself up and found her hand drawn towards a pen atop her drawers. Staring longingly at this paper, she took her pen to it and began to write.

"I-I'll...tell Joe Dark how I feel tomorrow." This was her determination, even if she still didn't understand what she was doing.

The next day arrived and went by relatively quick. Alura kept her paper close at hand and practiced her guitar all throughout her work day. Then she returned home with Joe Dark, her heart beating louder and louder as they headed inside the manor.

"Man I'm beat..." Joe Dark said as he flicked her shoes off beside the door. Then, as he undid his tie he walked towards the kitchen and remarked, "Hey Julius, what's for dinner tonight?"

Julius walked out of the room with a sigh, "Forgive me Master Joseph, but I seem to have run out of vegetables for our meal. I just need to make a quick run to the store."

Joe Dark waved his hand around and said, "I could do it faster with my powers."

"Not necessary," Julius smoothly walked over and put his hand on Joe Dark's shoulder, "I need some fresh air anyways. I'll only be a half-hour."

He then made his way upstairs to grab his wallet but, in the meantime, he winked at Alura.

Alura tilted her head and then after a few moments flinched upright with wide-eyes. Joe Dark tucked his hands in his pockets and mumbled, "Guess I could nibble on something in the meantime..."

"J-Joe Dark?" Alura spoke up with a meek whisper, making the boy creak his head over his shoulder.

"Hey, you're talking finally," He said with a halfway joking smile, "What's up?"

She had her guitar in one hand, and the piece of paper in the other behind her back. Her face started to turn red, and her heart began beating fast.

All she had to do was say a few words and it'd all be over with. So, why was it so hard just to say one?

"I-I-I..." She immediately started to feel dizzy and turned her eyes away from Joe Dark's anticipating face.

"I-I-I...!" She was trying to force the words out with all her strength but her fluttering heart kept getting in the way.

It was a crippling blow to her confidence going in, if she ever had any to begin with. Her hands began to shake, squeezing the paper enough to make a sound.

"Huh?" Joe Dark's sudden remark made Alura freeze up in place, "What was that sound?"

As he began to lean around her and say "You hiding something, Alura?" there was suddenly a knock on the front door.

Alura squeamishly turned her eyes at the door and felt Joe Dark slowly pull away remarking, "Huh? Who'd be here at this hour..."

He was about to go for the door when Julius silently descended to the foyer and remarked, "Allow me."

He opened the door and standing out there was Mew and Maria, the latter bundled up in some warm clothes and carrying a heart-shaped box against her chest.

"Why if it isn't Mew and Miss Maria," Julius said warmly, "What brings you here?"

The two walked in, Mew with his hands behind his head, "Oh you know, just wanted to stop in and say hello to my favorite brother!"

"Oh and..." Mew looked down at Maria, "Maria has something she wants to give you, Joe."

"What?" Joe Dark peeled away from Alura and she let out a tiny gasp.

"Well, I'll be off then." Julius then made his way out the door.

"Mmm!" Alura stretched her hand out but nearly revealed the paper in the process. Quickly putting it back behind her, she stared at Joe Dark as he approached Maria, who raised her box right up on both hands.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" She said in her cheery tone.

"I-Its Valentine's Day...?" Joe Dark widened his eyes and whispered, "I forgot that was even a day..."

Maria closed her eyes and her smile was positively beaming as Joe Dark reached down and pulled the lid of her box, revealing an assortment of individually wrapped chocolates.

Alura's heart skipped a beat. Chocolate, the candy of love, according to Stewart.

"Oh cool, this is all for me?" Joe Dark said with a tone of mild delight.

"Uh huh! I made them all myself with mama's help!" Maria cheered proudly.

"And I helped her make the box," Mew grinned, "So feel free to indulge in my love, brother!"

Joe Dark stopped before picking up a piece of chocolate to comment, "Don't make me start to hate chocolate, Mew."

He then picked up the piece at the edge while Alura stood by with a horrified stare from her eyes.

"_S-S-She...made him that chocolate?" _

Joe Dark unwrapped the rounded piece of chocolate-y goodness, saying "Well its not after dinner but..." before stuffing it in his mouth.

His body immediately jolted upright as he let out a surprisingly hefty moan.

"MMM! This is pretty good!" He mumbled as the chocolate melted down thoroughly to every corner of his mouth, attacking him with more sweet, sugary robust flavors than he could count.

Alura's face turned pale watching Joe Dark indulge himself in this girl's devil candies.

"_Chocolate...love...Gift...Joe Dark...!" _She understood this much: That this was essentially Maria butting in and stealing her love confession on Valentine's Day.

And the smug smile the little girl flashed at her only proved this to be true.

Alura's heart wrenched with a terrible ache and then started beating faster.

"Maria's got some talent!" Mew proudly rubbed the smug girl's head and she giggled, further rubbing salt in Alura's wounded heart.

"Mmm...!" Alura began to squeeze her paper tightly.

"Want some more?" Maria nudged the box closer to Joe Dark's face and he happily stretched his hand out towards another chocolate.

"Sure, why not?"

Alura's eyes widened fully and she found it very hard to breathe. Her heart was beating faster and faster, sounding the engines of fury.

"_...!" _All her eyes saw was red, her mind a distorted jumble of runes and static.

Without warning she dropped what was in her hand and dashed forward, throwing all her strength into slapping the box of chocolates onto the floor.

There were gasps from the others, and while Alura felt joy in the moment...

"Alura..." Joe Dark's voice came crashing down upon her sounding nothing but disappointed and confused, "What the hell was that for?"

Alura jolted upright with a bundle of twists and knots in the pit of her gut. She slowly turned around, watching Mew, Maria, then Joe Dark, stare at her with the same sense of disappointment and confusion looming over them all.

She stared down at the chocolates scattered and mushed up on the floor, the box lying in a bent up shape near Joe Dark's feet.

Her breathing worsened and she started to step away, Joe Dark's gaze following her all the while. She suddenly clasped her hands over her mouth and turned away, making a mad dash out the front door.

"Alura!" Joe Dark stretched his hand out and took a couple steps after her, but then stopped and clutched his fist by his hip with a scowl, "What...in the world is up with her?"

Mew snuck behind him and bent down to pick up the piece of paper on the ground. Joe Dark's attention towards this was grabbed when Maria walked up to Mew and commented, "What'd you got there, papa?"

"Huh?" Joe Dark turned around and Mew did the same, fluttering the paper around beside his face with a closed-eye sigh.

"Oh boy, you're a real heartbreaker, Joe..."

"What?" Joe Dark gave an unamused answer and tried to reach for the paper, only for Mew to smoothly pull it back beside his head and fold it up with just a few fingers.

"Ah ah ah, no peeking," Then Mew handed it off to him with the caveat of, "We need to find Alura first, then you can give this back to her."

"Tsk...!" Joe Dark scowled and remarked as he snatched the paper out of Mew's hand, "Y-You're right. She couldn't have gotten far."

Mew patted Maria on the back and said, "Alright, lets help them out."

"Haaa, ok papa..." Maria said, unenthused.

The three first made a couple scans around the manor grounds but had no luck. Joe Dark quickly walked his way down the hill to try and catch up with her but she was still nowhere to be found.

Thus, the three of them made their rounds around town at Alura's usual hang-outs. The music store, the ice cream parlor, the local park, the pet store, but nobody had seen hide or hair of her all day...

So they hurried on back to the manor, thinking that Alura might have made her way back while they ran around town. But inside and outside, they couldn't find her at all. Its like she had vanished off the face of the Earth...

Joe Dark collapsed onto the porch and buried his face in his hands, letting out a muffled scream of frustration, "Damn it Alura, where'd you run off too?!"

Mew crossed his arms against his chest and thought aloud, "I want to know how she got away so fast. Never took her for a slippery sort..."

Mew then gazed briefly at Maria before remarking, "We'll take another look around town, Joe. You just wait here and see if she comes back."

"Haaaa..." Joe Dark raised his head and muttered, "Sorry for the trouble, Mew."

"Forget about it." Mew shrugged and turned away with Maria to take off to the city.

Joe Dark let out a heavy sigh and drooped over, his hands hung between his legs, "Why do I feel like this is my fault...? Alura..."

The door creaked open behind him and Julius poked his head out curiously, "Master Joseph? What appears to be troubling you?"

Joe Dark flinched back and muttered "J-Julius...you scared me" before trying to sit a little more upright.

"Yes well, I've been back for a bit now and saw the disaster you left behind in the foyer..." Julius slipped out the door and stood behind Joe Dark, "I take it something has happened with Miss Alura?"

"How did you guess?" Joe Dark replied dully.

"Heh." Was Julius' sole answer.

Joe Dark laid his hands against his cheeks and remarked, "I don't know what's up with her. She smacked some chocolates Maria had brought out of her hand, then freaked out and ran out the front door. Now we can't find her no matter how hard we've looked."

"Hmmm, Miss Maria brought...chocolates?" Julius rubbed his chin and murmured, "Oh my..."

"What...?" Joe Dark stood and turned around to face Julius, who merely often a gesture of his hand in response.

"Never mind me. You claim to have checked everywhere, correct?"

"Yes...?" Joe Dark stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"**Everywhere**?" Julius restated.

"The manor, the city, everywhere." Joe Dark said, partially annoyed.

"Both down...AND up?" Julius waited for Joe Dark to give him a weird look before slyly gesturing his thumb upwards.

Joe Dark craned his head back and took a couple steps back to look up on the roof. With a sour look on his face he looked at Julius and remarked, "...Thanks for the help."

"I'll leave you two be." Julius bowed with a smile and then started to back away inside.

But as Joe Dark turned around the butler made one last remark, "Ah, but before you leave Master Joseph."

He came back out holding on to Alura's guitar, "You may want to bring this with you."

Joe Dark grabbed onto it, nodded, then flew on up to the roof. It was a little slippery up there but a little levitation got around that. He then looked around, shouting, "Alura! Hey! Show yourself! I know you're up here!"

He moved on up past the center and then started to head down, where the roof flattened out a little more and made it easier to stand on. As he got near this part he paused and looked around.

He felt something odd in the air, like something was there but at the same time appeared missing. He stopped in place a few feet away from the edge and closed his eyes.

"There you are." He remarked.

An illusion began to fade before him, revealing Alura sitting on the edge of the roof and sniffling.

"What are you doing up here, you really had us all worried." Joe Dark attempted to reach out for her, but she quickly turned and slapped his hand away.

And in doing so, he saw that her face was covered in tears, which had run some of the make-up around her eyes down her cheeks.

"Hic...!" She immediately turned away and rubbed her eyes, muttering, "G-Go away..."

"No," Joe Dark said grumpily, "You realize what you did to Maria's chocolates? She worked hard on those and you went and ruined them."

"Good...!" Alura said with a firm "Hmph!"

Joe Dark glared at the back of her head, "You're sounding like a spoiled brat right now, Alura."

He tried to take one step forward and ask, "What's the deal with you lately. You're acting even stranger than usual."

"Shut up, you don't care...!" Alura squirmed forward and barked back at him, "Jerk Dark!"

Joe Dark grimaced his teeth into a scowl, his patience at a peak, "ALURA!"

She instantly jolted upright trembling from head-to-toe. Joe Dark then grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn and look him in the eyes. And he was furious.

"If I did something wrong then I want you to be honest with me. But enough of this damn staring out into space bullcrap!"

Alura froze up before him with both hands slowly rising towards her chest. He saw that her heartbeat was going strong, and the words freed from her lips were a little painful for her to say, and him to hear...

"I-I-I...It...hurts..."

Joe Dark's skin went cold and he slowly withdrew his hand as she sniffled, placing it into his pocket.

"It...hurts?" He murmured.

Alura hung her head to stare down at her chest, giving a brief but steady nod in response. Joe Dark looked at her chest and murmured, "Your heart?"

She nodded again, digging her fingertips into her clothes.

"Why?" He inquired.

"...I-Its your fault, you're the reason I'm in pain." Alura murmured.

"MY fault?" Joe Dark recoiled in disbelief, "How the HELL is it my fault...?"

Alura pulled back and muttered, "I-I-I don't know...!"

"You _can't_ use that as an excuse this time," Joe Dark whispered, "You need to tell me what's bothering you, NOW."

Alura feverishly shook her head and muttered "S-Shut up! Jerk!"

Joe Dark arched his brows and grumbled, "I really should've brought Julius along for this..."

"S-Sure, just...just leave me in someone else's care, cause you don't care at all, Jerk Dark!"

Joe Dark's eyes thrust open as he gasped in disbelief, "I didn't come up here in the friggin' cold because I don't care, Alura! You're the one making this difficult on yourself, and its driving me crazy!"

As he swung his hand out Alura flinched and pulled herself away sideways, biting her teeth down hard.

"It doesn't matter...you're just going to leave me behind someday anyways...!" She blurted out.

Joe Dark stopped and stared gawking at her, "...W-Where did you get that idea?"

"A-A...a month ago...You were talking to Julius, and..."

"Oooooooh crap," Joe Dark's eyes widened and he clasped the side of his head, pulling his hair back and gritting his teeth in embarrassment, "You...you WERE listening in on that conversation, weren't you?"

Alura nodded and Joe Dark hissed out a "Shit!" before growling loudly and throwing his hand towards the ground. He then growled some more before turning his attention towards Alura.

"I swear I was planning on telling you when it seemed appropriate."

"A-And when would that have been, Joe Dark?" Alura cuddled her trembling hands tightly against her chest and barked, "The day you abandon me?"

"No, no..." Joe Dark shook his head and tried to take one step closer, "I wanted you to be able to understand what I was planning to do..."

Alura tugged herself away and he froze in place. She creaked open her eyes and muttered, "I understand plenty about abandonment...and running away. This wouldn't be the first time you did this to me..."

"Khh...!" Joe Dark was stunned into silence.

Alura then swung back with her trembling eyes widened a little, venting a tiny amount of rage through her glare, "Why...why do you want to leave me behind again, Joe Dark...? Is...is there something wrong with me...?"

She laid a hand on her chest and raised her voice slightly, "Am I not cool enough...? A-Am I not...smart enough? A-A-Am I not...sexy enough?"

Alura's body started to glow and with one blink of the eye, Joe Dark suddenly saw Shina standing before her, except she had Alura's hair, and clothes.

"I can be anyone you want. I can look however you want me to..."

Joe Dark blinked again in stunned disbelief and now he saw Lunis with Alura's same features, only it was a tighter fit on the moon goddess' body.

"Please tell me what I have to do...! Please!"

Joe Dark immediately thrust his hands into her illusionary form and grabbed onto her real shoulders. The illusion broke, leave her aghast and tears crawling down her cheeks.

"Stop it! I like you just the way you are now."

"T-Then why...?"

"Haaaaa..." Joe Dark loosened his grip and pulled away, rubbing the back of his head roughly, "I just...god...I didn't want you to be burdened with me all your life."

He got that out nice and quick, but Alura was left tilting her head in confusion.

Joe Dark had to look away just to keep going strong, "I'm going to become the President no matter how long it takes. Its not going to be easy, but...This is what I've resolved to do."

He then faced her to continue on, "You deserve to chase your own dreams, Alura. And if you stumble and fall, at least you'll have Julius around to-"

"I don't want Julius...!" Alura feverishly shook her head and with the bottom of her eyes soaking wet she squeezed her fists before her chest and remarked, "I want you, Joe Dark!"

Joe Dark flinched but took what she said in relative stride, "I-I appreciate the sentiment, Alura, but...We're just friends. Sometimes friends just...go their separate ways..."

Alura forced her eyes shut and suddenly screamed "You jerk!" and while he was stunned she combo'd right into telling him, "I-I-I don't want to go our separate ways...!"

"Alura..."

She clasped her hands over her chest and trembled, "E-Every time I feel you pulling away, my chest hurts...Every time I think about you anymore, my chest hurts..."

"There's so much hurt inside of me and I don't know how to make it go away...And i-it's all your fault...! Because...because..." Alura hung her head low and said with the softest whisper, "I think I...love you..."

Joe Dark's skin went cold and a sinking feeling in his chest made his body go numb. He slowly raised a hand to his chest to confirm his heart was still beating, and it was. Just so quickly that no pulse monitor would be able to count it.

"Y-You...what?" Joe Dark's mind drew total blanks as he stuttered out, "A-Alura you...love...me?"

Alura bobbed her head like molasses, then curled her fist up below her chin and trembled harder.

Joe Dark let out a gasp and turned aside. His eyes wandered the cold, cloudy skies for a while in deep contemplation. He then let out a sigh and draped his hands down behind his hips.

Then he turned and gestured his hand out, a sole word being caught at the back of his throat, "I..."

He hissed through his teeth and squeezed his numb fist tight. He then shook his head and muttered, "I don't know..."

She raised her head up and asked, "You don't know...what?"

"I don't know!" Joe Dark lashed out in anger, "I just...don't know!"

He threw his fists down with a frustrated grunt and reeled his head back, turning himself away in the process, "I...I never wanted this to happen..."

He then suddenly turned right back around and slapped his chest in exasperation, "Why me?"

"W-What...?" Alura stuttered.

"Why have you fallen in love with me...?" He demanded to know.

Alura curled her fingers and sank her head with a blank look in her eyes. After shaking her head a while all she could respond with is her usual "I don't know..."

And Joe Dark was about to lay into her for it, when suddenly she reminded him, "I just...don't understand what love is."

His anger all but fizzled out, leaving him a silent, grumpy mess that collapsed on his rear and flattened his arms atop his knees in defeat.

As he began to rub his head Alura stared down at him and began to speak up, "B-But..."

Joe Dark looked back at her as she tensely tried to translate what her heart felt into words, "I know that you saved my life...And you listen to me, even though everyone else thinks I'm weird...You try and help me understand things, even if you're not as good at it as Julius..."

Joe Dark grumbled a little at that snide remark.

"It makes me feel...happy. And...I don't want this happiness to go away..."

"Mmmrrr..." Joe Dark brushed his hand up beside his face and got blunt with her, "You don't understand, Alura...Being a President will be a full time commitment. I-"

"You're right, I don't understand...!" Alura squeezed her fists and stared Joe Dark right in the eyes, "And I don't want to understand, because what you're saying is stupid!"

Joe Dark froze up looking at her. Such intensity was in her eyes given the rest of her expression looked the same as usual.

"I-I can't follow you where you're going...? Liar...You're just making excuses!" She jiggled her fists around before her chest and puffed her cheeks, "I crossed entire galaxies to see you again...! So it doesn't matter how far away you go, I can keep up...!"

"I-I-I..." Her lips quivered until suddenly, a burst of energy came rushing to the surface and out her mouth, "I want you to rely on me, Joe Dark!"

"Ack...!" Joe Dark's mouth went agape with a stinging feeling in his chest.

"Alura, I..." He felt worn down all over. Little by little this struggling girl was chipping him down emotionally, and all he could say to himself in response was, "Am...am I just being stubborn, or stupid now...?"

Perhaps a little of both, if he's being perfectly honest.

He pulled himself up on his feet all looked her square in the eyes, "You'd really follow me anywhere...?"

Alura nodded.

"Even though neither of us know what the future might hold for us...?"

Alura nodded harder.

"Even if...I end up being a huge disappointment?"

Alura shook her head feverishly and then thrust her eyes wide-open at him, "There's nothing you can do to disappoint me, Joe Dark. I'll walk the same path as you, and you can walk the same path as me...We can share this hurt in my chest together...!"

"I...I..." Joe Dark stumbled, then let out a very, very long sigh, "I give up...You win, Alura."

He laid a hand flat on his hip and cracked a tiny smile, "You really know how to wear a guy down."

"Ah...!" Alura's eyes lit up and she ran on up to wrap her arms around Joe Dark's waist. He stumbled back, surprised at her momentum.

"T-Take it easy now, geez...!" He said, his cheeks bright red.

"I love you, Joe Dark..." She whispered fondly.

With a brief sigh he put his hand on her head and said, "I love you too, Alura."

She giggled and dug her fingertips against his stomach, brightening up with a smile.

She then pulled away, wiping her face dry of tears. Joe Dark then tucked his hands into his pockets and felt something he had almost forgotten about.

"Oh right...!" He pulled the paper out and waved it towards Alura, "So what was up with this?"

Alura flinched and tore the paper right out of Joe Dark's grip, pressing it firmly against her lips as her face turned bright pink. She glared at him scornfully from the corner of her eyes and mumbled, "Y-You didn't peek, did you, Jerk Dark...?"

"N-No! Trust me, Mew put the kibosh on those plans..."

Alura glared some more but then pulled the paper down, unfolding it before her eyes.

"So...you going to tell me what it is?" Joe Dark said, his curiosity at a peak.

"..." Alura tucked the paper into her right pocket and then meekly gestured at the guitar Joe Dark had laid down behind him.

Joe Dark picked up the signs and then handed her her favorite instrument. She wrapped the strap over her shoulders and plucked the pick from the strings.

She looked right at Joe Dark's face and murmured, "I-I...made a song for you, Joe Dark. Its...its a work in progress though..."

"A song...?" Joe Dark stood comfortably by and went quiet for her sake.

"O-Ok..." Alura took a deep breath in and started to sing, strumming her guitar nice and slow in rhythm with her lyrics.

"_Shadow, shadow..._

_Creeping over me._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_You're surrounding me._

_Your heart is black and your touch is ice_

_I don't think you're very nice_

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Always following me._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Always there for me._

_You don't understand what its like to feel alone._

_Cause you're always with someone whenever the sun has shone._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Why do you quiver?_

_Shadow, shadow..._

_What message must you deliver?_

_I see you every day but you never say a word_

_Your silence is haunting, and your presence is disturbed._

_But there is no one else I could see at my side_

_You've always been there for me, even when I cried._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Creeping over me._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_You're the one for me._

_They see only darkness_

_But you are my light_

_I know only your warmth_

_Every day, every night_

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Let me fall asleep._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_I feel your arms around me_

_Shadow, shadow..._

_Hug me forever._

_Shadow, shadow..._

_I love you...forever."_

As Alura strummed the last note she let her arms fall and the sound of her guitar linger in the air.

Then silence fell between them, and Alura puckered her lips with a rosy red tint in her cheeks, "I-I made up that last part just now..."

Joe Dark found his hand on his warm, beating chest, and a smile across his face. He was melting away, into a sea of bliss.

"...You have such a beautiful voice, Alura."

She gave off a pleasant vibe of embarrassment and happiness from her wobbling smile. She brushed up the side of her hair and mumbled, "Y-You really think so...?"

Joe Dark couldn't nod more assuredly if he tried, "I think you'd make a great musician someday."

"T-T-Thank you..." Alura could barely look Joe Dark in the eyes.

Joe Dark then propped his hand on his hip and chuckled, "You should try speaking up a little more. C'mon, isn't there anything else on your mind...?"

"Ummm..." Alura fiddled her hands around her chest and then gently put her guitar down on the roof beside her. She then looked him in the eyes and laid a hand flat on her chest, while her face turned fully red.

"B-Be honest, Joe Dark...Am I sexy?"

Joe Dark's voice fled his throat with a mousy squeak and he tossed his hand around while stuttering, "Y-You're cute...AND THAT'S FINE BY ME!"

Alura hummed loudly for a bit and then remarked, "Are you SURE you're ok with the way I am now...?"

Joe Dark's eyes darted towards the sky as he INSISTED loudly, "Yes! Positive! You don't need to be sexy all the time!"

"Hmmm!" Alura closed her eyes and muttered, "I don't believe you."

"Ghhh, don't you start on me too, Mew gives me enough crap as is...!" Joe Dark said, tightening his fists in his pockets.

"Heh heh...!" Alura snickered, "I want to be sure, Joe Dark. Cause I'm going to look like this forever."

"What? You serious?" Joe Dark remarked.

"Yes," Alura nodded rather nonchalantly, "My fa-...Dracula, kept me from aging. I will be 16 forever."

"...I don't think that's true." Joe Dark put his hand on her head and she paused with shock.

"I think you've gotten taller since you started living on Earth."

She craned her head back slightly and her face positively glowed with joy, "Really?"

"Just a couple inches though." Joe Dark playfully rubbed her hair and she smiled even wider.

"T-Then there's still a chance!" She snickered, "Some day, I'll be even sexier than Lunis...!"

Joe Dark groaned, "Please, for the love of GOD, stop using that word..."

But he was thinking about her looking like that, loathe as he was to admit it, "A-And don't get cocky just because you've grown a couple inches. That might be all you had left."

Alura puffed her cheeks and grumbled, "Meanie...!"

"Haaa..." He took his hand off her and looked into her eyes, "You're not stuck in that bastard's shadow anymore, and you don't have to think it lingers. You're free to be whoever YOU want to be, Alura."

"...Y-Yes, you're right." She said softly.

"Couldn't you at least try to sound a little excited about that?" Joe Dark nervously rubbed the back of his head and after one more sigh remarked, "Alright, you know what, I want you to see you raise your voice...just once."

"Raise my...voice?" Alura tilted her head.

"You know...scream? Like that one time where you..." Joe Dark grumbled and then stepped on up to the edge of the roof, "Let me give you a demonstration."

He started to cup his hands around his mouth but glanced aside as he told her, "First you want to think of something that makes you very emotional. Then just let it swell up until its ready to burst and let it ALL OUT...!"

He cupped his hands and shouted at the top of his lungs, "FUCK RETAIL!"

His voice echoed across the sky.

Alura flinched but then pumped her fists up by her chest. With a firm nod she murmured, "I-I understand...!"

With a warm-up couple of coughs she turned towards the horizon and cupped her hands around her mouth, "I-I really like ice cream...!"

Joe Dark scoffed and brushed his hand against her head, "Come on what was that? Louder!"

He cupped his hands and shouted, "SPIDERS SUCK ASS!"

Alura pushed her head out and proclaimed, "Doggos are cute!"

"LOUDER!"

"I-I like laying in my bed and staring at the ceiling!"

Alura's heart began to race, empowering her voice to heights she could only imagine reaching when she sang, "I-I THINK BLACK IS A COOL COLOR!"

Joe Dark grinned and then continued shouting as well, "I'M GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"FUCK YOU, DRACULA, I'M HAPPY NOW!" Alura's voice was surprisingly deep and mature when she really got into it.

And that left Joe Dark taken aback, completely disarming him to the little girl screaming at the top of her lungs with a massive smile, "I LOVE JOE DARK!"

Joe Dark's heart beat fast as Alura dropped her arms and panted heavily, but it was mostly laced with joy.

Her eyes were so bright and energetic, with her pale skin glistening in the cold air. And her smile was precious, a memory that he would keep with him forever.

"...See, was that so hard?" He chuckled.

"...Mmmm!" Alura moaned, her body feverish with a cold sweat.

Without warning she leaped at Joe Dark and wrapped her arms around his neck demanding of him, "I want to kiss you, Joe Dark!"

"H-Hey...! H-Hold on a second...!" Joe Dark's face was beet red but his concern was more in his balance being thrown off.

Her forcefulness knocked him flat on his rear, where the slick surface proceeded to propel them both right off the roof and into the backyard pool.

After making a mighty splash the two quickly surfaced gasping for air.

They then looked at each other soaked wet from head-to-toe and started laughing. Then, Alura paddled up to him and pecked him on the cheek, retreating with a hung head and meek smile.

Joe Dark froze and rubbed his cheek, finding it hard not to smile back.

"Heh heh...Can't do anything normal, can we, not even a first kiss..." Humored by the situation he nevertheless hastened to mention, "B-But we should really get out of here and dry off before we catch a cold.:

"Mmm hmm." They swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out, Joe Dark helping Alura when her tiny arms gave her trouble.

Then Joe Dark held her close to keep her warm while they made their way for the back door. Suddenly, both their stomachs started growling, and they gaze at each other in embarrassment.

With a grin he mumbled, "Oh yeah, we sort of...skipped out on dinner, didn't we?"

"Oh..." Alura rubbed her belly.

"Why don't we have Julius order us take-out while we sit down and watch a movie?"

"...I-I think I'd like that," Joe Dark, Alura said blushing, "Its a date!"

And so these two awkward idiots went aside to relax and enjoy themselves.

They deserved this peace.

And they deserved each other.

_"After all..."_

Akumu observed this unfold from the spectacle of one of his many floating souls, echoing out a slow, grim chuckle, _"M__y herald is to be born through his seed, and they shall grow through blood, and fire, and sin. So I have spoken, so My will be done."_

He snuffed the soul out with a breath, and darkness consumed what has been seen...

_Next Time: The Driving Chapter_


	76. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75: Vroom Vroom!**

On a cold later-Winter morning, a rather interesting group have taken a bus ride to one of the most oppressive parts of their city.

Their numbers consist of Riku, Lunis, Solaris, Joe Dark, and Alura. Together they climb out of the bus nice and slow, their knees shaking at the prospect of what they endeavored to tackle here today.

"O-Oh my, its much bigger than the pictures depicted!" Stated Lunis, bundled in a warm, pillowy jacket.

Riku, in his usual garb, narrowed his eyes and looked at her with a reassuring glance of security, "Its ok, as long as we stick together we'll be fine."

"Heh, so this is where its gonna happen huh?" Solaris crossed his arms and cricked his neck around, his own body heat keeping the cold far, far off his skin, "I'm ready, bring it on!"

"Don't underestimate this place, Solaris. I've heard this place has broken even the most patient of men." Riku threw another cautious glance at the massive building dead ahead.

Alura grasped Joe Dark's hand for comfort, visibly shaken as she stared straight ahead, "Joe Dark, I sense a powerful evil radiating from this building. Is it alive...?"

"Tsk...! I can sense it too. But we can't back down after coming this far. We need to get..." As he stared up at the massive sign above the doors that said "DMV" he let out a utterly foreboding sound, "Our driver's licenses...!"

A bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens to strike the rooftop, briefly covering it with shadows. Their collective forms shuddered, with Riku in particular staring straight up at the sky and noticing, "Wait...there's not a storm cloud in the sky."

"..." The five stared at one another before Joe Dark grumbled forcefully, "Lets just...get in before something else stupid happens."

They walked through the sliding doors and into the cold, wide-open lobby. There were a few lines full of people backed up practically all the way to the door itself. There was dim lighting, making the atmosphere feel sterile. And the colors consisted of gray, gray, white, gray, and a few specks of black on the ceiling tiles.

"Not the most inviting place in the world, is it?" Joe Dark leered around, hesitant to step forward.

"And I thought our home was colorless," Lunis murmured, finding herself hard pressed to think of even one compliment, "They need a flower pot. Or two...Or a whole garden."

Riku scanned the lines and once realizing they were all the same length remarked, "Well, lets take our pick, we'll be waiting a long time no matter what."

"What type of moron would willingly suffer through this Hell anyways?" Solaris said with his arms crossed.

"HEEEEEY, GUYS!" They suddenly found themselves accosted by a familiar voice in the far left line, turning to find Mew stretching out and waving his hand vigorously.

"Brother...?" Riku stated with a wide-eyed, lingering stare.

"Oh good grief." Joe Dark grumbled and slapped his forehead, nevertheless being the first to advance towards him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Exclaimed Solaris.

Mew crossed his arms and stated plainly, "Getting my driver's license."

The collective eyes of the five widened in perfect sync as the men stated, "YOU?!"

Mew pretended to recoil and then picked his ear with his pinky, "Yeah me. What? What's so hard to believe about that?"

"I can at least think of five reasons." Joe Dark said hastily.

Riku awkwardly chuckled at Joe and then took a much **nicer** approach to the situation, "What he means to say is, why would you need to drive, brother?"

Mew shrugged and answered plainly again, "Eh, cause it sounded like fun."

Riku's hand slowly sank down by his hip as he remarked, "I...see."

Joe Dark leaned in to whisper bluntly, "You can FLY."

"So what?" Mew brushed his hand up to repel him like a fly, "There's just some type of...feeling you get when you push your foot against a pedal that can't be replicated by flying...So I assume."

"You _assume_." Joe Dark remarked.

"I'm just surprised you read a book on how to drive beforehand." Lunis chimed in innocently enough.

"Oh what? No I didn't," Mew interjected with a nonchalant attitude as he began waving his hand around, "But I'm confident I can handle a car, I've played plenty of Need for Speed, Mario Kart, and Forza."

Joe Dark gave a disgruntled look at Mew and began to roll up his right sleeve, "Riku, permission to smack our brother in the face."

"Lets not start a scene here," Riku sighed and stopped Joe Dark with a hand on his shoulder, then faced Mew and said, "Please assure us you know what you're doing, brother."

"I'll be fine, relax." Mew settled down.

Joe Dark's were still narrow but he disarmed his fists and tucked them in his pockets, "My prayers go to the poor soul who has to ride with you."

"Same to you." Mew chuckled.

Joe Dark was five seconds away from rescinding his pacifism when suddenly, Maria trotting up to them from down the nearby corridor diffused him.

"Hey, took you long enough," Mew said in a humored manner, with Maria giving his hip a hug making him chuckle as he rubbed her head, "Did you have trouble finding the bathroom?"

Maria shook her head, "Not at all, papa."

"What's the tyke doing here?" Solaris remarked, the moment he pointed at her making the girl duck and hide behind Mew.

"Oh I'm just watching her today while Kairi's getting dragged into baby supply shopping," Mew then gestured to them and said, "So I figured, hey, why not show her how driving works!"

His lips creased slowly out into a smile and Joe Dark glared at him, sniffing out his mischievous intent, "You're up to something..."

Mew feverishly shook his head until he could hide the width of his smile from them all, "Not at all! Why would you say that?"

"Mmmm..." Joe Dark glared at Maria, but her big, bubbly eyes disarmed him faster than a trained professional handling a bomb.

Maria then turned to look at Alura, letting out a dry snicker. Incited, Alura quickly clung herself to Joe Dark's side and shouted, "Mine!"

"Wha-" Joe Dark recoiled.

Alura vibrated the tip of her tongue at Maria, who stood there and took it like a champ, telling the gothic girl in a flighty tone, "If you say so~"

Maria giggling right after that set Alura off like a firecracker. She peeled off Joe Dark and started pulling her right sleeve up, remarking coldly, "Joe Dark, permission to smack this little girl upside the head."

Joe Dark grabbed the collar of her shirt and moaned, "Permission _denied_."

"Heh heh...!" Maria sneered, sneaking behind Mew without him even batting an eye at this.

Riku shook his head slightly and remarked, "This is going to take a while..."

"Good thing I came prepared!" Lunis pulled out a book she had fit snug under her clothes, and the glasses necessary to read it.

So the group amused themselves in this dreary spawn of hell for an hour or so until finally...

"Next!" The underpaid gatekeeper called them to the glassy pane, but as they advanced as a single unit the gatekeeper raised their weary head and remarked, "One at a time, **please**."

They stopped like a record scratch and looked at one another pointedly. Mew raised his fist and suggested, "Alright we're gonna rock, paper, scissors for this."

"Screw that," Solaris pushed to the forefront and stood right before the counter, "Yeah, I'm here to take the driving exam."

"To get your license? Fine. ID please."

Solaris reached into his deep pockets and pulled out a wallet, some loose change, and a couple paper clips.

"Ah shit, hold on." Solaris bent down to pick up the scattered change and clips, the employee leaning a hand against their war-torn face to sigh.

Solaris then brought the wallet back up and slid his ID card out for the employee to view. They scanned it over, typed in some things on the computer, and then slid the card back saying, "You're good to go, Sol."

"Sweet!" After settling affairs with his messy pockets Solaris backed away and Joe Dark took the lead.

"Where'd you get the ID?" Mew inquired.

"Oh, Samantha helped supply one for me, Lunis and Riku." Solaris replied proudly.

Lunis whipped hers out in a flash and proclaimed, "See!"

Mew looked hers over and saw her giving a big old smile in her picture, "Heh, nice smile."

"Thanks! But I think my hair looks a little messy..." Lunis stared at her photo judgmentally.

"What about you, brother? Do you have one?" Riku's inquiry was answered by Mew flicking said ID out from his sleeve and smiling.

"Way ahead of ya."

"Bad news guys," Joe Dark returned with a somewhat sour look in his eyes, "Most of their cars are at the garage for repairs. So only two people can take the test at a time."

"Oh, that's not so bad," Mew remarked.

"Besides having to wait around some more..." Joe Dark grumbled.

"Then I guess I'll go-"

"I'm going first to get this over with and you can't do a damn thing about it," Joe Dark bluntly retorted, "You cannot even FATHOM how much anxiety I'm enduring right now!"

Mew crossed his arms and let out an impressed whistle, "And that's saying something, you work in retail!"

"I'm not worried," Alura remarked, "I've been studying driver's manuals all week."

Joe Dark turned to her and sighed, "Sometimes I envy your ability to not panic in times like this."

A brief flash of smugness came from Alura's tiny smile, "Hehe!"

After everyone got registered for the driver's exam they went outside the building to the back where all the cars, well, all two of them anyways, were parked.

Two unremarkable, silvery cars that, nevertheless, looked fully functional for this test. There were two examiners standing by in plaid shirts and brown slacks. They almost looked like twins.

"Are you ready to take your exam?" The examiner on the left remarked, taking his pen up to gesture at the group as a whole.

Joe Dark and Solaris split off, Solaris walking up to the guy, who craned his head back to gaze upon the hulking man staring him down.

"So you're the one testing me, huh?" Solaris was practically one second of unrestrained temper away from calling him a "shrimp".

The man's grip shook on his clipboard and pen and he scrambled to pull them up, telling his customer, "Y-Yes, uhhh..."

"Sol." Solaris said in his gruff tone.

"Right..." The man checked his clipboard and then flipped over to a new page, "O-Ok, Sol. Lets get started."

He made his way to the other side of the car and got in.

Solaris did a little prep to amp himself up, including a few neck cricks and whisper of, "Alright. Yeah. I can do this!"

He then grabbed the door handle full force and it let out a dying screech as it was crunched between his fingers, jolting the examiner upright in his seat.

"W-What was that?!"

Before the examiner got up Solaris waved his other hand out and said, "N-Nothing! Just...a little rust in these joints, I'd have to say!"

Solaris _slowly_ pulled the door open and then sat _slowly_ down in the seat, the examiner eyeing him suspiciously.

Solaris forced a smile and then stared at his dashboard and wheel, _"O-Ok, remember what you were taught..." _

He wiggled his right hand down at the bottom right corner of the wheel until he heard the jingling of keys. He then held onto them and started to turn it.

The engines whirred to life, followed by the dashboard lighting up and a series of beeps following. Solaris stared at the light and wondered, _"Crap, did I do something wrong already?" _

The examiner simply wrote away at his papers without giving a clue. Solaris, in a panic, started frantically swerving his head around for any hints of what he did wrong.

"_Crap crap CRAP! Come on, what could I have-" _He stared at the still open door and went "Oh" plainly before closing it right up.

Then he stretched the seatbelt over his glorious pecs and secured himself in the seat. He then gripped the wheel at both upper corners, a fact which Samantha had emphasized **vigorously** before he came over here.

"_Ok, a lame start, but I can fix this." _Solaris went for the lever to adjust the car into "Drive" and started to slowly pull out of the parking space.

His heart was beating very loudly as he made his first turn, which made the examiner bob his head and hum as he wrote down something new in his paper.

He guided the car towards the sidewalk out of here, where the examiner made his heart jump by suddenly saying, "I want you to take a right here."

"Y-Yes sir!" Solaris barked obediently, immediately gritting his teeth in irritation, _"Sir?! Why'm I giving this toothpick that kinda respect?"_

"Now take a right here." The examiner pointed to the crossroads up ahead.

"Ok!" Solaris immediately replied.

After taking a stop he waited for traffic to pass through, his fingers antsy on the wheel to keep driving. A low bead of sweat dripped off his brow.

"_C'mon c'mon, get a move on you crones!" _Finally his time came and he was able to turn out onto the road.

"_I have to do this right. I got to get a driver's license and show Sam I can function in public," _Solaris had a shaky grip on the wheel and a firm, panning gaze out the window. He began to suck his lips in and let his mind wander like you're NOT supposed to do, _"Oh shit what did she say about curbs again? Do I avoid them or am I supposed to park next to them? Wasn't there something about avoiding yellow? Or was that for the lines on the road..."_

His eyes darted straight ahead and froze there, _"Or maybe I have to avoid yellow signs!" _

He glared around and saw so many signs, _"Oh FUCK they're everywhere! Its a sign invasion!" _

Signs pointing to the left! Signs pointing to the right! Signs with a cross! Signs advertising 2 for $8 burgers at McDonalds! Signs! Signs! Everywhere a sign!

"_Wait...!" _Solaris darted down at his feet and saw two pedals, _"What do these do again?!" _

His mind began to tumble down a steep slope of lunacy, upon which he forced himself to determine what was what and if the things he was remembering were even important to the task at hand.

"_Gas! Brake! Wait...no, other way around! Wheel turns...Wait there's wheels on the inside and outside! What wheels do I turn and how?! I need to pick up her laundry at 4 PM...THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! AUGH!" _

Even his vision began to flicker out, his whole head short-circuiting like an overclocked computer, _"How do cars work?!"_

"_Augh! I can't screw this up! If I don't return with a driver's license in hand, Samantha will...Samantha will...!" _

He imagined staring at her back in a dark, dimly lit room. She was so rigid, even in the way she spoke, _"Oh, you didn't get your driver's license?" _

She slowly turned around, her eyes vacant and her lips curled in a big smile, with two fingers hovering at her bottom lip.

"_How cute~" _

"_GAH! Get out of my head weird submissive thoughts!" _Solaris gripped the wheel firmly and stared straight ahead, _"I am a MAN! And men drive big ass cars! I can do this! I'm ready! I'm-"_

"Alright that's good." The examiner's sudden remark made Solaris' enthusiasm plummet right out of his body and he faced him with a gasp and blathering set of...words, I guess?

The examiner looked over his paper thoroughly and remarked, "You showed a proper understanding of driving etiquette after a rather rocky start."

The examiner clicked his pen and then tore the paper off the clipboard, "Just work on your nervousness a little and you'll be fine. Now, take this to the front desk and you'll get your license."

Solaris stared at the paper, then out the window, finding he was back in the parking lot. He then stared at the clock, a whole thirty minutes having passed him by.

With a weak, hot gasp, he reached for the piece of paper, and then stepped out the door. He then broke into a broadway stride towards his buddies with a big grin on his face.

"Nailed it!" He pronounced assuredly.

"Wow, talk about low standards." Mew whispered, earning the sun god's scathing hateful glare.

"That's wonderful news!" Lunis clapped her brother on.

He got a mite embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head and stating confidently, "Ah it was piss easy."

"Well we'll see about that," Mew chuckled, "Looks like Joe's just about to wrap up his test."

They watched the second training car come in. Mew tried to cheat his anticipation by using the wind to listen in on the conversation Joe Dark had with his examiner, but the window cut him off.

Disappointed, he crossed his arms and waited until the door open to spring towards him and holler, "So how'd it go?!"

Joe Dark's heart nearly burst out of his chest but in putting his hand over it, he showed he was holding the same type of paper as Solaris.

"Would you...!" Joe Dark grit his teeth, grunted, and then relaxed with a sigh before holding the paper out, "I passed..."

"Right on! This'll be a piece of cake after all!" Mew clapped and rubbed his hands enthusiastically.

Joe Dark simply crossed his arms and sounded very tired, "The things I suffer for a normal life..."

He then dragged his feet over to the others and collapsed on his butt, with Alura patting him on the head, much to his embarrassment.

"Next!" The examiners exclaimed.

Lunis perked up and fluttered her hands together before her chest, "Oh, I want to go next!"

"I guess I'll go too." Riku volunteered.

Mew swerved around, gawking in disappointment, "What, making me wait to the end? How rude!"

"Ha ha," Riku dryly chuckled and then waved his hand at him, "This'll give you more time to prepare."

"Awww, thanks for the consideration, bro." Mew smiled and watched his brother and Lunis head off to the cars.

He then quickly turned and bent down in front of Maria, looking her square in the eyes and whispering, "You still got the thing?"

Maria patted her stomach and nodded delightfully. Mew gave her a thumbs up and whispered, "Awesome! You're the best honey!"

Alura stared at them from the side suspiciously.

Meanwhile Lunis and Riku parted ways to their own cars, with Lunis mouthing "Good luck" while Riku smiled and snuck a kiss on her cheek.

Lunis rubbed her blushing cheek merrily as she wandered up to the examiner, who craned his head back and nearly jumped out of his skeleton.

"Hi there! You must be my examiner!" Lunis extended her hand out and remarked, "My name's Luna, you are?"

The man slowly shook her hand and muttered, "J-Just doing my job..."

"Ok Mr. Just Doing My Job, nice to meet you!" Lunis closed her eyes and giggled, "Hehe, I'm just kidding!"

She then leaned out and strutted around the front of the car a bit, "So this is what I'll be riding in?"

"F-For the test, of course." The examiner remarked, finding his eyes magnetically drawn to Lunis' long legs and firm rear pressing against the back of her pants.

He tugged at his collar and coughed, "S-S-Shall we get started?"

Lunis perked upright and turned around, "Yes sir!"

He went to the other side and got in, while Lunis opened her door and cleanly sat down. But upon nestling her butt in the leather comfort she wiggled her hips around a bit and noticed something iffy.

"Is this seat supposed to be this hot?" She said, lifting her butt up slightly to notice it was partially drenched in sweat.

"There was someone in here before you, he must've had the heater going." The examiner pointed out.

"Oh that must've been my brother," Lunis chuckled and sat herself back down, "That silly billy!"

"B-Brother?" The examiner gulped audibly.

Lunis then tugged at her jacket and let out a tired huff, "Whoo its sweltering in here! Mind if I take off my jacket?"

The examiner tried to focus on his clipboard as he prompted her, "Go right ahead..."

She unzipped the jacket and pulled it off, revealing her bombastic, bodacious upper body in view of the examiner's now bulging retinas.

"H-Holy shit...!" He gasped.

Lunis paused mid-detachment and glanced at him wondering, "Something wrong?"

He forced his eyes back on his clipboard and shouted, "N-Nothing! Don't mind me."

He was totally peeping at her from the corner of his eyes though. Her firm, hefty chest jutting out, barely contained behind her lilac halter top, made him mutter to his lonesome, "You can't do this, you're a married man..."

He took a deep breath and refocused his efforts on professionalism.

Lunis closed the door and began to tug on her seatbelt while humming a tune. She paused partway, staring down at her stomach. She smiled and gave it a pat, "Don't worry, I won't put it on tightly."

The examiner had his questions, but kept them tightly sealed behind his lips. As Lunis turned the key in the ignition and started the car up she spoke aloud, "First you start the car, then you put your foot on the gas and shift the lever to Drive..."

The car jiggled slightly and began to move. She jolted upright and smiled, "Yay! Its working!"

She then guided the car towards the sidewalk, much like her brother did, "Turn clockwise to go right, then just stick to 5 MPH until you reach the road..."

She had her eyes glued on the speedometer, never going even an iota towards 6 MPH.

"Turn on the blinker to signal you're going right..."

"M-Ma'am?" The examiner remarked.

"Hmmm?" Lunis shifted her head at him with an owl-like stare.

"You don't have to say everything you're doing," The examiner wrote something down on his paper and then softly clicked his pen, "Leave the talking to me, just focus on driving."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Lunis waved her hand out, but then quickly slapped it back down on the wheel with an antsy grin, "I-I'm just so nervous driving a car for the first time."

"T-This is your first time?!" The examiner's face turned pale.

"Oh yeah, it was my brother's first time too!"

"Oh...well that's a good sign." The examiner muttered that last part under his breath.

Lunis kept driving, keeping her thoughts to herself but keeping up that cheery tune the whole time they drove. She was clean in everything she had to do. A little TOO clean, much to the examiner's disbelief by the time they drove right back up to the DMV.

"P-Perfect marks..." He had to flip his page up to make sure he hadn't missed something. But there were no mistakes. None at all.

"So?" After turning the car off Lunis leaned in towards his clipboard, "How did I do?"

"...Y-You passed, easily." The examiner took the paper off and handed it to her.

"Yay!" She cheered, nearly bonking her head on the ceiling in the process. She then headed out the door to celebrate with her friends, picking up her jacket along the way.

At around this time Riku had returned too, so the two briefly joined up to discuss how it went.

They saw each others' papers and smiled. Lunis then hugged Riku briefly while telling him, "I knew it'd be a cake walk for you!"

"It...was a lot tougher than I expected. I almost rear-ended a car doing parallel parking..." Riku said with some mild shame in his voice.

He then looked down and whispered, "So how did it feel? Is the-"

Lunis leaned in to his ear and whispered, "We shouldn't talk about it here, your brother's listening."

Indeed, Riku then felt the subtle movement of wind around him and turned to give Mew the stink-eye. Mew quickly tucked his hands behind his back and started whistling.

Lunis then leaned in a little longer and whispered, "It was fine, it didn't hurt us at all."

Riku let out a sigh of relief and then wandered back to the others with Lunis at his side. Lunis raised her paper properly and declared, "We both passed!"

"Right on!" Solaris raised his hand and the two shared a clap.

Mew meanwhile looked at his brother and said, "So, aced it right?"

Riku flipped his paper over and stared at it long and hard, "I think I could've done better. I'll just have to work on my driving in a safe environment."

He held it out and remarked, "But for now, I've passed."

Mew glanced at the paper and then clapped his hands, "So four out of six of us have passed! Though..."

He crossed his arms and with a confident huff he glanced aside at Alura, "That means one of us is lined up to fail."

Alura glanced back briefly then closed her eyes and let out a "Hmph!", before proceeding to strut towards the training cars, "For the first time in your life, Mew, I will make you eat words."

Mew flinched while Solaris bellowed out a laugh, "Oh shit! Savage!"

"S-Shut up..." Mew closed his eyes and muttered under his breath hastily, "Damn that was pretty good..."

He then waved out from his side at Maria, "Come on, lets get this show on the road!"

He hurried on ahead to his car, where the examiner was currently drying down the sweat Solaris had left behind. In doing so, he took a sniff and muttered, "...Lavender?"

"Hey, you're the guy right?" Mew got the guy's attention and wound up causing him to bump his head on the frame on his way up.

While he rubbed his head Mew grimaced and muttered, "Ooof, sorry about that."

"...You're next?" The examiner grumbled.

"Yessiree Bob!" Mew proclaimed confidently.

The examiner glanced aside and remarked, "Who's the kid with you?"

"This is my daughter, Maria," Mew gently put his hand to her back and she smiled and waved at the man, "I hope you don't mind that I brought her along for the test."

"We're not supposed to allow others into the car with us..." The examiner muttered, finding the beaming, innocent eyes Maria gave to be quite persuasive.

"Please?" Mew pleaded, "I want her to see how comfortable it is to drive a car so she won't be so nervous when it comes her time to drive one."

Maria puckered her lower lip and cooed.

"...Alright I can make an exception." The examiner sighed warmly.

"So you better do a good job." Giving his advice, the examiner happily twirled his pen around and headed to the other side of the car.

Mew and Maria snickered and gave each other thumbs-ups. Mew remarked, "Sucker...!"

"What a maroon!" Maria added.

They then made their move. Mew went to the front seat and Maria was allowed into the back. She cozies on up to the center of the car and buckled up.

Mew used the rear view mirror and saw Maria pull a drawing pad out from under her shirt, which she lifted slightly to ensure he sees it.

He then gave a nod and she lowered it to her lap, taking out a crayon while opening to the front page.

Mew then turned to the dashboard and went for the keys, _"Got to turn the ignition..." _

The car started smoothly, the vibrations of the engines rattling him down to the soul, _"Aaaah that's nice."_

He rubbed the top of the dashboard with a tender smile, _"Nothing like the purr of a freshly built car..."_

He caught the examiner making a move for the paper and quickly magnetized his back to the seat, both hands on the wheels, _"Right! Ok...next up is..." _

He shifted the lever to Reverse, but then went just a liiitle harder to get to Drive. He took a deep breath and glanced up at the mirror, where Maria was nodding her head.

He then followed the pattern of his buddies getting out of there. But once he got to the intersection he paused and tapped his fingers on the wheel.

"A four-way intersection. Now how am I supposed to tackle this?" He said that later part a little loudly, then glanced at the mirror, watching Maria spring into action with her drawing book.

She flipped to a page while Mew made the occasional glances back ahead to avoid arousing suspicion. Finally he caught Maria displaying a crudely made crayon drawing showing a four-way intersection and numbers going clockwise from 1 at the bottom to 4 to the right.

Mew nodded and then turned his attention forward, waiting for his turn to arrive. He then made a clean right turn and continued on his way.

"Excellent!" He cheered.

He kept using Maria's crude drawings to get himself out of tight pinches until, eventually, the examiner guided them towards an on-ramp.

"We're going to take a quick drive on the freeway. It shouldn't be too busy this time of day but still, be careful."

Mew gripped the wheel tightly, his heart thumping as he made a slow, steady turn towards the on-ramp, "Right...be careful."

He applied more pressure to the gas pedal and the car sped up, reaching 50 MPH in seconds. His body pulled back, sinking deeper into the leather. The car kept going faster, reaching the limit of 70 MPH a little while after.

He then used the signal to veer onto the freeway itself, keeping his distance from the other cars.

He held his hands on the wheel with goosebumps crawling up his skin. His heart started beating faster, and he began to mutter in a trance, "So this is what it feels like to be fast in a car..."

This was nothing like flying after all. Freed of his elements, embracing naught but the reigns of this metal gas-munching horse, he felt a bubble enveloping his body made of pure pressure. It gripped his skin with a vibration similar to ecstasy.

No.

This was his own body's rhythm, the rhythm of **freedom** and **exhilaration**. His eyes became as wide as discuses, his pupils seeing nothing but the concrete paved in his path, tempting him to burn rubber to his heart's content.

"_Let it all go,"_ Came the freeway's sultry whisper, _"Run me down in your big bad vehicle, big boy."_

Mew's body let loose a quiver and he moaned, gripping the wheel of this mighty vehicle tighter, as his foot subtly pressed down on the gas pedal. The car accelerated, the grip of this pressure increasing along with it.

The examiner suddenly jerked upright and stuttered, "W-What are you doing?"

The speedometer pivoted towards 80 MPH, then went towards 90 soon after.

"_I need more horse power!" _And finally, Mew had been lost to speed's true calling..._**100 MPH!**_

Meanwhile, Alura was taking her test on the freeway. She was dutifully checking her mirrors before changing lanes, and keeping her foot softly on the gas pedal.

The examiner was writing on his paper but his mood seemed overall pleasant. Alura smiled and returned her focus to the road.

But upon glancing up the mirror she noticed a car weaving itself between cars at blistering speeds, and heading right towards them. Fortunately it passed by her right without her having to make any sudden detours.

However, she JUST managed to sneak a glimpse into the car to see Mew hemming the wheel. Her eyes remained wide-open as she **stared** at the car speeding out of view in a matter of seconds.

The examiner jumped in his seat and shouted, "C-Crazy speeder!"

He then grabbed onto his head and murmured, "Wait...is that...one of our cars?"

Alura set her body aglow and trapped the examiner in an illusion, "I couldn't tell, it went by too fast."

The examiner settled down in his seat muttering, "Y-Yeah, must've been seeing things."

Alura arched her brows and muttered disdainfully under her breath, "Mew...!"

Back in carbon emitting hell, Mew's examiner was pinned to the back of his seat and shoving his foot desperately underneath his seat.

"Ah! Where is the emergency brake?!"

"Ah quit your bellyaching we're fine!" Mew said, speaking with a voice of pure adrenaline.

"You're going 30 miles over the speed limit!" The examiner said, losing the strength to go on.

"Yeah, but I'm not hitting anyone am I?" Was the one bit of logical sense Mew was making cause SURPRISINGLY he hadn't hit anyone off the road pulling this crazy stunt.

"That's not the point!" The examiner slammed back into his seat as they passed by a madly honking truck, "AAAAAAH!"

He suddenly let out a moan and his eyes shut, his whole body slanting into his seat. Mew turned away slightly and said, "Uhhh, you ok?"

Maria poked her head out between the seats and remarked, "Its ok, papa! I knocked him out with my gases!"

Mew wagged a finger at her and remarked nonchalantly, "We're going to have a chat about your forward thinking when we get back young lady."

This brief distraction got him looking at the speeds he was going and shouting, "Oh SHIT!"

He applied the brakes to get back to normal speeds and muttered, "Ha...ha ha...Lost control of myself there."

After a couple dry coughs he whistled his way over to the off-ramp and then slowly, SLOWLY, guided the car back to the DMV.

Him parking the car jolted the examiner awake with a couple snorts. The examiner scrambled to look around while stuttering, "Bluh...huh? W-Where are we?"

Mew looked at him straight-faced and said, "We're back at the DMV. You fell asleep suddenly while I was doing my test."

He then smiled and chuckled, "Rough day?"

The examiner grabbed the side of his face and groaned, "Ughhh, I felt like I was just in a nightmare. And...and why am I smelling gas?"

Mew flicked the dashboard and remarked, "I started smelling it too around the off-ramp. Maybe you ought to get this car in too."

"Y-Yeah..." The examiner pulled up his clipboard and then looked it over, "Sorry about nodding off, but...It seems like you made it back safely."

"Of course, always gotta consider the safety of your passengers!" Mew was all sunshine and rainbows to the examiner, who tore the paper off and handed it over to him.

"Well either way, your safe driving has earned you your license. Congrats."

Mew snatched the paper off his hands with a big grin and said, "THANK you for your time."

He then headed out the door, "C'mon, Maria!"

She snuck her drawing book under her shirt and waved the man farewell. The examiner rubbed his head and groaned some more.

The scheming duo waltzed away across the pavement and gave each other a hi-five and smile. Mew wagged his paper in the air while the others stared, Joe Dark in particular gawking in disbelief.

"Bullshit...! They really must have low standards of passing here."

Mew fanned his smug face with the paper and chuckled, "Nah...I'm just that good."

Suddenly, Alura stepped in front of the two with her eyes frozen in a stare.

Mew paused and wondered, "So, didn't pass?"

Alura immediately whipped her passing paper up, rolling it into a tube and using it to bonk Maria atop the head. As the little girl rubbed her head and went "Owie!" Alura turned her pointer finger at Mew's paper and uttered in a ghastly tone, "Sham!"

She tried to claw at the paper only for Mew to use his height advantage to hold it far over her reach, "W-Whoa now...!"

Alura puffed her cheeks and backed away, her eyes immediately lining up with Mew's crotch. With bullet-like reflexes her fist went flying towards it.

Suddenly, Mew smirked and his body became surrounded by a blue and silver light. At the very last moment he pulled away from Alura's fist and glided behind her.

Her eyes widened in shock and Mew leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You're too immature to get me with that type of cliché, Alura."

Joe Dark chopped Mew on the back of the head and he flinched upright like a scared dog.

"What the hell's going on here?!" He uttered in bewilderment.

Alura wagged her pointer finger at Mew and tattled on him without hesitation, "He was speeding on the freeway!"

"H-Hey!" Mew sputtered.

Riku walked up to the conversation and asked, "Brother is that true?"

Mew folded his arms and said, "I MAY have gone five...or thirty miles over the speed limit...By accident."

"By ACCIDENT?!" Joe Dark sputtered loudly.

"I didn't hit anyone!" Mew barked back, "Isn't that impressive enough?!"

Joe Dark squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his forehead, "What's impressive is that you passed the test somehow..."

"Yep. I passed the test," Mew nodded firmly and reassured this view, "Fair. And. Square."

"Liar." Alura remarked.

"Yeah well, you're flat." Mew replied bluntly.

A vein popped in Alura's forehead and she began to roll up her right sleeve, "Joe Dark, permission to punch your brother in the hip."

Joe Dark rolled up his sleeve while grumbling in a feral tone, "Permission **granted**. I'll go for his face."

Riku stepped between the two and mediated the growing tensions, "This isn't the time to fight you two. We should be celebrating getting our licenses."

Joe Dark put a pin in his violence grenade and tucked his hands into his pockets, "Fine, you have a point."

"I mean, first we still have to get back in line to get the licenses." Mew remarked, earning the collective groans of his buddies.

"And then we'll need to get cars to drive in afterwards."

Everyone suddenly went silent, the look of devastation and awkward glancing around coming from them all making Mew cross his arms and remark, "Wait, did you guys seriously not think about that before coming here?"

"S-Shut up! Neither did you, admit it!" Joe Dark got all accusing towards him but Mew just laughed it off.

"Shows what you know! I can easily assemble a car with my powers."

"Oh that's a wreck I'd love to see happen." Joe Dark said with a dry chuckle.

Lunis clutched her hands behind her back and whispered towards Riku, "I-I guess we DO kinda need jobs to afford a car, huh?"

"Ha!" Solaris roared triumphantly over the others, "Guess you guys can enjoy the bus butt cramps a little longer! Me though? Samantha says I can drive her car whenever she says I'm allowed to!"

He reared his head back with a grin while everyone got so silent they could hear a sole cricket chirping in the distance.

Solaris looked at them all and chuckled, "Yeah that's right, you're envious, I know it!"

Mew shook his head and patted Riku on the back, "Another proud warrior, now downgraded to a Simp..."

Riku patted him back and sighed, "You hate to see it happen, brother."

Mew then shot a gaze and smirk at his brother as he pulled away, "At least we're still single, right?"

Riku's eyes shot open and he stuttered, "Err, r-right..."

Solaris crushed his arms against his chest and shouted, "Oh fuck you both!"

The others shared a laugh together at Solaris' expense while making their way back to the DMV, celebrating their job well-done...

_Next Time: Late Night Soiree_


	77. Chapter 76

**Author's Note:**

I'm sorry, I forgot to upload this on Saturday. So have two chapters in a row!

* * *

**Chapter 76: Solaris on the Rocks**

Another night at the Bombbrew Bar for the young duo of Solaris and Samantha. Albeit this time, there's been a bit of a shakeup in their roles.

Now, dressed in a spiffy sleeveless suit that barely contains his muscular bod, the sun god stood behind the counter stirring and shaking drinks for the patrons.

He was quick and vigorous with the shaker, breaking Samantha's usual records for drink making, while offering up greetings and welcomes to any new customers.

Yes, you're not misreading, I am talking about the same crass, stubborn, blunt, and utterly rude sun god. Don't believe me? Lets see him in action for a bit then, shall we?

"Hey Sol, we need two Rocky Knockers down here!" Samantha shouted all the way down the other end of the counter.

"Two? Coming right up!" Solaris whipped out a steel canister and poured in a mix of ginger ale, lemon and cinnamon, with a couple of hard salted ice cubes for additional flavor.

He shook it around in one hand for a few seconds then popped the drink into two martini glasses, sliding them one after another down the smoothed out counter top.

Samantha swiped them up in each hand with perfect timing then handed them off to the two middle-aged women here on a late night bender.

"Here ya are ma'ams!" She said with a peppy grin, "Drink until your livers burst!"

"Is that a challenge?" One lady said with a smirk.

"Oh I always love coming to this place." The other lady said, the two clinging their glass rims together before dumping the drink down into their gullets in one fell swoop.

Solaris stood by and pinched his fingers together behind his back, gritting his teeth anxiously until the ladies raised their glasses and shouted, "Our compliments to the bartender!"

"Yes!" He hissed out while pumping his fist against his bent over chest.

Samantha trotted on up to him after handing another customer a napkin for their dribbling mouth. She then propped her fists on her hips and remarked, "Well well, you ain't doing so bad for your first week."

Solaris stiffened up and coughed into his fist, remarking with a cocky attitude, "Is it that surprising how good I am?"

"A little, yeah." Samantha said with a chuckle, stifling the sun god's growing ego.

"By the way, Ace Bartender..." Samantha wiggled her right pointer finger out from her chest.

Solaris turned around and saw a man sitting hunched over with a glare at him in particular.

"He's been waiting for his food for two minutes now." Samantha patted him on the shoulder and then backed off to do her own thing.

"Shit...!" Solaris grit his teeth and then went to check the orders on the steel ledge nearby. Indeed there was a plate filled with pepperoni topped, ooey-gooey nachos. The steam rising off the top was at half-size, looking very, very pitiful and lukewarm.

Solaris wasted no time taking the plate to the customer, losing a pepperoni slice to the floor. The customer's expression turned a little brighter and he proceeded to eat his meal with a side of cold ale.

"Whew..." Solaris crossed his arms but the nighttime rush wouldn't let him rest.

"Sol! Table 8's requesting an Ice Age Disaster!" Samantha shouted the order and Solaris jerked his head to the side going "Really?!" before letting out a grunt and getting back to work.

He pulled a hefty chunk of crushed ice from the freezer and put it into another shaker with a helping of aged liquor and a hint of mint leaves.

He started shaking wildly only for the lid to pop off and the drink to start spraying onto the floor. In a scramble to fix this mistake he nearly lost the whole drink. He capped the lid, breathed a sigh of relief, then continued to shake at a _slightly_ slower rate.

He had hoped that enough of the drink had been salvaged to satisfy the customer as he poured it into the glass, and handed it off to Samantha for deliverance.

He then tried to catch his breath and swiped a bit of sweat off his brow with the nearby towel, _"Holy shit, rush hour is rougher than my training lately."_

He then crossed his arms and flexed his biceps a little, _"Got to keep these bad boys in check." _

Samantha flipped over the counter to say hello and in the process cheekily remarked, "Feeling the _heat_ yet?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Solaris slowly laughed back, "You should become a comedian with that talent."

"It ain't no joke," Samantha gestured her thumb over her shoulder to Table 8, "You're lucky they're new here. Shortin' an order to long-timers would spell bad news for our PR."

Solaris bit his teeth down and Samantha nudged him in the pecs with her elbow saying, "You'll get the hang of it. Just clean up your spill, 'Ace Bartender'."

She playfully winked and then walked off to check how well the customers at the counter were doing. Solaris then sighed, turned around, and bent over with his towel to clean up.

"Is it always this busy on Fridays?" He asked loudly.

"Ah no!" Samantha laughed with a gruelingly wicked echo, settling into a far, far more relaxed tone of, "This is a slow day."

Solaris could feel his heart sink so low it merged with his stomach, "A-Ah...?"

He then heard the bell above the door ring and rose to greet the new customers, "W-Welcome to our bar, I hope-"

His eyes then shot right out of their sockets and he let out a quick, bloodcurling scream, as these "new" customers weren't new to him at all!

It was Gabriel and three of his Aurian buddies, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter, all wearing some "night on the town" clothes instead of their usual attire.

Gabriel had on the suit from the first time he came to this bar. Jupiter had put on a short jacket vest with flaming streaks beside the sleeves. Mars swapped out his vest for a thin coat and put on some dark shades, but kept the baggy pants on. And Saturn had taken off her lab coat to put on a purple martini dress along with glittering gold glasses, her hair knotted into a bun behind her head.

Solaris' mouth hung with a long gasp for air as Samantha waltzed up and waved her hand at the new arrivals.

"Oh hey, I remember you guys! Welcome to the Bombbrew Bar! Make yourselves at home!"

Solaris' eyes followed the four as they took their seats before the counter beside him. Samantha then wandered off saying "I'll get then menus" while Solaris finally picked his jaw off the floor and bent down right in front of Gabriel.

"What the HELL are you doing here, old man?!" Solaris whispered to the bewilderment of the scruffy samurai.

Gabriel laid his hand to rest and smiled back, "Lady Auris asked me to check up on you."

Solaris grit his teeth and grumbled, "If she wanted to do that she could've come herself..."

He then shook his head and shuddered, "N-Never mind forget I said that."

"Indeed," Gabriel chuckled, "She'd run your business dry in a single night."

He then gestured his fingers up and remarked, "Even had she not asked I would've come anyways."

"Whyyyyyy?" Solaris groaned.

"Because I like the atmosphere here," Gabriel turned around and looked across the bar, "Its wild yet inviting. The lighting's warm, the drinks are cold. Perfect for relaxation after a long day."

"And Goons 1-3?" Solaris roughly pointed to the others where, at the moment, Saturn was spinning in her chair while Jupiter and Mars talked about the drink selection.

"Oh, well..." Gabriel shrugged, "I thought you'd appreciate having more business."

"Oh yeah I'm just **thrilled**." Solaris rolled his eyes and stood up, by then Samantha returned with a menu for each one of them.

"Here you are, take your time," She then crossed her arms and grinned brightly to them all, "If you have any questions feel free to take it up with your buddy Sol."

"We're not buddies!" Solaris gestured out to the small group as Samantha wandered off for a bit, "I don't even know three of these idiots!"

"Hey, 'Sol'!" Jupiter called out, slapping her menu shut and tapping the cover with one finger and a wild, ready smile, "Gimme the strongest drink you got, no ice, largest glass available."

"Ooooh, the Cretaceous Impact?" Samantha chimed in with lustful intrigue, "Sure your liver is up for the challenge?"

Jupiter slammed her elbow down and propped her hand against her smirking cheek, her eyes darting right at the bartender to tell her, "Is YOURS?"

Samantha chuckled and bobbed her head around in delight, "I like **you**."

Right as Samantha prepared to make the drink Saturn slapped her hands down atop the menu and stood on the bar around the bottom of the chair shouting, "What is this?!"

Samantha leaned over her shoulder as Saturn raised the plainly labeled "Kids Menu" and wagged it around like it had killed her family or something.

"I want the same menu they're having!" She squeezed the one currently in her hand and shook it like a rattle.

"Heh, sorry kid," Samantha turned and dried out the glass she planned to use for Jupiter's drink, "Pretty yourself up all ya like, I can still tell you're underage."

"Uh-oh." Mars muttered.

"She said the 'P' word." Jupiter followed, a dreadful sense of awkwardness spreading out between their merry gathering.

"What? What? What's going on? Why does it feel cold all of a sudden?" Spoke Solaris.

"...Pretty?" Saturn plopped the menu onto the table and nudged her glasses up until the lens flared.

Samantha paused with a bead of sweat glistening down her forehead. Saturn leaned over the counter on both hands and pinned her forehead against hers.

"I'm cute, and don't you forget it," She then stared her down, facing her ultimate nemesis of ageism like a champ, "You say I'm too young? Nah, I'm too old! I've been saving the universe and kickin' evil butt since before your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather had developed into a zygote. I've got a thirst in my mouth and a thirst in my loins, so when I come here asking for a drink you don't say 'Too young' you say 'Happy to serve you, oh wonderful, fantastic, and super cute superheroine Saturn. And **thank you**, for saving the goddamn universe!'"

Saturn then plopped right back into her seat smiling smugly with her arms and legs crossed.

Samantha stared back, smirked, and then plucked the Kids Menu off the counter.

"Lets see if you can put your money where your big mouth is, superstar." Samantha walked off to exchange menus, humored the whole way there.

Solaris' jaw dropped and before he could comment Jupiter rambunctiously slapped her hand on the counter and shouted, "Hey bartender, where's my drink?!"

He jolted around and by then, Mars raised his closed menu and tried to speak up, "And I'll...have a Fiery Filibuster."

Solaris sighed, snatched their menus up, then grumbled to himself, "I'll be right back..."

He then walked on up to Gabriel, face deep in his own menu, looking like he was in his own world.

"You decided, old man?"

"Hmmm?" Gabriel poked his head up a bit and then laid his menu down flat, "I still need some time, if you don't mind."

"Hey, its your time and your money." Solaris shrugged and then backed up to take care of the two's drinks.

Meanwhile, Samantha passed him by and handed Saturn a new menu. Saturn snatched it in her hand and opened it up, scanning it faster than a supercomputer.

Samantha crossed her arms and chuckled, "You might want to start with something light. Might I recommend-"

"I'll take this one!" Saturn flipped the menu around and pointed at the middle of the "Napalm" category.

Samantha leaned in to stare and chuckled some more, "The Grasp of Dust? Aaaalright, if you insist!"

She then took her menu and grinned, "Coming right up!"

She joined Solaris at the cabinet to makes their drinks, with the four observing them from behind with their own colorful commentary.

"Never thought I'd see the day when a sun god would be serving me drinks." Jupiter said, her hands flat against her cheeks.

Mars nudged her and whispered, "Noel, we're under cover, keep it down!"

"Ah, sorry, you're right!" Jupiter gasped and pulled her volume down to half her norm, "Not used to being on a world where we got to have 'secret identities'."

She laughed at how stupid that sounded.

Samantha and Solaris brought their drinks back and then Samantha leaned on up to Jupiter with a dazzling gleam in her eyes, "So you guys must all be superheroes then, yeah?"

"Well I totally mean to brag but," Jupiter pumped her fist against her chest twice and craned her head back with a smile, "Yeah. We are."

"No kidding? That's so wicked awesome!" Samantha cheered.

She then looked over her shoulder and said, "Why didn't you tell me that, Sol?"

"I told you, I don't know these guys!" Solaris barked back, in the middle of cleaning a drink.

"Hey bartender, we need a couple salt shakers over here!" Said a pair of customer at the corner.

"Coming!" Solaris groaned in a panic, sweeping a pair of salt shakers off the rack.

Saturn then took the first sip from her drink and sat it down with a satisfying breath, upon which she turned to Samantha and asked, "So how much do you know?"

Samantha crossed her arms with a cheeky smile and whispered, "A lot! 'Sol' has been all loose lips ever since he confessed back in Christmas."

Solaris returned and glared around the back of her head as he made his way for the utensils, "Only because you don't shut up with the questions!"

He took some forks back with him and Samantha's gazed trailed him the whole way there, "I can't help it! A bunch of cool, attractive heroes have been living under our noses this whole time. I gotta know everything!"

"Ahem!" Hollered Saturn, nudging her glasses.

Samantha tilted her head around and muttered, "And one cool and cute superheroine."

"Heh!" Saturn then took another sip from her drink. She then coughed up a winded gasp of "Whew!"

"I'll admit," Gabriel chimed in with his delicate tones, "I voiced some concerns when I heard that you had been told about us."

He gestured kindly to Samantha with a smile, "But I see I was worried for nothing."

"Heh, thanks for that, Shaggy Green!" Samantha chuckled, while Gabriel stared blankly at her and began to rub his beard back and forth.

He then returned to his menu, pontificating what would suit his palette this fine evening.

"Its been a while, hasn't it?" The deep, smooth sounds of the bar's owner drew Gabriel's eye upward, where the man looked down behind his pitch black glasses.

"Ah, Zeke, right?" Gabriel snapped right to remembering his name.

"Heh. Zeke, Black Ice, take your pick, I don't mind," The black man whispered coolly, leaning in to say for his ears only, "So how should I refer to you as? Gabriel? Or Aurian Earth?"

Gabriel froze momentarily with a shrunken glare. Zeke hooked his glasses down slightly and smirked, "Don't think too negatively about it. Its just an ice breaker, albeit with the force of a sledgehammer applied to it."

Gabriel tapped his fingers along the edge of the counter and muttered, "I don't sense any ill-intent from your actions, for what its worth..."

"But you saying that so casually is rather...disarming, I must admit."

"Heh well," Zeke stood and began cleaning a glass he had on him, "I wanted to talk and figured you'd be more approachable if I 'spoke your language'. Catch my drift?"

"Loud and clear," Gabriel rested his arms on the counter and leaned closer to the man, "So. Who was it who told you? Samantha, or 'Sol'?"

"Neither," Zeke replied curtly, "Prometheus."

Surprise barely registered on Gabriel's face, "Ah. I should've suspected as much."

After a rest so Zeke could finishing cleaning the cup, he poured a bit of liquor from a green bottle and nudged it towards Gabriel, "On the house."

Gabriel eased the rim into his lips and took a slow sip. Setting the glasses down he smiled and described the experience lavishly, "Aged pinot noir with a hint of lemon and dare I say, a few sprinkles of cinnamon?"

"My personal favorite," Zeke bowed, "Happy to serve."

Gabriel took another sip and then looked the man in the eyes, "So why reveal yourself now? The man you served is dead and his ambitions have gone down in flames."

Zeke sighed with melancholy and took his glasses off fully, tucking them in his pocket, "The man I served died years ago. You and your friends just finally buried a rundown corpse."

He closed his eyes and rested his arms on the counter, "What you saw of Prometheus ain't what the rest of the world saw. He was kind, dutiful to his country and people, and most importantly, loved his family very much."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed and Zeke backed away with a gentle sway of his hands, "Now...I ain't making excuses but, its that same love that broke him. He lost his wife to the ignorance and cruelty of those in power and, with nothing left to bring him joy but the smile on his daughter's face, he turned his hot steel against the world."

"And left countless blood in his wake." Gabriel intervened.

Zeke nodded immediately, "Such was the disparity between Judas Jeremiah the father, and Prometheus the murderer."

"I couldn't bear to stand looking at him the way he was anymore, with his vengeful, power-hungry eyes..." Zeke gestured his pointer finger out and said bluntly, "That was not the man I pledged my loyalty to."

"But I couldn't just...abandon him either," Zeke sighed with regrets, "Not after how much I owed his wife."

"I detached myself from his cruel experimentation on orphans and offered to take his daughter under my wing, in the hopes of keeping her pure of his hate."

"And well," Zeke gestured to his left with a smile, "As you can see she's turned out quite alright."

Gabriel turned and looked at Samantha with a brief glimpse of shock in his eyes, "She's his daughter?"

"She's rougher than diamonds but damn if she doesn't shine like 'em too," Zeke smiled and then put his glasses back on, "And look, she's made plenty of..."

Jupiter was downing her fourth drink while Saturn began spinning around in her stool all tipsy. Solaris was madly dashing between the shelves and the customers to deliver drinks.

Zeke raised a brow and muttered, "_Interesting_ friends."

"Ha ha ha...!" Gabriel nodded with a smirk, "We are certainly a unique bunch."

He then turned to Zeke and raised his glass, "Well, thank you for confiding with me. I promise not to tell a soul."

Zeke raised an empty glass and the two clinked them together, "Much appreciated. Feels like a weight's been lifted off my chest."

As Gabriel resumed his drink the bell over the door rang, and in walked a sharp-dressed man with cold, precise eyes. We know him as one Julius Talbain.

The man slowly walked across the floor and veered his gaze subtly to the left towards Zeke. Zeke fired back, the two's intensity meeting each other with Gabriel stuck plum in the middle.

"Zeke." Julius murmured.

"Julius." Zeke replied.

As Julius walked up to take a seat left of Gabriel the samurai took his glass to the counter and whispered, "I feel I'll just be getting in the way."

"Nah, sit down," Zeke urged with a cool sway of his hand. He then brought a menu up for Julius' perusal, "Sometimes shadows of grudges just tend to linger at our feet."

Julius took the menu without looking at Zeke directly and began to scan it over.

"Still a servant to blind ambitions, Eye in the Dark?" Remarked Zeke.

"Still blind, Black Frost?" Julius fired back coldly.

"Heh," Zeke smiled, "Your bark still has bite."

Julius put the menu down and sighed, "I need it now more than ever these days if I'm to keep up with the demands of those in my care."

He gave the menu two taps and remarked in a more friendly tone, "One Orange Dust, shaken, no salt."

"Coming right up." Zeke retreated to the shelves and poured orange juice, vodka, and a little ice cream into a sole shaker.

Gabriel rested on his laurels with a look of contemplation, "Julius, Julius..."

Realization came to him a moment after and he looked the butler in the eyes, "Ah that's right, you're a friend of Joe Dark's family."

Julius looked at him out the corner of his eyes and then swiveled his stool to face him closely, "You are...Gabriel?"

"Yes, pleasure to meet you." Gabriel extended his hand and Julius shook it.

"Likewise, however..." While Julius paused Gabriel raised his brows curiously.

"Hmmm..." Julius rubbed his chin and remarked, "Master Joseph described you as...'That guy on the green bean cans', but you're very...white."

Gabriel stared and then chuckled in amusement, "Yes well, this isn't how I normally look."

Zeke brought Julius his drink and Julius quickly reached into his pocket to hand him exact change, transitioning cleanly into sipping from his glass.

"Aaaah..." Julius hung his shoulders and smiled, "Magnificent."

"So what brings you here tonight?" Zeke inquired.

"Master Joseph and Miss Alura are on a date at the theater, so I decided to spend some time for myself for once." Julius promptly replied.

"Ah, young love in bloom," Gabriel rubbed his chin and smiled fondly, "Is there nothing more beautiful?"

Zeke sighed and nudged his glasses, "When shall the floors ever bloom for us?"

"Our soil's tainted with blood," Julius remarked, twirling his finger around the rim of his glass, "And our fatal attraction lies in bullets and death."

The three old men sighed and then left the air silent.

Gabriel raised his glass to Julius and remarked, "Well then, let us toast to love everlasting for your two young charges."

Julius smiled and raised his glass in a toast, "Yes. To love everlasting."

They then both sipped from their drinks and laid them to rest on the counter. Julius sighed.

"Though I worry for Master Joseph sometimes..." He shook his head and faced forward with a tired look in his eyes, "He barely registered Miss Alura's true feelings, and yet he expects to become the President?"

"Did I hear that right?" Zeke butted in, "Joseph Dark wishes to become the President?"

Julius crumpled onto the counter and gestured his hand up by his face, "Laugh all you wish, Zeke."

"Heh," Was all Zeke replied with, "There. There's my laugh."

He began to clean a plate off while pondering the nature of what he heard, "Like father like son, as they say. And he's got just as much of an uphill battle ahead of him."

"Yes, most assuredly," Julius replied, "Prometheus may be gone but his shadow still lingers over the political landscape."

The butler bridged his hands beneath his nose and continued to speak, "I've offered my support, but I admit to being at a loss of what to do. If only he had someone trustworthy by his side who knew their way around politics..."

Julius and Zeke glanced aside at Gabriel, who shook his head slowly and remarked, "My wisdom does not pertain to politics, unfortunately. But I'm sure the right person will come around eventually."

"WEE HEE HEE!" A shrill cry of excitement came behind them, certainly from Saturn of all people.

The three old men watched as the young scientist was leaning back into the counter with a dazzling gleam in her glazed over eyes, "Looooook, you can seeeee the cooooooosmooooooos...!"

She then flopped upright and with her head tipping around she smirked, "Yoo-hoo! Boooooys!"

She grabbed the front flap of her dress and sloooowly raised it while alternatively raising her brows, "Who wants to take a ride on the rings of Saturn?"

Jupiter slapped her hand down on Saturn's lap and laughed, "Cat, no!"

"Mrow!" Saturn clawed her fingertips at her and then flopped back down against the counter, beginning to slide off her seat with a groan.

Jupiter sighed and commented, "So Cat's an obnoxious drunk, who'd've thunk?"

Mars leaned around her and stared at Saturn's drink, "She didn't even finish half of it..."

Jupiter took a drink from her seventh glass and then set it down right next to Samantha, "Another one please!"

"..." Samantha stared wide-eyed at her and then happily carried the glass off while remarking, "You've got an inhuman liver, geez!"

Solaris and Samantha nearly had an accident when they crossed paths to handle different customers. Solaris brushed her off frantically and Samantha burst into laughter.

"Its so fun watching him run around." She said as she handed Jupiter her drink.

"So be honest," Jupiter leaned down and gestured the drink at Samantha, "Half the reason you hooked up with him was for the entertainment value right?"

Samantha crossed her arms and enjoyed a lull in the moment observing Solaris slide orders to some of the customers at the opposite end of the counter.

"Eh, a little of that, a little bit more of the other stuff," She shrugged and looked fondly over her shoulder, "You'd have to spend some time with him to get it."

"Ok sure but tell me," Jupiter leaned in and whispered, "Have you guys...?"

"Oh yeah!" Samantha grinned cheekily and unfurled seven fingers from her fists.

Jupiter let out a shrill whistle and shouted "Damn! Nice!" then wiggled her brows knowingly while remarking, "And...?"

Samantha glanced to her left real quick and then raised her hands up before her chest, putting them an "above-average" number of inches apart.

"Oooh, how do you handle that?" Jupiter winced in pain.

Samantha crossed her arms back up and chuckled, "You should be asking how **he** handles **me**."

"Ha HA!" Jupiter and Samantha clapped their hands together while Mars sat by rolling his eyes and sighing.

"This is the start of something dangerous..." He retreated to his drink, while Saturn's mind was retreating into cuckooland.

"Looooove and PEEEEEACE!" She raised two fingers in a "V" and then collapsed back first atop the stool.

Solaris wandered up behind Samantha after a few more minutes of toiling for the customers. Now drenched in sweat, his suit looked more like a wet towel.

"I want to die..." He groaned.

Samantha patted his tricep twice and told him, "You're doing fine, just keep it up."

"I need a break at least..." Solaris took it upon himself to pour a glass of ice cold water and guzzle it down in seconds.

"Aaaaah..." He felt refreshed.

Samantha and him leaned back into the sink. The customers were settling down in their separate groups and having fun, so they could just slack off for a little while.

"You got such awesome friends." Samantha grinned.

"Yes. They're so awesome that I never want to see them again." Solaris said in a grumpy grumble.

"...Y'know, this night's got me thinking," Samantha took up a rare serious tone and closed her eyes, "You should tell all your other friends about this place. We could make it a sort of...hub for them to gather at, hang out, and talk about their days."

"A lot of them are underage though," Solaris gruffly pointed out, "And I sure ain't letting my sister get drunk."

"Don't worry about that," Samantha responded, "Just give them some free seats at the counter away from the others and we can talk in private about our own stuff. They don't have to drink."

"Heh," Solaris turned towards her with a fist on his hip, "You think you can handle all those nutjobs coming here? Cause let me tell you about a woman named Auris..."

"This place is hospitable to all sorts, so long as they ain't causing trouble," Samantha grinned and looked fondly towards the rest of the bar, "Its why my father always loved to come here. So I just...want to spread that hospitality to others, y'know?"

"You're just asking for trouble." Solaris remarked.

"Ah I'm just shooting the shit," Samantha pulled away and brushed her hands up, "But its something to think about, yeah?"

The sound of glass crashing came from over the counter and they saw Saturn limply dragging her hand up and knocking Jupiter's empty glasses onto the floor one at a time.

"Ooooooone dead bad guy...Twoooooooo dead bad guys..."

"How about we survive this night first?" Solaris murmured.

"Yep. Totally," Samantha ran up and vaulted over the counter to smack Saturn's hand away from the glasses, "Alright you purple gremlin, break another glass and I'll break your glasses!"

Saturn raised her middle finger and shouted "Iiii'm the strongest! Traaaaaansformation, GOOOOO!" then stuck said finger up her nose.

Solaris stood by and crossed his arms, grumbling warmly at the chuckleheads gathered in front of him. He then craned his head back and murmured, "Hey dad, you watching? Good. Cause I hope you're proud."

_Next Time: Two Brothers and the Reminiscence _


	78. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77: Footsteps of Time**

Mid-March, the time of the year where Winter finally decides to head off and let Spring in. The air's getting warmer and the grass greener. Not that any of that matters in Sancturia.

Another morning has come around and Mew's walking his daughter Maria to school. But in an unusual change of pace, his brother Riku's by his side this time.

Riku watches the two walk side-by-side with a doting smile as Mew teases Maria for not brushing her hair enough, then rustling his hand around atop her head.

They laugh and play for a bit until they are standing before the school itself. Mew looks up and sees Maria's two friends, Kris and Nikolas, standing at the door waving their arms up to grab her attention.

"Hurry up Maria, the bell's about to ring!" Shouted Nikolas.

Maria turned around and Mew bent down to look her in the eyes and pat her on the shoulder, "Have fun honey."

"I will, papa!" Maria smiled and kissed Mew on the cheek before going on her merry way.

"Bye!" She waved back.

"Bye Mr. Whiter!" Shouted Kris.

Mew waved his hand up by his chest and chuckled, "Don't get into too much trouble today kids!"

The trio snickered and then went inside the door. With their visages fading behind the glass, Mew folded his arms and sighed.

"She's growing up so fast. Seems like yesterday I adopted her into the family..."

Riku walked up beside Mew and patted him on the back, "Feeling old, brother?"

Mew gently brushed his hand off and turned with a calm smile, "Nah. I'm still a spring chicken."

"Heh, well, I'm glad to see you're enjoying peace time finally."

"Oh yeah, totally," Mew bobbed his head around and waved his hand aside, "Got a driver's license, been hanging out with Maria and Kairi, gotten some good walks in..."

He then propped a hand on his hip and after a brief roll of his head looked Riku square in the eyes and remarked, "Speaking of walks, shall we?"

"Yeah." Riku nodded with a smile and like that, the two wandered off to the edge of Sancturia, and took flight.

Under the guise of the cloudy sky, they made their way down South and surveyed the tree filled plains of Canada for a bit. Then when they passed the border into the USA Mew inquired, "Any idea where you want to go?"

Riku rubbed his chin musing over this for a few seconds and then turned his head at him, "How about somewhere close to home?"

"Are you sure?" Mew asked, "Really really REALLY sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not too picky." Riku's assurdness made Mew roll his eyes to the back of his head and sigh.

"I thought it'd be a good excuse to go to Hawaii but whatever..." Mew gave this matter some thought of his own and then snapped his fingers, "I got it!"

He then guided them down towards a small suburban town, but had them land off on the side of the road on the outskirts. The wind was blowing crisply with the grass dancing in the breeze behind them.

After taking a moment to stretch his arms high Mew glanced aside at Riku and said, "I was surprised to get the call to come hang out this morning, Riku."

"We hadn't done this alone since New Year's." Riku remarked fondly.

"Yeah no kidding," Mew flapped his hands around by his hips and chuckled, "Usually Lunis or Maria tagged along with us. Speaking of which, how's Lunis doing these days?"

"Uhhh, about the same as usual," Riku replied with a bit of hesitation, "You know how she is..."

"Still got books glued to her face?" Mew grinned and nudged his brows playfully.

"At least she's been trying to get out more often lately," Riku replied, partially humored by the remark, "In fact she's off clothes shopping with her brother and Samantha today."

"Well good for her!" Mew gave an earnest nod, "I was starting to worry when I last saw her, looked like she was putting on weight. Any longer spent as a slave to words and she'd start turning into a butterball!"

Riku crossed his arms and tossed him a stern glare, but smirked and laughed it off, "And you wonder why everyone groans around you, brother."

"Hey its my right to speak my mind!" Mew said with a shrug.

"For better and for worse..." Riku groaned.

A car drove right by, kicking up a swift gale that sent Mew's hair into a frenzy. He patted his head down and smirked, while Riku followed the car with a grin.

Mew leaned out to take a closer look at his brother's face with a comment of, "Speaking of enjoying the peace time."

Riku flinched and his grin sheepishly vanished from view. He then slowly rubbed the back of his head while making a remark of, "Yeah, I guess I am, aren't I?"

Mew wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders and rubbed cheeks with him, grinning unbearably wide all the while, "Well good for you!"

Riku however was a little dour over this, "Its crazy how long its been since I did any real fighting."

He let out a sigh and murmured, "I missed out on Ba'al. I wasn't there to help you with Beerus..."

Mew pulled away with a big sigh and then slapped Riku on the back, making him stumble onto the road. When he backed away Mew crossed his arms and remarked, "Oh that's not your fault come on. I didn't contact you when I should have."

Mew then grinned extra bright and giggled like a hyena, "Boy I could only imagine the look on Beerus' face if we had combined our powers against him."

Riku smiled softly and remarked, "That would've been funny."

Mew paused for a while before smiling himself and tapping Riku on the shoulder, "Ah well, another day then."

He then pointed down the road, "Shall we?"

"Yeah."

Then began a peaceful stroll down the road with the early spring breeze at their backs. It was relaxing. A much needed breath of fresh air, quite literally.

After a short while Riku craned his head towards the sky and breathed deep out his nose. Mew glanced at him with his hands at the back of his head wondering, "What's up?"

Riku jerked back down muttering, "O-Oh nothing I was just...feeling a little nostalgic."

He reached up towards the clouds and whispered, "This blue sky, staring at it from afar. It reminds me of..."

He began to close his hand and groan in an uncomfortable manner, placing his fist on his chest and closing his eyes.

The stroll took a backseat for the moment so Mew could offer his brother some comforting words, "If you need to talk we can take a rest here."

Riku creaked his eyes open with a smile, "No its fine. Someday I'll tell you the rest of that story. Its just...I'm still not ready."

Mew puckered his lips and shrugged, "A'right."

He then grinned and put on a more chipper tone to lift his brother's spirits, "I really am excited to learn what worlds you went to and who you got to hang out with! Plus like, you still haven't told me how you unlocked Genesis Form."

"And so you don't get any bright ideas, I don't think I will." Riku said with a playfully smirk as he continued to walk down the road.

"Ah, party pooper!" Mew let out a "Hmph!" and then strolled after him with his hands back behind his head.

Halfway to the city itself, Riku glanced aside at Mew and asked him, "Hey uhhh, you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Mew tilted back and barked, "Shoot, go right ahead!"

Riku paused in contemplation, fiddling his fingers around in the air before averting his eyes away from Mew entirely and saying, "What do you find...attractive in a girl?"

Mew applied the brakes to his legs instantly and stared at Riku with bulged out eyes. Riku paused and slowly swiveled back, left feeling a bit flustered at his reaction.

"M-Mew...?

Mew squeezed his eyes shut, grinned, and pumped his fist triumphantly by his chest with a gasp of "Yes!"

He then trotted on up to Riku and gave him a big ol' hug, "You really are my brother!"

"W-Was that ever in question...?" Riku stammered.

Mew pulled off, gripping his brother by the shoulders and giving him a firm nod of pride. He then had them keep walking as they continued this fine, gentlemanly conversation.

"So what brought this on?" Mew asked.

"Oh I was just...thinking about it lately," Riku was shy to speak, barely raising his voice past a whisper, "I-I was reading a book recently about how our experiences early on can influence what we find-"

Mew rolled his eyes and hastily mumbled, "Blah blah blah books ok I think I get it."

Riku widened his eyes at Mew as he told him, "Lemme guess, you're feeling romantic lately?"

"S-Something like that..." Riku muttered.

"Aaaah, love has been in the air a lot these days," Mew lowered his head with a snicker, flapping his arms down by his sides, and wiggling them stiffly in place, "First Joe Dark and Alura, then Solaris seems to have a thing for Samantha...Now you've got the love bug, Riku."

Mew then tilted his head and smirked, "Before I tell you my tastes, indulge me. Describe your ideal woman, Riku."

"W-Well..." Riku looked away with a shade of red in his cheeks, "I like...tall girls."

"Tall girls eh?" Mew waved towards him and himself, "We're already six feet tall so the type of girl you like would have to be some sort of...giant."

"Yeah but despite their size...They're cuddly like a teddy bear, and smooth as marble." Riku's smile continued to grow, while Mew eyed him suspiciously.

"They...**are**?" He teased him with a grin.

Riku sprung right up and muttered, "W-Would be. My bad."

"Uh-huh..." Mew nudged his hand at him and said in a sing-song tone, "Go on."

A lump formed in Riku's neck and he gasped "R-Right" before craning his head and continuing on his way, "I think...I have an attraction to silver haired girls in particular."

"That's oddly specific." Mew said in a joking manner.

"And they'd...probably look cute with or without glasses."

It couldn't have been anymore obvious who Riku was referring to, but it was amusing to watch him try so hard to tip-toe around that after having been caught once.

Mew raised his hands behind his head and asked, "Say this person existed. How would you ask them out on a date?"

"D-Date?" Riku looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights then stared straight ahead with a huff of anguish, "I...wouldn't know the first thing about that."

"Eh, fair enough," Mew logged his brother's expression away in his memory banks and then craned his head to look up at the sky, "Now lets see...the type of girl I'd want to be with."

"Well, she's gotta be tough. Tough as me, maybe tougher, so I wouldn't have to worry about them constantly. I like spunk. The perfect girl's gotta not be afraid to speak her mind even if its to be blunt. I'd want them to look a little fit, height doesn't really matter too much. I'd take 'em short or tall, but being fit is absolutely the important part. The curvier the better but I'm not opposed to someone flat-chested. I'd like them to share a couple of my interests, doesn't matter which except well, maybe they should be a gamer. Hmmm...I guess I'd also like them to be able to make a good strawberry lemonade for me every morning if I happen to sleep in."

Mew paused for a few seconds while Riku stared at him slowly, utterly baffled as to how much thought his brother had put into this.

"Oh yeah!" Mew put finality to his speech with a snap of the fingers and a turn towards Riku, "And they gotta be good with kids."

"...How long have you been thinking about this?" Riku uttered.

"Eh I'd say roughly eight or nine months?" Mew shrugged, "I'm at that age where I think about it a lot."

"No surprise there." Riku jokingly replied.

As they finally reached the town a gas station was there to greet them. Mew stopped for a moment and then started to walk towards it saying, "I'm feeling a little thirsty."

They walked up to a soda vendor and Mew reached into his pocket to pull out a couple dollar bills, inserting them into the slot.

He then hovered his hand around the buttons while looking over his shoulder, "You want anything?"

"If they have a diet soda, sure."

Mew's features nearly slid off his face when he groaned, "Ah, weak."

But nevertheless he gave Riku what he wanted, then inserted some more money to get himself a sugar-heavy drink. It popped with a gratifying fizzle and he gulped a quarter of it down in one swallow, letting out a gasp of relief.

As the brothers continued their walk down the streets Riku was constantly staring at both him and his can. He couldn't help but make a somewhat snide remark at his tastes, "And you judge people on _their_ weight."

It was just a little good-natured ribbing, but Mew fabricated an exaggerated response by spitting up part of his drink and then rubbing the dribbling liquid onto the back of his hand.

"Oi! I ain't got nothin' to worry about here!" Mew slapped his stomach as hard he could and raised his head proudly, "I'll be fit as a fiddle for life!"

"Heh heh!" Riku resumed his drink, while Mew begin to swivel his head around to look at all the buildings.

It was a strip mall area so there was a few antique shops and small-time restaurants along the way. Nothing he wanted to waste time on though. He had a specific place in mind he wanted to visit.

After thirty minutes and a few blocks of walking and sitting later, Mew was mumbling aloud, "Where is that place...?"

"What're you looking for?" Riku chimed in.

"Nowhere," Mew nonchalantly responded but then stopped right then and there and pivoted to his right, "Ah-ha!"

He pointed up at the store sign labeled "Metalheads" and then nudged Riku twice in the hip with his elbow.

"C'mon, lets go give a certain _someone_ a hard time." Mew snickered like a gremlin and then waltzed right up through the front door while Riku shook his head with a sigh and followed.

Inside at the back sat Alura and her two co-workers, Jeff and Stewart. Alura was tuning her guitar, leaving the bozos to pick up the slack for her.

"Yo! Come on in." Jeff stated.

"Heeeeeey, Alura!" Mew ringed merrily, making the little goth perk up with surprise.

She creaked her head back and stared at him as he waved at her.

"Mew." She murmured.

Jeff sprang in his chair and then fell forward, clamping his hands on the front of his seat between his legs, "THAT'S Mew?"

Stewart leaned his head out and added, "The Legendary Perverted Couch Potato?!"

Mew's whole body suffered recoil like he'd just been flicked by the God of Destruction. He then grit his teeth and glared at Alura, who stifled a smirk his way.

Mew wagged his hand out and reprimanded the two numbskulls, "Hey, I'm no Couch Potato!"

"So you're a pervert?" Stewart waved his hands out in invitation towards him, "Welcome to the club!"

Jeff groaned aloud, "We don't need two of you around here."

"I'm not a pervert either, Thing 1 and Thing 2!" Mew yelled with his arms crossed.

"T-Thing 1 and 2?!" Jeff stuttered.

Stewart leaned into his ear and whispered, "Hey am I 1 or 2...?"

"I...don't think that matters." Jeff replied.

Mew then turned his sights on Alura with burning intent and mustered up a scowl as he told her, "Did Joe Dark set you up to this?"

"Uh uh." Alura softly shook her head, focusing more on her guitar than Mew's pesky presence.

And Mew's irritation grew to the point of a vein popping out of his forehead, "Alright you purple-haired gremlin, you've just invited the pain train to your station!"

"Mew," Alura calmly raised her head and looked him square in the eyes, "If you're not going to buy anything, then I'll have to ask you to leave."

Mew stared back then leaned his head out and shook it like a rattle, "I'm sorry what?"

Jeff waved his hand up and remarked, "Yeah its actually uhhh, store policy. We're tight on space so we don't like having loiterers."

"Its on the sign outside." Stewart interjected.

Riku patted Mew on the back and remarked, "Sorry, my brother doesn't like reading."

Mew jerked his head and let out a "Heyyy".

Alura looked back down at her guitar and remarked, "Have a nice day, Mew."

Mew jerked his head back and began to shout "Now wait just a second!" only for Alura to repeat in the exact same, stoic tone, "Have a nice day, Mew."

Mew growled like a hungry bear and then after feverishly tapping his foot on the ground for a bit he threw his hands down and relented with a groan.

"Uuuuugh fine," He approached them in a more normal manner and murmured, "Do you guys have a copy of 'Four Days on Rocky Shore' by the Yelling Bats?"

A few minutes later he was being escorted out the store by Alura with a bag in hand. She waved him off with a tiny smirk.

Mew stared into his bag as him and Riku continued further down the street, "Why do I feel like I've just been conned?"

"I don't know what you thought was going to happen, brother." Riku remarked.

Mew hung the bag on his elbow and faced him looking more than a little pissed off, "She's been on my case ever since that driving license business! I was wanting to humble her but..."

"Ugh...!" He threw his head back with a groan and then grit his teeth, hissing between them, "Little brat thinks she's got big britches just cause she's dating my brother. The nerve on her!"

"You just don't want to admit that she's got your number." Riku was quick to point out.

"Hell no!" Mew swung his head at him with a furious glare, "I'd rather fight Beerus again than admit defeat to HER."

Riku faced forward with a tiny smile and sighed, "You should be happy for her, she's finally settling in to around here."

"Yeah yeah..." Mew crossed his arms in a huff, "But I get this bad feeling that she's being fed the wrong idea of what qualifies as 'normal'. Uuuugh, that girl's gonna be a real pain in the keister one day."

Mew stewed in his defeat for a bit while they enjoyed a stroll through the quiet city. That silence was broken when he came up with another brilliant idea, punctuated by the snap of his fingers.

"I got it!" Mew turned to Riku and suggested, "While we're in the area, why don't we go pay Joe Dark a visit?"

Riku leaned a hand against his hip and groaned, "Don't bug him during work..."

Mew shook his head vehemently in denial, "Nah nothing like that."

He then waved his hand forward and started walking towards the local Safeway, "Follow me."

They walked through the front doors and Mew peered around, stopping towards the cashiers lined up one after another. It wasn't very busy this time of day so Joe Dark's super black hair stood out like a sore thumb.

And since he had no one in line Mew felt free to waltz right on up and say "Hey, bro!" which left Joe Dark's stomach curling and his skin paler in seconds.

"Oh no." He moaned as Mew stopped and leaned against the cash register, propping himself up with one arm.

"So, how's the customer rush going to-"

"Mew please I swear to god, please leave now." Joe Dark insisted with all the kindness his dedication to customer service could muster.

Mew stared with his fluttering whites and then pulled away, waving his hand up and remarking, "I was just gonna invite you out to lunch."

Joe Dark stared back, Mew properly crossed his arms and telling him with a smile, "My treat."

Joe Dark released all his pent-up stress in one massive sigh and groaned tiredly back at him, "I get a break in a half-hour..."

"Awesome! We'll see you then!" So Mew and Riku decided to wait outside the store, chatting about the type of groceries people ferried out until finally, Joe Dark strolled out looking like he had just finished carrying the world on his back.

He undid his tie and stuffed in his pocket with great disdain, then looked to Mew with his eyes half open and remarked, "So where were you planning to go?"

"Good ol' Maccas." Mew replied, with Joe Dark giving him a ghastly stare back.

"You know, Mickey Ds?"

Joe Dark continued to stare.

"...McDonalds." Mew relented.

"Oh," Joe Dark said, coming across more like Alura in her more ignorant moments, "Fuck it that actually sounds pretty good right now. Lets go."

One trip to the golden arches across the street later, the three brothers took a seat at one of their outdoor benches and unfurled their respective burgers from their cheap plastic wrappings.

Joe Dark chomped down on his Big Mac and chewed it for a long while before swallowing with a satisfied gulp. Mew meanwhile dipped his fries in BBQ sauce and stuffed them into his mouth with his palm.

Riku, being Riku, had ordered a salad and a few chicken nuggets.

"This is so good...!" Joe Dark moaned ever so slightly.

Mew raised a brow awkwardly towards him, "Don't get anything on the seat there, bro..."

Joe Dark puckered his stuffed lips and then swallowed another bite. His scowl was temporary, and with his burger laid down he patted his mouth dry with his napkin and said, "So what are you guys doing here anyways?"

"Nothing much." Mew shrugged.

"Just decided to go for a walk." Riku added.

"Yes, because I suppose that's your freedom to do so..." Joe Dark sighed and then drank up a big chunk of his milkshake in one stress-induced gulp.

He slapped the cup down with a sigh and Mew chimed in cautiously to tell him, "Joe I'm seriously worried for your mental health lately."

Joe Dark eyed him with intense, crimson hate and groaned, "I'm perfectly peachy, Mew."

Mew wagged his hands up and muttered, "Whatever, I just don't want to have to defeat you again when you have a breakdown."

Joe Dark stiffened upright looking utterly baffled, "When have you EVER beaten me?"

"What? I totally..." Mew crossed his arms and started spacing out for a while there, "...Have I never beaten you?"

"I think you're the only one of us who hasn't." Riku remarked.

"Well shit!" Mew brushed his hand out towards Joe Dark and told him, "That settles it, we're having a rematch on the moon this weekend!"

"That'll be a hard no from me," Joe Dark groaned with his grip firmly on his milkshake, "I could give less than half a shit about that now."

Mew settled down in a huff and remarked, "Are you just not gonna fight anymore? Like, at all...?"

Joe Dark stared at him and blurted out, "I never said that. When the chips are down I'll be there, you can be damn sure of that. But I got other shit to worry about..."

"Oh yeah," Mew smirked, "Like tending to your clingy new girlfriend."

Joe Dark's eyes ramped up their intensity to solar flare levels while his voice remained as cold as the coldest ice, "Mind repeating that, Mew?"

Mew flinched but was too busy yucking it up to care. Riku, however, broke them up with a cough and then remarked, "You mean preparing to become President, right?"

Joe Dark settled down by taking a deep breath and sighing, "Yes. That."

He projected a vacant stare down at the table as he spoke, "I have to keep doing my best at work to climb the ranks so I can even become rich enough to fund my campaign. Then I have to actually come up with a good campaign slogan and prepare speeches to convince the public I'm worth voting for. And who's to say I'll even get my policies through once I get into office...?"

The mood went south and Mew looked at his brother without a hint of a smile. Joe Dark shook his head slowly and his gaze turned towards the empty spot on their benches, "But I have to do it. So there can be a world that people like him could have lived in..."

"..." Mew closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer to their lost brother.

He then clapped his hands, shocking Joe Dark and Riku upright, and picked up his own Big Mac in one hand, "Say, do you think Alex liked Big Macs?"

Joe Dark slowly blinked at him before letting out a dry chuckle and remarking, "Probably."

As Mew took a bite from his burger he glanced aside at Riku and said, "You're the odd one out here."

"I just don't really see the appeal of fast food." Riku replied.

"Ah you just haven't found the type you like yet!" Mew playfully nudged him in the shoulder, "Next week I'll take you to a Taco Bell or something."

"Ha ha ha...!" Joe Dark laughed with genuine enthusiasm, leading Mew to stare at him all fearful for his life.

"Y-You ok?" Mew replied.

"...I'm going to miss moments like this once I take the oath at the Oval Office." He mumbled dryly.

Mew crossed his arms and looked at him with a puzzled stare, "Why...does it have to stop? Can't you just invoke some sort of Presidential power to get out for a bit and have lunch with us?"

"I think he means if both of us end up getting jobs of our own one day," Riku said, forcing himself to be the bearer of bad news, "That'll make it hard to align our schedules for this sort of thing."

Mew flopped into his seat with his arms crossed and with a mutter of "Oh yeah" he leaned back almost out of his seat and grumbled.

He then threw his arms up and shouted nonchalantly, "Bah who cares about that! We'll manage it some how!"

"Brother..." Riku groaned.

"If it was anyone else saying it I'd call them stupid," Joe Dark interjected, letting out a huge sigh, "But somehow you manage to make everything you try work out..."

Mew waved his hand out towards him while looking at Riku, "See? He understands! You just got to believe!"

Riku shook his smiling head and went back to his meal for a little bit. As did the other two. Then after a few more scrumptuous bites of his burger, Joe Dark looked at them and asked, "Have either of you been thinking about work at all?"

Riku set his fork down and pondered aloud, "I've been considering going job hunting lately, just to be safe in the future."

"Huh?" Mew tilted his head quietly and then looked at Joe Dark with his arms crossed, "Jobs? Well...Actually, I think I might know what I want to do when I'm older."

"Oh yeah?" Joe Dark took sincere interest in what he had to say.

Mew thrust a thumbs-up at Joe Dark and declared with great enthusiasm, "I'm going to become a race car driver!"

Joe Dark's expression fell into a depressive slump as him AND Riku let out a collective groan. Mew shifted his gaze to them both while rapid-firing "What what what".

"Wasn't it bad enough when you threatened the people on that freeway?" Joe Dark grumbled.

"I-I mean, I understand why you'd want to do that. But **why**?" Riku followed.

"Gee, thanks for the support..." Mew leaned back and waved his hand up beside his face, "Face it guys, I ain't cut out for any sort of office work."

He pretended to grip a wheel firmly before him with the tip of his tongue sticking out, "I got to do something that really gets my adrenaline PUMPING. All speed, no brakes! And hell, my powers won't give an advantage in racing too."

Joe Dark, between sips in his milkshake, remarked in a humored tone, "Who would be crazy enough to hire you?"

"Oh yeah wise guy?" Mew crossed his arms back up tight and exclaimed, "Lets make it a race then! Whoever gets their job first wins!"

Joe Dark settled his empty cup down and laughed, "Forget it, that's a fight I'd definitely lose."

The three shared a laugh and then wrapped up their meals seeing as Joe Dark's break time was just about to end.

After seeing him off Mew and Riku resumed their walk through the town with a peaceful look in their eyes.

"Who'd have ever thought we'd be eating burgers with Joe Dark, eh?" Mew said.

"He's...settled down, to say the least?" Riku was hesitant to commit to.

"I mean comparing him now to back then is like comparing apples and lemons."

"You mean apples and or-"

"I know what I said!" Mew threw his hands up in defeat.

Riku smiled, "Everyone's settled down nicely into our group."

He then stopped and faced Mew, who did the same, "And its all because of you."

Mew tilted his head and went "Huh?" as Riku put his mechanical hand onto his shoulder and looked him right in the eyes.

"All of us came to this world broken or beaten, but somehow...You were the glue that put us back together again."

Mew couldn't help but snicker at his choice of words, "W-What's with that cheesy speech all of a sudden...?"

Riku continued to smile unimpeded as he told him, "I just want you to know how appreciated you are."

Mew's gaze began to turn away and he pulled Riku's hand off gently, giving off this sort of half-hearted smirk as he replied, "I... was never really worried about that, Riku."

"No, look at me," Riku insisted and Mew felt compelled to comply, "Now say that again."

"..." Mew instead closed his eyes partway and shook his head, "Riku..."

"You're not a bad person just because people call you stupid or lazy," Riku told him in earnest, "You're so much more than that. You're kind, determined, caring. And you've never had to prove that to anyone but yourself."

"...Is this why you wanted to have this walk?" Mew gave a dry chuckle, "So you could build up the courage to cheer me up after what happened with Beerus?"

"...Actually," Riku retracted his hand and laid it flat against his chest, "This...this isn't what I needed to build up the courage too."

He closed his eyes and his smile, so soft and warm, spread across his trembling face, "B-But, I'm glad I finally got to tell you just how thankful I am that you're around."

Mew looked at his brother's face and saw his normally stoic demeanor unraveling. With such timidity in his expression he looked prepared to confess something terrifying to him, and him alone.

"Mew, I..." Riku let out a deep gulp and forced his head up, water in his eyes, "There's...there's...there's something I need to tell you about me and-"

"_Can you hear me?"_

Suddenly the palpable tension broke with Auris' tender voice in their heads. The two looked around completely baffled until the motherly saged imparted some clarity to their clouded thoughts.

"_Oh good, you're both together. I need you both to hurry to Sancturia now."_

"Auris?" Mew murmured, recognizing the urgency in her voice, "What's going on?"

"_Its Shina," _She said, her second pause lasting an eternity in their minds, _"Her water broke. She's having her baby."_

Mew and Riku's glares froze towards one another and Riku, unfurling his hand, began to stutter, "W-We'll pick this back up later. Lets go!"

Mew gave a firm nod excitedly and with a shout of "Right!" they quickly headed out of town and then rocketed towards the sky undetected, making a beeline for Sancturia...

_Next Time: Last Stop_


	79. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78: Tomorrow Never Comes Easy**

Mew and Riku made a beeline for Sancturia and then started running around the city looking for a hospital closest to the Aurora household.

Mew was pretty excited about this, thinking to himself, _"Oh boy Shina's finally having her baby! I can't wait to see them. Are they going to look just like Alex, or her? I wonder how strong they'll be! Oh many, I'm practically sweating with excitement here!"_

They finally found the general hospital somewhere wedged between the south end of the city and the center and rushed inside, Mew pushing through the line to get to the front counter.

The front desk lady was taken aback by Mew's blatant enthusiasm and asked of him, "C-Can I help you sir?"

"Yeah I'm here for Shina Aurora! She's here having a baby!" Mew said, grinning from ear-to-ear.

The lady put down her phone and stared at him like a lunatic which, if we're being fair, is the right call to make right now.

"Oh, let me guess, you must be one of the...Elemental Overlords, right?" She inquired in a rather sharp-tongued way.

"Yep!" Mew bobbed his head vigorously, "I'm the kids' god-errr, uncle! Uncle! Yeah!"

"Well Shina Aurora's not here. We don't handle pregnancies at this facility," The lady turned away back to her phone and the brushed the bottom of her right hand out, "Now run along, you're holding up the line."

"Whaaaa?" Mew's jaw slacked completely dumbfounded and he backed out of the line to catch up with Riku, giving him a puzzled glance, "They say they don't handle pregnancies here."

"Is there another building we have to go to?" Riku asked.

"Possibly? Maybe we ought to see if Auris is still at home packing and ask her."

"_Where the hell are you?!" _Auris' voice suddenly went blaring into both their heads.

"Oh hey, perfect timing," Mew took the matter in stride and put a hand to the side of his head to reply, "Auris, we need to fin-"

"_You know how to get to our house! Are you taking a scenic detour at this crucial moment?!"_

Mew flinched and responded with his eyes wide-open, "Uhhh, no? We're trying to find the hospital Shina's at. You guys are still at home though?"

"_..." _Suddenly there were groans of frustration heard on the other side and Auris mumbled apologetically, _"Forgive me, sometimes I forget you're not accustomed to our way of living." _

Mew fluttered his eyes until Auris told him, _"Just get to our house and Gabriel will explain."_

"_AAAAAAAAAAH!" _

Mew and Riku recoiled as they heard a painful, gut-wrenching scream in the background.

"_I am very, VERY preoccupied." _Worn down and a little angry, Auris cut the line right then and there.

"Holy shit..." Mew's skin turned a little pale as his mouth ran off on its own tirade of panic, "Was that...the sounds of childbirth?!"

Everyone presently in the lobby let out a collective groan, a couple screaming "GET OUT!" to which Riku complied by grabbing Mew by the arm and dragging him out.

The brothers then sped straight towards the Aurora household and shoved through the front door like a pair of wild bulls. Mew stumbled into the living room and announced his presence, "Alright, we're here!"

"Not so loud you two." Gabriel entered from the kitchen carrying a glass of water that he drank from.

"Ah, there you are, Gabriel!" Mew wasted no time and leaped over both couches to get to him, Riku taking the more normal route around them.

"So what's going on with the pregnancy? Auris was kind of vague about it."

Suddenly the whole ceiling rattled and dislodged dust on top of their heads. Mew bent down in a grimace and stared up at the ceiling wondering, "And while we're at it, what's up with the racket?"

"Yes well, come," Gabriel withdrew his glass to his side and then wandered around to the couch, "Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss."

Mew and Riku sat down opposite of him as he finished his glass, his green skin glistening with sweat. He let out a hefty sigh and then sank into the cushion, making the couch creak.

Another wail came from upstairs, this time inflicting the fear of God into Mew's soul, "I-Is that SHINA?!"

"Yes, it is." Gabriel spoke without hesitation.

Mew's eyes bulged but it was Riku who commented on their shared surprise, "She's having the baby here?"

"Is that SAFE?" Mew gagged a little at the thought, "Or...sanitary?"

"Do not worry yourselves over the baby's well-being. This is normal for Aurians," Gabriel satiated their concerns for the time being, offering little more than the basics of what's going down for the time being, "Bloodlines are connected both physically and spiritually. During the birthing process a newborn would feel uncomfortable if in the presence of a stranger's aura. Thus, someone from the same bloodline is tasked with guiding the newborn out of the cervix."

"So random doctors are a no-go eh?" Mew nodded in an understanding fashion, "Makes sense to me. I just hope Auris is up to it..."

Gabriel smiled warmly, "She's had plenty of experience. I could think of no one more qualified."

Another scream came from up above and even Gabriel joined in the frightful expressions. He settled down the fastest with a couple of dry coughs, then proceeded to take his glass back to the kitchen for a refill.

Mew leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling, which rattled from Shina's struggles with labor, and presumably Auris' attempts to keep her calm.

"Thank god there's like a wall of steel between these floors..." Mew sat in unease with every noise he heard from up above.

He leaned out and bridged his hands underneath his chin. His skin, riddled with goosebumps, began to exude sweat after just a few minutes.

He glanced aside at his quiet brother and cracked a joke, "Ha, good thing Alex didn't make us into girls, huh?"

Riku's brows arched and he growled at him, "Brother could you please just shut up for once?"

Mew scooted away slowly and noticed that Riku seemed to be on edge. His skin was white as a sheet and he was trembling all over.

Mew was on the precipice of asking what was up when he clamped his lips shut and looked away, feeling unsafe to prod the lion's den.

Finally Gabriel returned with a plate of glasses, one for each of them. He lamented the situation with a fair bit of advice, "Prepare to drink a lot of water. We'll be here a while."

Mew drank from his cup immediately but Riku didn't even budge, staring at the glass with a cold, quiet look on his face.

Mew eyed him and asked, "Is everything ok?"

Riku remained motionless, save for when the sounds up above forced his body to squirm. Mew tipped his glass against his lips then took another heavy drink, setting it back on the table.

He then looked to Gabriel to help kill any sense of awkwardness in the air, "Sooo uhhh..."

Gabriel didn't respond either. So Mew let out a couple rough coughs and he raised his head, his attention more than grabbed.

"Does Kairi know what's going on?"

"She's been made aware and has been allowed to leave school early," Gabriel assured him, "But I imagine she's making sure that someone will watch over Maria until this is over."

Mew bobbed his head and remarked, "Good call. She's too young to be exposed to this."

His eyes then widened and he snapped his fingers up by his face, "Oh! I should probably get in contact with the others."

"Yes, I can imagine they'd want to be here for this." Gabriel remarked.

"Especially Joe! He's about to be an Uncle!" Mew had a bright smile at the thought before it slowly dawned on him that, "...Oh wait, shoot! Him and Alura still got to be at work for a few hours. He's totally going to miss this!"

"Ha ha, I get the feeling he wouldn't enjoy the noise," Gabriel said with a wry chuckle, "Still, probably for the best if you let him know anyways. So he'll be here to see the baby afterwards."

"Alright. I'll do that," Mew then turned to Riku and tried to pry some semblance of life out of him, "Hey do you know how to get in contact with Lunis?"

Riku turned his head a little and murmured, "S-Sorry, I don't."

Mew spat in disbelief then turned to Gabriel, who stood up and made a kindly gesture towards the two of them, "Fear not. I just so happen to have Solaris' number on hand. Leave them to me...Assuming he doesn't try and hang up."

Gabriel bemoaned with a sigh and then made his way back towards the kitchen to handle the phone calls. In this brief respite Mew sat back down and fiddled his fingers around together, staring up at the ceiling as more dust became dislodged from it.

His heart started to flutter. The mood was benign at the moment but there was no doubt that anxiety weighed on everyone's minds.

He craned his head back and tried to keep Shina's health in his thoughts, hoping it'd help give her and the baby strength to carry on.

"_Maybe I should go up and try to help...?" _He curbed that thought immediately, _"No, I don't have a place there."_

He thought about how the baby might be doing. If its breathing, crying, or struggling to wiggle free. He didn't really know a lot about how this worked and, even if he did, a human's way of handling pregnancies seemed to have no place here.

With Gabriel off the phone and back in his seat before him, Mew looked him in the eyes and began to open his mouth when suddenly...

"Ha...! Ha...! HA!" Kairi could be heard panting louder and louder behind him until finally, she burst right through the door shouting at the top of her lungs, "WHERE IS SHE?!"

She slapped her hand against the door frame as Mew turned back, paralyzed with fear. Her body was dripping with sweat and her pupils as tiny as beads.

With an uneasy raise of the hand Gabriel pointed upstairs and Kairi immediately dashed for them, ignoring the man's warning of "But I wouldn't go up there".

Like an ancient evil awakening from its tomb, a piercing wail was unleashed upon the group as Kairi forced open the door.

"SIS, GET OUUUUUTTT!" Screamed Shina, shunning Kairi with an intense mixture of pain, pleasure, and tears.

Kairi slammed the door and slowly, but surely, inched her way down the stairs with her face a fluorescent shade of pink.

She dragged her feet over to Gabriel's couch, and plopped down beside him, sinking into the soft, supple leather until stopped by the table before her.

Gabriel brought her closer for comfort and Kairi held her hands against his chest, staring off into the distance, unable to say a word.

Mew waited a half-hour for Kairi to settle down and relax more comfortably in her seat. Still shaken, as evidenced by her saying "I-I'll be fine", she nevertheless took a deep breath and focused on calming her beating heart.

"I'll go get us some more water." Gabriel excused himself for the time being, leaving Mew and Kairi practically all alone to have a little heart-to-heart.

Mew leaned up from his couch with a chuckle and a grin, telling her nonchalantly, "Excited?"

"Nervous..." Kairi sandwiched her fist between her chest and huffed out a sigh, "She just looked so...uncomfortable up there. Her face was red, her body was sweating, her legs were locked up and mom was all bent over her with plastic gloves and all this liquid was spilling out and-"

Mew snapped his fingers to stop her mad ranting then looked her square in the eyes to say, "Settle down. Everything's going to be ok. Your mom's got this."

Kairi stared back completely aghast and stuttered, "E-Easy for you to say, you're not the one having the baby...!"

"And neither are you," Mew said in a rare moment of wisdom, "Your sister wouldn't want you to share her pain. Just think positively and she'll get through it fine."

"...Y-You're right," Kairi mumbled, raising her head to let out a certain declaration of, "But I will never, EVER go through childbirth myself!"

"Don't say that now." Mew said with a dry chuckle, earning him a hot glare from Kairi's right eye that forced him into a retreat.

Gabriel returned right after with more drinks to dish out to all of them. He then looked towards Mew and said, "Ah yes I almost forgot. Lunis said she'll be here within the hour."

"Oh, good!" Mew let off a celebratory clap, but then it dawned on him, "Though, hopefully she won't get squeamish."

"Hmmm, that could be a problem..." Gabriel bemoaned.

"Hopefully this doesn't scare her..." Riku whispered timidly under his breath, and began to fiddle his fingers around in much a manner similar to how Mew was moments ago.

Mew stared at him momentarily and then back to Gabriel, "Oh yeah speaking of stuff almost getting forgotten, I wanted to ask..."

Gabriel poked his head up and said, "Have some more questions about childbirth?"

"Yeah actually," Mew bobbed his head and then pointed up at the ceiling, "Now uhhhh, I ain't no expert on the subject but uhhh..."

As if on cue the ceiling rattled extra hard and Mew grimaced painfully, "Is that...supposed to be happening?"

Gabriel rubbed his chin and told him, "Would you believe me if I said this is pretty light, all things considered?"

Mew AND Kairi's jaws went agape and for a brief moment it looked like Gabriel wasn't going to continue onward out of concern that he'd break their poor young minds.

Mew, however, gestured his hand out and continued feeding him reasons not to stop, "So this screaming, home-shaking stuff is...normal."

"Oh yes, absolutely," Gabriel stated in stride, but then eyed Mew with a sincere look of doubt on his face, "I do not wish to make you ill. If I continue, it'll get very graphic. I can already imagine your mind has painted a painful image of what's happening to poor Shina."

"T-Tell him!" Kairi suddenly blurted out, "I want to know sis' going to be ok!"

Gabriel bowed his head and then took a stand, "Very well you two."

He then began to pace around the couches as he imparted his expertise, maturing the two's minds with talks of the nature of birth and life among Aurians.

"When I said childbirth is more spiritual than that of a human's, there were more layers to it than what I mentioned at the time. Remember back when you first learned that Shina was pregnant, and you were concerned about the baby's well-being?"

Mew raised his hand and remarked, "Oh yeah, and Auris mentioned how there's a delay in conception?"

"Yes, and it relates to the pain Shina is suffering through now," Gabriel's tone went somber as he mustered up the courage to continue, his eyes closed throughout, "All Aurian life begins with Aura, and ends in Aura. We are given life, so it can be returned at the end of days, and given to another."

He gestured his hand out towards Kairi, her wrist in particular, "You are not the first to wield the Beast Tamer Drive, Kairi. Nor am I the first to wield my Nature Drive."

As Kairi stared at her bracelet, he continued on his way, "Before the embryo fully forms, it forms a protective cocoon of aura around its parents' womb, attaching itself much like a spider does to its egg sac. Then, through that physical bond, the embryo directly connects with the Aura via its parents' pre-established bond. The Aura then observes the child and decides what Drive or Drives it shall one-day wield."

"So when they die, their Drives can be recycled?" Mew inquired.

"Exactly," Gabriel waved his hand up and remarked, "Some day when I pass, my Drive will be wielded by another. Maybe that person will be a descendant of yours, Kairi. Or perhaps one of Shina's. Someday, you could even wind up having a child that inherits a Drive long unused since ancient times."

"Oh cool," Mew started grinning, "I wonder what Drive Shina's kid is going to get!"

"That's not necessarily a guarantee, Mew." Gabriel said, taking on a more firm tone of voice.

Kairi sprung her head up muttering, "T-There can't be complications...can there?"

Gabriel rubbed his chin and hummed, thinking best how to approach this topic, "Nothing of a harmful sort, that much I can assure you. But given who the father is, well..."

"Alex did something to her child...?!" Kairi was quick to anger, just as Gabriel was quick to quell it.

"Possibly, but let me explain..." Gabriel opened one eye towards her and recollected what he knew, "There was one instance in the past of an Aurian having a child with someone from the Elemental Tribes. That child had no capability to wield a Drive of her own. Its entirely possible that the Aura interprets any outside blood as an invader and weakens the child as to not let its power be shared by those it deems unworthy."

"But Alex had Aurian blood from his parents so it should be fine, yeah?" Mew remarked.

"You forget that your father was from the Elemental Tribes, and Alex nor Joe Dark have a Drive to call their own." Gabriel countered with.

He then looked at Kairi and told her gently, "As Catherine would say, there's not enough information available to substantiate this theory. But rest assured, Alex's involvement shouldn't have harmed the baby."

Kairi settled slowly into the couch.

"...Now where was I?" Gabriel got them back on track with the grace of a swan, "Ah, right. So now that you understand how close Aurians are during conception, there's the matter of the actual birthing process."

"Yeah, I think I get it so far..." Mew puckered his lips and thought to himself, _"Though I wouldn't really call it graphic..."_

Gabriel closed his eyes and rubbed his beard, "Over time the shell protecting the baby grows as it does...But it never breaks on its own. This goes back to what I said about childbirth requiring a familial bond. If the shell does not recognize the bloodline's aura, it will collapse upon the baby and crush it."

Mew's heart skipped a beat and he felt sick to his stomach, putting a hand before his mouth prematurely.

Gabriel continued nevertheless. This is what they demanded of him after all, so they must live with the consequences.

"And even when the bloodline is recognized, the person must reach into the cervix and slowly dismantle the shell by hand, moving their hands carefully around the womb until there is enough room for the baby to start wiggling free."

"A-And then after that its...just like normal childbirth, huh?" Mew said, half-heartedly laughing, "With all the...gooey, sticky stuff that comes with it...?"

"Yes, all the placenta and blood must be em-"

"AH! Please stop! Please please please for the love of god STOP!" Kairi threw her head between her knees and slammed her hands against her ears, "I heard enough! Never having a child! Never! Ever! EVER!"

Mew blinked a couple times and then him and Gabriel stared at each other for a good long while. Then Mew gestured at him with one last question, "So how does this work with twins...?"

Kairi threw her head up face red as a beet and screamed through her scowling teeth, "Don't. Encourage him!"

Mew sheepishly retracted against the couch and crossed his arms, resting his heels up on the table. Gabriel then sat back down, or rather, tried to, before the thick tension between him and Kairi made it impossible for either to bear and he made the sacrifice to stay standing.

Now nobody wanted to talk, cause there was nothing left to say, and the mood didn't call for idle chatter. They all sat still with their respective thoughts kept cleanly in their heads.

The struggles kept coming from up above. Shina was tough. But this was too much for her to bear.

Yet this would be the last pain she'd ever have to suffer, before she'd finally be able to truly enjoy happiness. The baby's face may remind her of Alex, but there will always be happy memories to go with the sad ones.

The baby's life is proof that Alex was alive. That he did something positive, made an impact on someone else's life.

Mew clasped his hands together and stared up to the ceiling in prayer, his heart beating loudly against his chest.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, but the noise began to subside upstairs.

Everyone craned their head back and stared.

Utter silence. Not a word between them.

Shina was quiet. Auris was quiet.

Mew felt a terrible unease welling in the pit of his stomach for a brief moment. A disturbance coming from the room above...

This wasn't the baby...was it?

There were cries coming from above. They started out soft, then began to slowly get louder.

There was only one person crying.

It was not a cry of joy.

Footsteps came from the stairs. Mew hesitated to turn his head towards it, and watch Auris slowly walk her way down.

Her eyes were closed but her face looked tired. There were stains all over her robe and hair and her skin looked pale and discolored.

She stopped at the last step and gripped the edge of the railing.

Kairi stood up, gripping her fists tightly against her chest, her mouth mid-gasp.

Auris stared at her, unable to maintain eye contact for long. She closed her eyes, and with a tiny frown, began to shake her head.

Kairi lost all color in her face and scrambled to the stairs without saying another word. Then she was lost to the darkness, and the misery that awaited her beyond it.

Gabriel rose with a terrifying creak and walked towards the stairs like a lumbering zombie, putting his hand on Auris' shoulder and offering only his melancholic sigh.

Then Auris looked towards Mew and his blank, emotionless face. Her eyelids creaked open quietly, like she wanted to say "I'm sorry", only for her to retreat back upstairs.

Mew collapsed upon himself inward and outward, sliding back against the rough surface of the couch and staring up towards the ceiling.

Shina's cries echoed in his ears, and damned his soul.

"_Why...?" _He asked, as any normal person would, _"This...this is a joke, right?" _

The sun was shimmering brightly outside, yet this world was so dark and cold.

Mew denied the absurdity of this moment as fantasy, an illusion. Surely he could attribute this tragedy to some villain he could punch.

But this was simply what life had the power to deliver upon the world.

For every death, there is birth.

For every birth, there is death.

There were some things that could only be explained in rational terms, even if the act in of itself was mean-spirited and cruel.

And Shina was just, yet again, another victim of this cruel, logical world.

Mew held his hands against his face and felt like he had to scream. No tears welled up on his face, no matter how much his chest hurt.

He just wanted the crying to stop. He wanted to wake up to a happy world. But that wasn't possible anymore. This was his present. Misery was **her** future.

He slowly peeled his hands off his face as the crying began to subside. It was only a momentary absence of the sound. Shina was simply too exhausted to keep this going for now.

Mew slammed the back of his head against the head of the couch and muttered frustratingly, "This is bullshit...!"

He looked to his left and his brother was still there, somehow maintaining that same tense, contemplative pose, his skin even whiter than it was moments ago.

Finally, his first words in a long while came out, "Shina's child didn't make it..."

He bridged his hands over his eyebrows to cover his face, letting out a panicked groan of, "God...if that were to happen to Lunis too, I..."

Mew's heart skipped a beat as he began to stare at his brother, looking at him in a new, puzzled light.

"What...what did you just say, Riku?"

Riku withdrew his hands from his face and stared at Mew with his eyes wobbling, like he couldn't reconcile the fact that his thoughts just overpowered his voice.

Mew wasn't a fool this time. In hindsight, Riku had been dropping a lot of hints throughout the day that something of this nature was going on. This final slip of the tongue was the nail in the coffin.

Mew cautiously reached out towards Riku and put it all together in one inquiry, "Riku, did you and Lunis...?"

"I...I did..." Riku stared blankly towards an abyss of utter regret and forced a smile, "God help me, I did..."

Mew's stomach curled, a conflict of emotions ranging from happiness to sadness duking it out inside. On one hand, he wasn't mad at his brother. But...was now really the time to congratulate him either? Not even Riku seemed to think so.

Mew had questions, first and foremost, "...When?"

Riku craned his head back to look at the ceiling, "It was Christmas Eve. She had just finished confessing her love to me and I...I wasn't confident enough to admit my feelings back."

He turned away, rubbing the back of his head with a strained sense of amusement at his predicament, "She...she kissed me on the lips and all of a sudden its like my mind just..."

He gripped onto what little hair he had and said through a bitter scowl, "We lost control of ourselves. **I**, lost control of myself...Its like my body wouldn't respond to a single thing I wanted it to do. We wrapped each other up in our embrace and by the time we were aware of our surroundings again, it was morning. We had had sex throughout the entire night."

"Tsk...! And the next thing we knew, Lunis was pregnant." Riku's entire explanation was wracked with guilt, the worst it had ever gotten for him.

But Mew hung his head and could barely contain his happiness for the two. He smiled, and a few words were let slip free, "T-That's great though. I mean...you do love her, right?"

"Of course I do!" Riku turned back around and lashed his hand out at Mew, "I would never abandon her or my daughter!"

Mew's eyes brightened and he truly couldn't contain his excitement now, "I-Its going to be a girl?!"

Riku forced his hand over Mew's mouth and told him, "K-Keep it down! I don't want anyone else here to find out yet!"

Riku slowly peeled his hand away and drooped his arms down with a sigh, "Yes, its going to be a girl...She'll be due in six months...Hopefully."

His head turned away, his tone tinged with melancholy.

"Riku..." Mew worried for his brother. What happened to Shina was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to his mental state.

"...Who else does know besides me?" Mew murmured.

"Solaris and Samantha. She picked up on it instantly..." Riku replied, all color flushed from his face.

"Well I don't think you'll be able to keep it a secret for much longer." Mew told him with sincere honesty.

"I-I know that but...!" Riku stopped and began to tremble. He stared Mew right in the eyes, leaving him with a sinking feeling in his chest as Riku uttered with the frailty and vulnerability of a child, "Mew...I'm scared."

"..." Mew silently reached out to pat his brother on the shoulder and tell him, "I think you'll make a great dad."

Riku laid his hand on his and murmured, "If I even get a chance to..."

Mew pulled his head back and Riku let his hand go.

"I've spent countless nights lately lying awake and thinking about what Justek told us about the 'higher-ups'," Riku bridged his hands below his tired eyes, "And now between Lunis' pregnancy and what happened between you and Beerus I find myself wondering 'How long are we safe for?'"

"We've kept the planet safe for now but eventually there could be an evil that we can't stop...Or those 'higher-ups' may choose to wipe us out in the blink of an eye. I could train day and night from here until the baby's born and still not be strong enough...!"

"Does that sound fair, Mew...? To bring her into a world where she might not be able to live a full life? Or one where her father might die before she reaches her first birthday?" Riku's whole body trembled, his eyes caving in with an unsettling unease as he looked prepared to cry, "I just want what's best for my family, but how can I protect them if I can never be stronger than an enemy we've never even seen?!"

He suddenly lashed out, clinging desperately to Mew's shoulder with his bitter ridden face pleading to him, "Please Mew, I need you to tell me there's something we can do! Give me some hope, any hope!"

He pushed his teary eyes against Mew's chest and whimpered out, "I-I just want my daughter to be able to smile every morning..."

Mew was paralyzed from head-to-toe, his hid mind echoing the same frustration he felt earlier, _"This is bullshit...!" _

He stared at his brother's head and felt the weight of his misery pressing against his heart by the tons.

"_What was I thinking? We were never going to be able to ignore this..." _He patted Riku on the back of the head and held him in closer, _"We'll never know true peace while the 'higher-ups' shadow lingers. Something has to change...No matter the cost."_

He drifted away from Riku and stood up, turning his back towards him and giving his aching muscles a bit of a stretch, ending by grabbing the back of his neck and cricking his head around.

Riku laid on the couch with his tears dripping onto the leather and mumbled, "B-Brother...?"

"Haaaaa..." Mew tucked his hands in his pockets and remarked, "Sorry Riku, there's something I got to do on my own."

"W-What?" Riku wondered.

Mew looked over his shoulder with a partway confident smile and said, "I'm going to break a promise."

He then made his way for the stairs, his heart and feet as heavy as iron...

**STORY 10: In Times of Peace END**

**NEXT: Final Chronicle: For the Sake of Tomorrow's Dawn**


	80. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79: On a Witch Hunt**

Mew took his time climbing the stairs to the second floor. The length of them currently reminded him of the time it took to get to the top of the Pyramid. And thinking about it, it was surprising that those events only happened not even a year ago.

And that's roughly the same amount of time he's known Auris. He's seen every side of her. The cold, rough, uncaring clairvoyant. The firm, headstrong and caring mother. The pleading, desperate, and longing wife. These were all the same person, wearing difference masks depending on what she was dealing with at the given moment.

But today she was the caring mother. Now more than ever she needed to be strong for her daughter, whose cries continued to penetrate the walls and floor and made Mew hesitate in his advance.

They weren't as loud as before, but that's because Shina was still at her core only human. She lost her strength, regained it, and cried some more. Until her lungs collapsed and she fell asleep, she'd keep crying, and then wake up to cry some more.

Mew stopped at the very final step, staring down into an abyss separating him from the second floor. Behind him darkness had crept up and swallowed the way back. Essentially telling him "You can't go back".

And he laughed. Dryly.

Mocking the very concept of hesitation, he took the next step forward, even as his whole body trembled to resist him. This was the path he had chosen. Always moving forward, never moving back.

He never would've been able to look Riku in the eyes again if he made a big hurrah out of this moment, only to climb back down and take a seat on the couch like it was any other day.

He stood face-to-face with the door to Shina's room. She was taking a break from mourning the loss of her baby. Mew raised his hand to knock on the door, then curled it up back to his chest almost immediately.

"_'Hey Auris, can we talk?' Yeah, that'd be smooth..." _Mew took a deep breath and paused to think, _"'Auris, do you have a moment?' No, that's not right either."_

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, _"There's no good way to say this." _

Suddenly the door creaked open, making Mew's heart jump in his chest as Auris pulled herself out of the room, taking a brief moment to stare back in with a frown. Her cheeks were damp and the redness in her eyes was being forced back against her will.

She silently shut the door, leaning against it while exhausting a tired huff of air from her lungs.

Only once she began to peer her eyes open did Mew stiffen up and look at her back. She stared at him, long and softly, waiting for him to make the first move.

He hesitated, choking on words that hadn't fully formed in the back of his throat. So Auris picked herself up, put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered to him directly, "You don't need to say anything. Just...let her rest."

Mew swallowed hard and felt a lump in his throat. He tried looking past her at the door, wondering what was going on beyond there. His imagination filled in the blanks. He saw Shina with eyes swollen red, laying limp upon her bed while Kairi hung over the side trying her best to comfort her. Gabriel watched on silently, disturbed at the tragedy that went down here today.

And right now Mew just wanted to push Auris aside and walk into the room, offer just a little comfort in this trying time.

He didn't consider how rotten it'd be to have his face there to remind her of Alex. To keep her sinking further and further, through misery, through agony, through loss, until there was nothing left to keep her spirit strong.

But it was to both his and her fortune that Auris got him back on the straight and narrow with a simple whisper of, "Mew, are you listening to me...?"

Mew shook his head and his plans to go in were immediately shot. He looked at Auris and, steeling his heart, mind and soul, asked her, "Can we talk for a moment? In private?"

Her discomfort was immediate. She knew. Of course she did. His eyes were as plain to read as an open book. Nevertheless she turned towards the stairs and whispered, "Lets go to the basement."

They made their way down the stairs, walking down a different path together. On the way to the basement Mew passed Riku on the couch. He had withdrawn into himself and looked miserable. He didn't even seem to know they were there.

Mew looked away and followed Auris down the stairs into the dojo, where he had helped Kairi train once, so, so long ago...

The walls contained sound very, very well. Perfect place to hurt or kill someone without alerting anyone else...

Auris had a grim air around her, her eyes hazy with visions of death as she peered over her shoulder at him. She drew out a couple of cushions onto the mat and took a seat on the farthest one.

She then gestured to the other, where Mew sat down and looked straight at her. The atmosphere was cold and hostile, with Mew hearing only the sound of his own heartbeat.

She was kneeling perfectly, even after staring into the face of tragedy her poise and posture was sublime. But it came with one flaw...Her body was radiating a killer's intent. One wrong move, and her hand would spring forth. She had put just enough distance between the two of them so that the tip of her blade would be on his neck the moment she disliked what he had to say.

And that was a 100% guarantee.

Not even someone trained in the art of speech could word this subject correctly. Yet **Mew** was expected to speak of it?

He had only one hope and that was, rather counter-intuitively to the mood, just be himself: Honest, and speaking without hesitation.

So he looked her square in the eyes, swallowed one last lump of doubt, and told her straight up, "Auris, I need you to tell me who the witch connected to the 'higher-ups' is."

And her reaction was to pull her head back, staring at him with the devil's cold furnace empowering her irises, while grinding her fingertips deep into the skin of her knees.

"How **dare** you..." Her words quaked within Mew's heart, but he didn't budge an inch as her voice continued to try and tear him to pieces, "You heartless, opportunistic bastard...! Did you honestly think that I would change my mind, just because my grandchild's passing wounded me?!"

"That's not...!"

"You better have a damn good explanation with the next breath you take, because if its unsatisfactory, it WILL be your last." And her words cut sharper than any sword she could wield.

Mew grit his teeth and in the spur of the moment blurted, "Lunis and Riku are having a baby...!"

Auris became paralyzed, her eyes losing all their luster. And Mew felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut, horrified that he had just betrayed his brother without a second's hesitation.

But he wasn't at fault. Truly not. He was only human.

Auris clasped her hand over her mouth and turned away. She was taking this news harder than Mew excepted.

"From one daughter to another...?" She gasped out in a frightful tone.

"_...That's right, she helped raise Lunis, I forgot." _Mew realized.

Auris turned to him ever-slightly and remarked, "How long?"

"Three months old." Mew swiftly answered.

"And now he..." Auris pulled her hand away slowly and bobbed her head like a pendulum. Left to her own devices, she eventually returned her gaze unto him and glared.

"This changes **nothing**." She was firm in her tone, but didn't seem intent on cutting him across the throat. But that spoke of being a final warning to him.

"...It changes **everything**." Mew said just as firmly.

"Had I known you could be this callous I would've never allowed you up here." Auris spoke indirectly at him.

"I'm sorry, Auris, but you were stupid to think you'd be able to keep this 'higher-ups' stuff buried forever."

Auris shifted her head towards him in an instant, her glare feral and writhing with hate, "I'M stupid?"

She threw herself upright and drew her sword towards Mew's neck, using the tip of the blade to nudge his chin up, laying cold steel upon his thinned tendons.

"If I am the queen of idiots then what are you? Nothing more than a suicidal jester wasting his last breath on a terrible comeback."

Mew steeled his skin and nerves to their limit, forcing his eyes to look at Auris' face to the endangerment of his own life, "Even if you got me to drop it Riku isn't going to! Its the whole damn reason we're having this conversation!"

Auris stilled her blade and demanded of him, "Speak."

"Right now Riku's sitting up on your couch panicking that his child won't live to see tomorrow because of the threat the 'higher-ups' pose," Mew grit his teeth and bared down as hard as he could, "I'm the only one who has pieced together how to find them. All I'm missing is one name!"

Auris pulled her head back and shouted with a haughty smirk, "You've pieced it all together? YOU? How absurd..."

"Auris, please!" Mew pleaded without losing the strength of his soul, "I have to do this for Riku's sake!"

"And that's **exactly** the problem," Auris grit her teeth and scowled, "You want to bear the weight of his problems on your shoulders along with everyone else's. A selfishness born of selflessness...That's the very same flaw that destroyed Sarajin!"

Mew had to try and take a deep breath as he told her gently, "I'm not Sarajin..."

"You speak like him, you act like him, you even almost look like him!" Auris shouted, breaking down into a fevered rant, "What's the one thing that makes you different?!"

"I'll come back home," Mew whispered, "That's a promise I won't break."

Auris' lips puckered and quivered, the grip on her blade shaking until it fell out of her hand, and she dropped to the ground on hands and knees with one fatal gasp.

"Bastard...!" She gasped right after, punching right through the mat below.

Mew closed his eyes and relaxed, standing up off his seat and staring down at this whimpering, broken wife.

And all he could say to her was this: "Please, Auris. One chance. That's all I need."

She was silently for a solid minute, roughly curling her fists into the nails were digging into her palm. She rose to full height, her head hung but tears trickling down both cheeks.

Mew's heart thumped loudly.

"All it takes is one chance for us to perish." She whispered.

"I know." Mew said with a nod of the head.

"And then nothing will have mattered. Not your words, not your deeds, it'll all vanish from history."

"I know." Mew said, not a hint of clout in his words.

Auris craned her head up to look him in the eyes with but one simple, poignant question, "What IS your plan, Mew?"

Mew raised and waved his hand around all loftily, "I uhhh, was just thinking I could talk with them?"

Auris' pupils expanded and she looked at him all dumbfounded. What she heard must have been so absurd because she laughed, for ten seconds a few unhinged laughs left her mouth. Then they turned somber, as she began to weep and hang her head, disconnecting from any semblance of joy.

"...Maybe he wasn't the wrong choice after all." She whispered.

She slowly locked eyes with him and lifted her hand onto the middle of his chest. His heartbeat quickened, as her face tried to force a smile.

"Maybe...its not impossible to stop the inevitable. After all," Auris smiled with more genuine enthusiasm as tears ran down her cheeks, "Our present lives are the proof of that. And you're to thank for that."

Mew held her wrist and told her, "Auris, I swear, I won't let anyone down."

"That is impossible to accomplish." Auris gently pulled away and walked past him.

"If you do this now, you might never reclaim the bonds you'll lose."

"As long as they're happy I don't care," Mew turned around and wagged his hand out towards her, "But this can't wait. Who knows when the 'higher-ups' will act."

"..." Auris closed her eyes and bowed her head, "Yukari Yakumo."

"H-Huh?" Mew stuttered.

"The name of the witch you seek is Yukari Yakumo, the Phantasm of Gensokyo."

"Really...?" Mew was shaken but not **too** roughly, "Wow I...never would've figured that out on my own."

He crossed his arms and muttered aloud, "Yukari Yakumo...So she's the one who targeted Alex..."

Auris turned aside and glared his way, "Didn't you just emphasize the urgency of this mission?"

Mew flinched upright and shouted, "S-Sorry! You're right!"

He then dashed towards the stairs, only looking back to say, "I'll be back as soon as I can, Auris! Thank you SO much!"

Auris brushed the back of her hand against her chin and grinned, "Haaa, I'm going to have to train Kairi extra-hard to be able to handle that one..."

She curled her fingers and whispered, "Return home safely, Mew."

Mew went back to the living room but entered it quietly. He took one quick look at Riku sulking on the couch and then with a silent breath, he was about to speak up.

Only to clamp his lips shut, remarking in his head, _"No I shouldn't say anything. They'll only try and drag me down..." _

He tip-toed past the couch and took one look at the staircase. There were feelings of hesitation present as he thought about Kairi, _"Sorry. But you need to be focusing on your sister, not me."_

He then raised his hand towards the front door, only to have it swung open on him by Lunis. Mew recoiled and the two stared brazenly at one another, Lunis blinking a few times with her glossy lips puckered into an "o".

"Oh sorry Mew! Almost ran into ya!" She must have just arrived, how else could she be so happy?

"Ah, don't worry about it." Mew said, sneaking a gaze over her body. Having the pregnancy pointed out to him really made the belly stick out more. She was wearing a loose shirt and bell-bottoms and her hair was done up in a ponytail.

She looked positively radiant, and her smile was one of sincere joy, shining as bright as the full moon. Mew smiled softly and felt relaxed just looking at her.

"_She really is the right one..." _Mew patted her on the shoulder as he passed her by, taking a quick look at her puzzled face to say, "Hey. Congratulations."

"Uhhhh, ok?" She fluttered her eyes in a ditzy manner and then fully entered the house, while Mew left it behind.

He stopped and craned his head back towards the sky, _"I almost forgot it was sunny out." _

He then closed his eyes and remarked, "Don't you think this is a bad time to be out for a breath of fresh air...Gabriel?"

He looked over his shoulder at the samurai leaning up against the side of the door, his arms folded neatly against his chest.

"I could say the same of you," He bemoaned, peeling himself off the wall with a hand planted on the tip of his blade's hilt, eyeing Mew in a judgmental manner, "Or perhaps, you have somewhere you plan to go?"

Mew arched his brows and tucked one hand in his pockets, gesturing the other before him, "I just need to take a walk for a bit to clear my head."

"Yes, don't we all..." Gabriel closed his eyes and rubbed his chin, "I heard **Gensokyo** is a nice place to walk around."

Mew stiffened and nudged a brow towards him accusingly, "You were listening?"

"To every word," Gabriel said, his words rife with disappointment, "Lady Auris may have had her final say in the matter..."

He drew his blade from the sheath and grasped it in both hands with one fluid motion, "But I will not let you leave."

"...No offense Gabriel but," Mew turned his eyes into a glare and said coldly, "You **can't** stop me."

"That was then," He twisted his hands around the hilt and narrowed his eyes, "Now, I still stop you in three moves."

Gabriel lunged forward and sliced down, cleaving gently through the air. Mew drew his blade to defend himself and wound up getting repelled away.

Gabriel immediately thrust forward without any hesitation and locked blades with Mew, pinning him down so hard that his legs began to bend back, weakening his ability to use all his strength.

Then, with their eyes locked through their blades, Gabriel said, "So you will abandon Lady Kairi at her most vulnerable hour?"

He grinded steel against steel, venting his frustration with a raised voice, "She needs your shoulder to lean on!"

"N-No she doesn't! Auris can-"

"Stubborn fool," Gabriel bemoaned, "Is your ignorance the only thing of yours with depth?"

"I'm not going back, Gabriel!" Mew pushed forward, but the samurai did not budge.

"Nor shall I...!" He tightened his grip and kept Mew locked down, stubbornly refusing to give an inch, "I have watched over two-thousand years of Aurian history unfold before my eyes. I shall see to it that it is not repeated!"

"Then trust in me!"

"The trust we share is exactly why I stand in your way!" Gabriel arched his brows and with one grunt swiftly lodged his blade under Mew's hands and freed his blade from his grasp, emptying all the strength Mew had stored up and causing him to fall square on his butt.

With his sword lodging itself in the ground, Gabriel put the katana at his neck and remarked, "I've seen that look in those eyes once before. I know **exactly** what you plan to say."

"I'm doing this for everyone's sake, even yours!" Mew retorted.

"And do you think they'll care?" Gabriel firmly murmured, "I had the disservice of meeting them once when I assisted Sarajin on a mission to another world. That titanic beast that leads them, how he looked down upon me as I was but a speck of dust to be tossed away by his mere, sleeping breaths, is a moment of humility I shall never forget."

"There is no humanity to appeal to. No...friendship you can forge with them. You approach them with those words and you'll only be left at their mercy."

"And Lady Auris does not need another husk to weigh her down..."

"...So you'll kill me to change the outcome?" Mew remarked calmly.

"..." Gabriel's katana trembled, "Were it so easy, I would have ended this cycle before it ever began."

He pulled his katana back into the sheath and let out a long, tiring sigh, "But once more, I must let the opportunity slip me by."

Mew stood up and recalled his blade to the ether. Gabriel smirked and shook his head, wondering aloud, "What is it about you that makes you different...?"

He extended his hand towards Mew and said, "I suppose I'll soon find out."

Mew paused for a moment and then shook his hand firmly, the samurai wishing him, "May your journey be well, young Mew."

"...Just like that?" Mew said with a tilt of the head.

"If you hesitated, I **wouldn't** have." He made quite clear.

Mew swallowed hard and then withdrew his hand, the samurai letting out a dry chuckle before grabbing chin with a smile, "No matter what occurs, I am glad to have met you, Mew. But now, you can consider my debt to you repaid."

"Debt...?" Mew tilted his head the other way.

"Heh, nothing," Gabriel turned back towards the house, "I'll try and keep them from finding out you left as best I can. You need to go find Catherine and have her give you a ride to Gensokyo."

"Thanks, Gabriel." Mew turned and ran off.

"Think nothing of it." He replied, in the short span he had for it to be heard.

Mew sprinted through Sancturia towards the Pyramid, but after a couple shorts minutes he began to slow down, until eventually coming to a complete stop.

"..." He swerved his head to the left, towards a hut that seemed the same as the rest. But, there was currently someone important to him inside of there.

He took a deep breath and strolled up to the front door, rattling the side with a few taps of his knuckles.

Up walked a teenager wearing some kind of prototype prosthetic legs and using crutches to get around. He immediately looked surprised by familiar with Mew.

"Oh you're...!"

"Yeah hey? Is Maria here?"

The boy turned his head back and shouted, "Maria! Your dad's here!"

He then stepped aside and gestured one of his crutches up to invite him in. Mew walked into the living room and saw Maria and her two friends sitting on the couch watching some kind of sci-fi flick.

Maria reached for the remote to pause the movie and then turned her head with a bit of surprise on her face, "Papa? Why are you here?"

Mew tucked his hands in his shoulders and shrugged, "Can't I just pop in and say hello?"

Maria hopped off the couch and ran up to her. She was smiling from cheek-to-cheek, her rosy cheeks perfectly complimenting her yarn-like red hair. And she was standing right below the bottom of his chest.

"_She's gotten so big already..." _Mew suddenly picked her up as light as a feather and hugged her close.

He leaned his head upon her shoulder and closed his eyes as she began to hug back.

"You be a good girl now, ok?" He whispered only to her ear.

"...Papa?" She murmured, unable to comprehend what he said.

He then let her down gently and patted her atop her head, "Heh, I'll be back soon. You go have fun with your friends now, alright?"

"O-Ok!" She ran on back to the couch, leaving Mew to exit the house with a comfortable lack of weight upon his shoulders.

He craned his head back and took one last deep breath through his nose, swiveling to his left to face the Pyramid in the distance.

"Nothing left to it, huh?" He continued to sprint towards his destination.

He made his way to Saturn's floor in record time, and was surprised to see that the portal was still present. He waltzed right on inside, winding up in her new garage...That looked about the same as the old one, just with a ton less vehicles inside it.

Mew cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted, "Hey Saturn! Are you here?!"

"Of course!" She shouted from behind, making him jump around to see her standing just an inch away.

She leaned in with a wily smirk and walked towards him while he backed away, but her tiny legs let her keep pace surprisingly well until she finally rolled her chin up against his chest and held him there.

"So, you need yet ANOTHER ride, eh?" She sounded rather annoyed but what else was new?

"...Gabriel told you?" Mew replied with a dry smile.

"I'm not a gosh-darn taxi service! I got galaxy saving duties to attend to dang it!" Saturn propped herself upright and spun around, carrying her lab coat with her with a dramatic flourish.

"Buuuuuut it sounded important so I GUESS I can spare a little of my barely available free time."

Mew tucked his hands in his pockets and chuckled, "Thanks a lot."

Saturn swung her head back and declared, "Some day I'm gonna cash in all these favors you owe me and you'll be soooo sorry, ya miscreant!"

"Hehehe!" Mew laughed it off, much to her annoyance.

She guided them to one of her two-man ships and they took off for outer space. A straight beeline to Gensokyo, with no detours in-between. Neither party said a word, Mew was too busy thinking about what was going to happen next.

"_Yukari Yakumo...I didn't think it'd be someone from a world I knew about. She's the one responsible for what happened to Alex," _He heard a cracking sound and looked to find his fist tightening by his hip. He shook his hand up and thought, _"Focus Mew, this isn't what you're going for."_

Saturn's ship popped out of hyperspace right above another planet Earth and she announced their arrival like a flight attendant, "Here we are! North side of the universe, Gensokyo!"

"...Well, sort of," She looked back over her chair to say, "That mysterious realm ain't exactly visible from space."

"I know how it works," Mew began to stand with his hand against the roof of the glass, "Thanks for the ride, Catherine, you can go on and head on back."

Suddenly he heard the glass lock and stopped in place, watching Saturn take a firm seat on her chair with a finger hovering over the lock button.

"...Catherine?" She flipped her chair around and laid her heels on top of Mew's legs to force him to sit, then folded her arms against her chest.

"Mew, what the heck are you doing?"

Mew tried to budge but she nailed him back down while shouting, "Sit boy!"

"No wise cracks? No banter? Just a 'Hello', a bunch of silence, and then 'Goodbye'?"

"Catherine-"

She raised her pointer finger and shouted "Ah!" to shut him up then thrust said finger into his face, "What'd I say about using that name? We aint' pals, pal!"

Mew grinned and closed his eyes partway, "Yeah you're right. We've never gotten along that well, have we?"

Saturn crossed her legs up and raised a mighty pout, "Yeah well that's totally your fault, you big, dumb moron."

"W-What?" Mew said, dropping his jaw flat out.

"Oh come on! We're both supposed to be heroes yeah?" She rolled her eyes then leaned her upper body forward forcefully, "Can't you let me stop believing I'm talking to a neanderthal for just one second so we can talk hero-to-hero?"

"...Cather-"

"HMMMM!" She moaned loudly.

"...Saturn," Mew replied plainly, "Its already been a **very** long day."

"Then take a break for a moment," She replied cheerfully, "Nobody can be very heroic when they're stressed out."

"Hup!" She plopped her feet to the ground and leaned back in her chair.

"...Alright," Mew lifted his head up and rubbed the back of it slowly, "There's a very real possibility I might not be coming back."

"...Ah, marching right into the flames of Hell for one last battle?" Saturn closed her eyes and smugly propped up her glasses, "I guessed as much!"

She then whipped her hand out and nearly took Mew's face off with it, had he not dodged in time, "What are you stupid?!"

Mew rose back up much to the endangerment of his face and shouted, "Wh-What's with that reaction?!"

"Hmph! Don't you get it?" Saturn puffed out her chest and railed on him hard, "I classify you as a cockroach! You're impossible to get rid of and anything that doesn't kill you only seems to make you stronger!"

She tapped the bridge of her glasses and frowned, "But contrary to your nature, everyone seems to like being around you whether they want to admit or not. You're like some...strange adopted pet bug."

"...Thanks?" Mew muttered.

"What I'm TRYING to say is..." Saturn turned her head away in a huff and puffed her cheeks to declare with certainty, "You're going to make it back."

She pushed her glasses up until her eyes were hidden behind the flare, "Your existence defies the odds. That sums up my dissertation of the one called Mew Whiter."

Mew stared blinking at her face for a long while then cracked a goofy grin and teased her, "Are you saying you like me?"

Saturn flipped her head back and shouted, "I'm SAYING that I MIGHT, SORT OF have SOME GROWING RESPECT FOR YOU."

Mew began to open his mouth and she stamped her heels down on his knees like two tiny hammers, "And if you make anything more out of it I'll do a U-Turn and jettison you into the nearest black hole I can find!"

"Hahaha!" Mew gestured his hand out and said, "Alright, fair enough."

"...Now then!" With a mighty "Hmph!" Saturn flipped her chair around and undid the lock on the glass, "Go get 'em Mr. Hero!"

Mew raised his hand to raise the glass, surrounding himself with air to protect against the vacuum of space, "Thanks! I'll find my own way back, don't worry about that."

"I'm not!" She declared firmly.

Mew shut the hatch and then pulled away, watching Saturn do a U-Turn out of there, the shockwave pushing him closer to the planet.

With no obstacles left, no guilt left to share, he turned to his final destination and flew straight towards it. Geographically this Earth was the same as his, but if he wanted to reach Gensokyo, he needed to make his way towards Japan first.

But as he began to dive through the atmosphere towards the birthplace of samurai and anime, the sights around him began to distort heavily. All manners of colors formed before his eyes, creating a mosaic mess of blended sights that left him feel like he was tumbling into a realm of madness.

He suddenly lost control of his flight and began to drop, pulled straight down by immeasurable levels of gravity. He could feel nothing but the air around him, as he continued tumbling further and further down the rabbit hole.

Then all of a sudden, he crashed down on solid ground and his chest lurched out to let all his air loose.

"Ooooooowwww...!" He slowly pulled himself up, rustling through auburn leaves and broken sticks while rubbing his sore back.

As he turned around to get his bearings, he paused upon the sight of a new landscape. Pushing beyond the nearby trees to get a closer look, he was greeted by a magical land, where a giant castle floated upside-down from the clouds, an old time English mansion sat at the edge of an ice cold lake, and lots of fluttering, tiny fairies filled the air.

The sky was crisp and the sun was shining bright, even the crunch of the leaves below his feet sounded so alive.

He let the gentle breeze rub his face as she smiled brightly in wonderment and whispered, "So this is what Alex must've seen..."

He curled his knuckles against the bark and gave it a light jab to push himself away and step out into the open view, then with a dry smack of his lips he muttered, "Time to find my witch."

He locked eyes with a small shrine sitting atop a towering flight of steps in the northeastern corner of Gensokyo and realized, "And I know JUST who to ask!"

He flied right to the shrine, not even bothering with concealing himself cause, quite frankly, flying was normal here.

"This'd be a nice place to go on vacation," Mew said, surveying some of the other sights down below, "Oh well, maybe next time!"

He started to drop towards the shrine with a flip so he'd land upright, then stumbled along the stone path from the torii towards the shrine.

He noticed a certain red-white figure and her certain black-white magician friend sitting on the porch of the shrine, both drowning in the rays of the sun despite their shorter clothes and the presence of clay water bottles at their sides.

Mew tucked his hands into his pockets and strolled towards them carefully to not catch them by surprise.

"Aaaaaaye," Marisa, the black-white magician, took her hat off and used it as a makeshift fan, "The heat's really killer today, Reimu."

Reimu, the red-white shrine maiden, kicked her sandals off and wiggled her toes in the air, craning her body back to the point she looked ready to collapse flat on her back, "Whose crazy idea was it to make the sun? I wanna go beat them up."

"Pretty certain Amaterasu's to blame," Said Marisa, "What, gonna go beat up one of the big Gods?"

Reimu sat back up and drew three paper seals from her sleeve, then summoned her gohei in the other hand, "Might as well get the jump on them before they start an Incident."

"Eh sure, I'm down!" Marisa pulled her broom up from beside her and stood ready and rarin' to go, "Anything's more fun than melting alive on your porch!"

Both were standing tall to go on an adventure when Reimu turned her attention forward and froze stiff at the sight of Mew.

Mew lifted his hand out of his pocket to shout "Yo!" to them.

Reimu hunched forward and shifted her paper seals out like a fan while declaring, "Who the heck are you?"

Marisa crossed her arms behind her head and gave it a curious tilt, "Oi, Reimu, haven't we met this guy before?"

Reimu squinted long and hard at Mew then with a slack of her jaw remarked, "Its not ringing a bell."

"Oh I got it!" Marisa said, struck with a bolt of inspiration, "He's that one guy who popped in looking for a stone or some trinket like that. Alexander the White!"

"A-Alex Whiter..." Mew groaned in embarrassment.

"Eh, I was close." Marisa shrugged and then propped her broom down beside her.

"Why are you back here?" Reimu asked.

"I'm not the same guy," Mew withdrew both his hands out and gestured one at them, "Name's Mew. Alex was my brother. You must be Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, yeah?"

Reimu stood up and withdrew her seals for the time being, "Yeah that's right."

"Howdy!" Marisa said, using her broom to tip her hat in greeting.

"Yeah, howdy," Mew waved his hand out and smiled, "As much as I'd love to stick and chat I'm kind of on an important mission. Do either of you know where I can find one Yukari Yakumo?"

Reimu raised her brows while Marisa answered immediately, "Ha! Good luck figuring that one out buddy. She shows up whenever she wants."

"Mostly to steal sake and be a nuisance." Reimu grumbled.

"Well that's not very nice, Reimu." An alluring voice came out from a rift with eyes sandwiched between the two of them.

As Reimu sprang up in surprise a blonde-haired lady wearing what looked like violet night clothes pulled her upper body through the rift and leaned upon it with her elbows.

"I only do that to keep you company." The lady smiled so innocently, betraying any sense of suspicion or devious intent she had lurking in her head.

She then slipped free from the rift and broke into a stroll carrying a nice, flowery parasol over her head. Mew edged back a little and his glare tensed up, making the lady pause a few feet from where she had started.

"How unexpected," She said quite knowingly towards his presence here, "To what do I owe this visit...Phoenix of Rebirth?"

Mew's arms became riddled with goosebumps and he clicked out a smirk, "So you know about all that eh? Can't say I'm surprised...Yukari Yakumo."

Yukari craned her head back slightly and smiled, letting loose a soft, tender chuckle.

"Aye hold up," Marisa chimed in, "Phoenix of Rebirth? He's got a title just like that other guy did?"

"They know about that too?!" Was more surprising to Mew.

Yukari peered coldly over her shoulder and remarked, "Perhaps you should be quiet just this once, Kirisame."

Mew got the conversation back on track with a couple coughs and then addressed Yukari more formerly, "So I'm gonna guess you were the one who allowed me into Gensokyo?"

"That is correct." She replied, creasing out a smile.

"What, couldn't have greeted me at the entrance?" Mew chuckled.

"I was a little...preoccupied," Yukari was ashamed to admit, "Just very recently, I've come to adopt a baby into my care."

"What?!" Was the collective reaction of those around her.

Reimu drew her seals and gohei together then remarked, "You better not have kidnapped them...!"

"Oh dearie me, no," Yukari tilted her body to the side, "I may spirit away some humans to Gensokyo for a little fun every now and then but I would never kidnap a baby."

She closed her eyes and let out a drawn out sigh, "The child just happened to wander into my realm, as many humans have in the past. Having **nary** a clue as to who their parents were, I felt amused by the idea of taking care of them myself."

"Poor kid." Marisa remarked.

"Tee-hee~" Yukari giggled like a little girl.

Mew folded his hands behind his head and remarked, "Yeah as interesting as that is, that's not what I came here for."

Yukari turned back and remarked, "I'd imagine not. Then why, pray tell, have you come to Gensokyo?"

Her eyes narrowed and a pale yellow light shone in her irises, "Do you seek vengeance for Alex Whiter's death?"

Reimu and Marisa paused upon hearing that. Mew vehemently shook his head and grit his fists tight by his hips. He then looked Yukari straight in the eyes, penetrating her cold exterior with ease, and told her, "You didnt kill Alex, but you sure as hell led him down the path to his grave."

"And now Shina not only doesn't have him, but their child didn't make it either," Mew narrowed his glare and told her, "Live with that guilt, if you even can feel that."

Yukari stood there motionless for a few seconds, then folded her parasol upon and brought it to the center of her body. Leaving no obscurity to her expression whatsoever, she looked back at Mew and told him plainly, "I'm truly, genuinely sorry to hear that. I never wanted her to suffer for his crime of existing."

Mew tightened his fist some more and was one second away from punching her in the face. But he eased up, for his mission was more powerful than his vengeance.

"Yeah well..." Mew said in a disgruntled fashion, "Look, that's not what I'm here for. I want you to take me to meet the 'higher-ups'."

Yukari closed her eyes and whispered aloud, "Interesting..."

Then with a giggle she remarked, "And why should I do that?"

Mew wasn't expecting to get walled so hard by her response...And he didn't really have a way to answer her.

"Don't tell me you traveled all the way out here just for that reason." Yukari was practically mocking him to his face.

Mew looked her in the eyes and nodded, "Yeah. And I'm going to get there, even if I have to force it out of you."

"An intriguing proposal," Yukari brushed her parasol off the ground and pointed the tip right at Mew's face, "Why don't we make that a reality?"

"...Huh?" Muttered Mew.

"Surely as an Elemental Overlord, you have the power to defeat a weak old thing like me," She said with an impish grin, "If you can manage that, then I will take you to meet the 'higher-ups'."

"Alright fine," Mew raised himself up and swung his arm out with his sword drawn into his grasp, "So I'll fight you with Spell Card rules then!"

"No, not this time," Yukari brought her parasol back to the ground and smiled, "We'll fight as we normally would."

"Uhhh, no you're not," Reimu suddenly chimed in, tapping her gohei on her shoulder in an irritated manner, "We have these rules for a reason, remember?"

Yukari smiled back over her shoulder and chuckled, "Oh Reimu. I can break the rules if I want to. After all...I **made** them."

"Peh...!" Reimu spat in disgust, "Fine whatever. Just don't do it around here."

"Oh I have no intention of dirtying the shrine," Yukari faced Mew and lifted a hand before her face. Summoning a rift, she pulled out four glowing needles from it between her fingers, "But this is the perfect place to channel...this!"

With one flick of her wrist all the needles were sent flying to four corners surrounded her and Mew, where they dug into the ground and immediately created a three-dimensional barrier to trap them inside.

Reimu and Marisa were forced back outside to observe and nothing else.

Mew looked around at the misty lavender barrier and then tightened the grip on his sword, hauling it behind his back. He then stared at Yukari and grinned, "That's fair. I wouldn't want to damage the shrine either."

Yukari floated off the ground, gesturing her hand to the left to coolly draw a fan from another rift to wave before her face. She then took a seat upon a rift adorned with fancy ribbons on the side and crossed her legs.

"I never considered the possibility that we'd face each other like this," Yukari said, clearly humored by what hand fate has dealt her. Hiding a smirk behind her fan, she left her aggressor mystified by the aura that raised her hair like a gentle curtain of golden silk behind her, "But you have grabbed my attention, Phoenix of Rebirth...No, Mew Whiter."

Mew slashed his sword down to his side and narrowed his eyes towards her.

A dozen rifts opened behind Yukari, filled with either light or darkness, "Show me what lies beyond a heart adrift between a sea of black and white..."

_Next Time: What Defines a Hero?_


	81. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80: Chaosfantasia**

Mew stared at Yukari from across the battlefield, watching her gleam at him with mischievous intent present in her eyes. The plethora of rifts around her were ready to fire. It wasn't a matter of "when", but "how", they would.

Mew gripped his sword tightly and gauged the Youkai's abilities briefly in his head, _"She's got a lot of tricks up her sleeves: Danmaku, Border Manipulation, and she can slip in and out of her rifts at any moment. And who knows what else."_

He swung the broad side of his blade before his body and glared at her past the top of it, _"She defeated Alex somehow, I can't underestimate her just cause she's fighting me in her pajamas."_

Yukari folded the fan with a flick of the wrist and gestured it briskly before her chest with a giggle. A glimmer arose from each of her rifts, springing Mew's attention to the forefront of battle.

Beams erupted from the rifts in a flash, making Mew retreat with a long bounce back, slashing his sword in broad strokes to repel the beams.

Two light beams crossed into a larger one and struck the center of his sword hard enough to remove it from his grasp. Mew grit his teeth and swung his hand out to try and pull it back, only for a rift to capture it.

A dark beam then struck his chest hard with a cold, burning sensation that knocked him out of the sky and ground his back against the floor.

From his vulnerable position he was forced to watch Yukari withdraw her fan into her dress and then casually gestured that hand up to catch his sword falling from a rift.

Her twig-like lady arm held the sword with ease and even gave it a twirl for playful flourish. Mew then tried to reach out and call it back, only for a series of violet, ethereal seals to cover the blade and repel his command with a jolt of psychic energy.

Mew's brain was rattled, making it hard for him to stand back up for the moment. When the effects tampered off he thrust his fists down by his hips and glared Yukari down.

She then thrust his sword his way and more rifts opened up to fire more of those light and dark beams. Mew buckled his muscles down tight and then sped to the right in one burst of speed, evading the closer beams and inching closer towards the youkai.

He coated his fists in flame and thrust flaming knuckles rapidly into the sky. Yukari barred their path with a hexagonal barrier and began to shift her position counterclockwise along the edge of the arena.

From the barrier emerged waves of violet and blue colored energy bullets, synchronized perfectly into arcs. Mew hopped over the first wave then immediately slid mid-air under the next.

Yukari weaved beams of light and dark between the bullets to make moving around them a real pain in the butt for him.

Mew suddenly made a hard pull to the right and stuck his feet against the barrier, running along it to get closer to Yukari. Her eyes were like the perfect security camera, never losing sight of where he was, and adjusting its firepower according.

Mew propelled off the wall quicker than a lightning bolt and barreled between the bullets with his fist primed to punch.

Yukari fell into her gap and zipped it up to prevent entry. Mew continued flying until his shoulder hit the wall and sent him tumbling to the ground. He stopped a fatal crash at the last second by turning to land on his feet.

Yukari reappeared roughly around the same spot and giggled in amusement. Mew only got a second to rub the sore spot on his arm before Yukari's relentless assault forced him to keep moving.

He dashed to the right before an aerial bombardment of beams pinned him down. He then thrust his right fist out to send a bolt of lighting straight at Yukari, only for her to absorb it into his blade.

But that distracted her long enough for him to lunge across the room and attempt to grab his blade back. As his fingers graced the cold steel once more, Yukari greeted him with a sphere of rifts caging him in this one spot.

She then slipped the sword out between the gaps and sat back, playing audience to the light show of red lasers pelting Mew from all directions.

After a few seconds of this though Mew began to steel his body quite literally and made the lasers reflect back into the rifts. So Yukari dropped the cage and delivered a hard slash with his sword to repel him away.

Mew plummeted like an anchor and broke the ground on impact. He then thrust his palm out to send the rocks at Yukari.

The rocks clashed with her barrage of bullets and broke up into dust that Mew continued to propel at her like a miniature sandstorm. Yukari took her parasol out to protect her eyes and raised more rifts to fire.

The light shining through the dust gave her position away and Mew raised a smirk, drawing upon the power of water next to raise a tidal wave that'd carry him towards her.

Her beams burned apart much of the wave but Mew put his hands down to add back to it, along with putting a little special something to surprise her later.

She then raised his sword and struck it with lightning to supercharge it, the voltage thick enough to keep the air trembling long after it struck.

She swung down with gentle grace as a monstrous lightning bolt crashed upon the ground, tearing its way forward towards him.

Mew leaped away at the last second as the lightning cleaved the tidal wave in two. He then jerked his hands down to flash freeze the remaining water.

Curling his fists, he spun around and dove at Yukari, smashing his right then left fists against another of her barriers while she retreated into a rift.

The barrier exploded and sent shards of see-through glass through his body, paralyzing him in place while the Youkai walked out behind him.

She tapped the tip of her parasol against the back of his neck and the hairs on it stuck up on end as, with a warm energy swelling at the tip, she slowly drew the parasol back and chuckled.

"The game is over before it even began."

Mew was grinning from ear-to-ear as he squeezed his fists by his hips. The sounds of ice shattering disturbed Yukari far too late for her to take counteraction, as a series of vines bloomed from the seeds Mew left in the ice to tackle her into the barrier wall.

They then pinned her down with an impressive grip, loosening her hold on the blade. Mew pulled ahead and held onto it extra tight this time, then backed off and slashed it down feeling as good as new.

She craned her head back with a smile and said, "Not bad."

Rifts slipped into the space between the vines and wall and sliced them apart with wind scars. She then floated forward sitting atop another rift and pulled her fan back out from her dress, waving it before her face.

"Now then, ready for round two?" She said with an amused giggle.

Mew gripped his sword until the knuckles cracked and then motioned his thumb towards the white trigger, going straight into Light Form with his brows arched.

He sliced upward quicker than the naked eye could perceive and the pressure from the swing blew Yukari's hair around.

She narrowed her gaze and then folded her fan up, pointing it at him while the sky shattered above her.

Mew heard a mighty roar, as if dimensions were being torn apart at the seams, then craned his head back to find pure magical energy coming crashing down.

He bolted to the right and watched the energy cascading in a line across the battlefield. Immediately after he had to pull right back as another line of cascading energy tried to intercept him.

He then slashed light energy towards Yukari, who slipped into her rift at double-speed, reappearing all the way behind him with her fan pointed forward.

Hexagonal seals grew around her, whipping out waves of ethereal red and white seals to fill the sky. Mew locked his katana into the sheath and watched the pattern the Danmaku flew out, hoping to find the one VERY small gap for him to break through.

But she was not one to lean back and lounge, waiting for him to strike. She lined up rifts diagonally above him, bolts of magical energy flashing out to strike.

Mew pulled away and thrust his katana forward to divert the energy bolts down the center of her Danmaku, creating his own opening to charge through.

He squeezed in dangerously close to her location with his sword half-drawn to strike. Yukari hairs danced on the edge of his blade as she withdrew into her rift.

Mew then immediately clutched his katana's triggers to go into Dark Form, thrusting one of his ethereal claws to chase her into the rift.

But what awaited him was this intense burning sensation that followed him back to his body and forced his claw to retract. He then widened his eyes and rolled to the left out of the way of a blast of pure light from the realm beyond.

In this moment Yukari appeared behind him and whipped her parasol across his back, hurtling him into the wall. Mew felt his rib cage crack under pressure as he pulled himself off.

His instincts tingled and he sliced his claw back, cleaving a magical bolt to split off on both sides of him. Yukari slowly floated back and waved her fan before her face.

"_For such a lady-like frame she's got monstrous strength in those arms!" _Mew flexed his arms back and then thrust out a giant black fireball towards her.

She cleaved through it with the tip of her parasol and then retaliated by throwing a golden square-shaped seal. Mew bolted ahead and swerved past the seal, only for it to shift sideways and grow to three times its size, ensnaring him on it like a spider's web.

The seal then folded around him and pulled him to the ground, where Yukari opened up a rift high above, where two pale lights flashed from beyond followed by...The sound of a horn?!

An express train came crashing down on top of Mew followed by two more diagonally, all resulting in a massive fiery explosion that Yukari watched from a distance.

But Mew came slinging right out of a dark rift in front of her looking barely worse for the wear and swung his foot at her head. She ducked under and floated towards the ground, while Mew flipped upside-down and sent claw after claw flying after her, each miss leading to them smashing apart the ground.

He wrenched up chunks of the ground to fling right at her but it was to no avail, being one of the best at Danmaku made her as hard to snag as a fruit fly.

Mew kept his momentum going and smashed the rocks against the roof of the barrier to break them apart. Then he flipped upright, shifted back to Light Form, and thrust his katana out horizontally to unleash a powerful flash.

The flash draped darker shadows from the rocks, allowing him to utilize them in the heat of the moment by shifting back to Dark Form and hardening them. In doing so he managed to stab Yukari straight through a few times and suspend her in place.

The light then faded and he charged straight at her, walloping her across the face with his bare knuckles. Her head budged slightly but with a smile, as she then easily pointed her parasol down past her lap and blasted him point-blank with a heavy concentration of light.

His body burned all over until hitting the ground put him out, replacing it with an intense throbbing his muscles. He hunched upright on his feet and grimaced as a sharp sensation came from his spine.

Yukari then twirled to the right, crossing her legs and revealing her deception, that all the shadows had merely pierced through her baggy dress.

With a playful giggle she shaded herself with her parasol and floated away, evading Mew swiping up with his claws.

"What a bad time for rain." She gestured her right hand out and black voids twisted open behind her, unleashing a swarm of small azure-flamed meteors upon the battlefield.

Mew forced himself upright and went back to Light Form to get around faster, cutting down the meteors that dared to get close. But the one's he left behind covered the ground with plentiful explosions, narrowing his advance forward and soon enough, having his back pinned to the wall.

He leaped back and pressed his feet against the wall, propelling up and slashing a wave of light between the meteors. Yukari floated over it, then floated down past the second slash.

Mew flew forward and sliced through the meteors quick and precise, propelling more waves of light into Yukari, who guarded herself with a barrier.

Mew then stuffed his katana into the sheath and shoved forward with his shoulder, ramming directly into the center of the barrier with all his might, even at the cost of his bone's well-being.

The barrier cracked and Mew destroyed it completely by pulling out and hitting it with a massive slash of light. Yukari ducked back, falling daintily into her rift.

The meteors ceased but in its place, the light dimmed from the arena, captured by the shadow of a massive rift growing on the ceiling.

The largest meteor of all came crashing down slowly, the mere pressure it exuded coming down atop of Mew's head enough to push him towards the floor.

Mew bent down, grit his teeth, and forced his katana into the sheath against gravity's wishes.

He drew in all remaining light in the arena until all that shined was the ghastly glow of the meteor reflecting off his glistening wings.

He lashed his blade out as hard as he could and cut through the meteor dozens of times in a second, obliterating it down to the atom.

He then felt his knees want to kneel, and forced himself up.

The hairs on the back of his head stood up and he barely turned out to defend against Yukari's parasol swing. The Youkai smiled and then retreated to her gap, another one opening up behind Mew to pelt him with a wall of miniature lasers.

This held him down until Yukari slipped out of the gap and roundhouse kicked him in the spine.

Mew dug his heels into the ground to keep himself from going too far and whipped right around, jumped right towards her and delivering a downward slash atop parasol casually twirled around in its path.

Yukari then hopped away with a twirl, landing atop one of the gaps and gesturing her fan forward to command more rifts to open and fire strings of paper seals towards him.

Mew shifted to Dark Form and forced himself between all the seals, winding up a punch coated in dark flames.

Yukari flipped around to his back and poked his neck with the tip of her parasol. A tremble rocked Mew's body and he flipped right around, smacking the parasol out of her hand.

Yukari unfurled her fan before her face and raised her right foot to hold off one of Mew's punches, repelling her into another gap.

Mew was about to chase her down when the sudden descent of a flashy bolt of light kept him away. And then more of those bolts began to rain, coming from her parasol spinning rapidly in the air.

Mew alternately hopped on one foot to get away from the attacks and lined up a black fireball to incinerate the parasol in one go.

He then took this chance to catch his breath and try to come up with a plan of attack.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Uttered Yukari, coming out of hiding near where the black embers from her parasol lingered, though she now held a second one that looked exactly the same, "That was my favorite parasol."

Mew arched his brows and murmured, "I'm starting to see how she gave you trouble, Alex."

He cautiously walked back while Yukari moved in the opposite direction, both of them eyed each other directly, neither knowing what the other was thinking. Yet, for all intents and purposes, Yukari was in full control of this fight, as Mew felt like he hadn't even landed a single good hit on her.

Yukari unfurled her fan before her mouth and her expression subtly began to shift to a more alluring shade of curiosity.

"Answer me this, Phoenix of Rebirth...Why are you here?"

Before Mew could give an answer Yukari interrupted him, "I know why you are here. But **why** are you **here**?"

She pointed her folded fan at him gently and smiled, "Shina Aurora lays in her bed, a withering husk both physically and emotionally, with not a tear left to shed. Her friends and family all gather around her, trying, struggling, to find some way to make her happy. Everyone, that is, except the most important person of all...You."

"You, who she named the child's godfather in a heartbeat. You, who have been the heart of their group this entire time."

Mew felt goosebumps along his skin as the Youkai continued unimpeded by any sense of tact or reason, "She needs you now more than ever, yet here you are, in pursuit of the 'truth'. Or...is that just what you say you're after? Are you perhaps scared? Instead of confronting your fears normally, you've chosen to die doing what you've done best, fighting. Disguising feelings of vengeance, frustration and inadequacy as a selfless act of sacrifice, you've traveled all this way to meet me, the one who concludes many a brave soul's tales."

Mew had to grin and laugh at her long-winded spiel, tightening his fists and accusing her directly, "You're talking as if you were there!"

"I have always been there. As I always shall be," Yukari smiled and waved her fan before her mysterious expression of joy, "I have witnessed the beginning of your tale, just as I shall be there to witness its end. Your beginning was written for you, but you alone can decide your end now..."

"What shall it be? Will you end your tale believing your 'lie' in pursuit of the 'truth'? Or..." Yukari waved her fan out to her side and a gap opened up. On the other side, though hazy, was a clear enough view of the Aurora household at the moment.

Shina still lied in her bed, her hair in a mess and her eyes refusing to close, drained of all life. Kairi knelt at her side, her red, tear-covered head bobbing tiredly towards the sheets. And to Mew's shock, Joe Dark was standing by, mouthing unknown words to Shina, but tripping over himself every step of the way.

"Joe..." Mew mumbled, his body trembling all over, as a sinking feeling plummeted his heart to his gut.

Yukari unfurled her face before her face and continued, "You can return to your world. Free yourself from the 'lie', but lose the 'truth' forever. Yet, freed from this 'lie', you'll be able to write whatever ending to your story you wish."

Mew looked down and found himself tempted by the offer, _"She's right. I should be there at their side. But..."_

With great hesitation, he thrust his eyes open and stared her down, then used his claw to slice through the gap between both worlds. Yukari flinched, stopping whatever she was doing to look back at him.

Mew withdrew his claw slowly and grit his teeth, his whole body shaking, especially at the knees, "I've come too far to go back now."

He returned to Light Form and hunched down, clutching his katana and spreading his wings to their full width, "I don't care if I'm a hypocrite or a liar. What I've done, what I'm doing, what I'll do...None of it matters if we don't even have a future to look forward to!"

With his body radiant as diamonds, he glared Yukari down and declared to her, "So I'll cut through the 'lies' in my path and open the way to the 'truth', even if you stand in my way!"

Yukari narrowed her gaze sharply and chuckled deeper than usual, her tone beginning to lose its sense of humanity as she coldly remarked, "Then your path to the 'truth' is a path of death. And I..."

Her fan snapped close like a breaking bone and she thrust it down at him, opening a hundred gaps in a wall behind her, "Shall do everything in my power to walk you down it, Phoenix of Rebirth."

A beam blazed out of each void, consuming the entirety of the arena save for the spot Mew was standing. Mew drew his blade and sliced viciously through the energy until he was centered with where he believed Yukari was at.

He then ground his blade against the energy and slashed down, destroying multiple gaps with explosive force. He then barreled down towards Yukari and sliced at her face. She defended with her parasol and then Mew pulled out his sheath, lodging it underneath the parasol to force it out of her hand.

She retreated into her present gap and reappeared on the other side of the arena, reaching into another gap to reclaim her parasol. She then cleaved it downward, send a massive wave of energy spiraling after Mew.

Mew swung to the left and then turned around, going into Dark Form to try and lunge his claw at her. She redirected the wave of energy around and targeted it at his back.

Mew froze up long enough for the wave to collide and drag him all the way over to her, where she jabbed the tip of her parasol into his gut, and expanded it out to launch him through the remaining energy.

Mew tumbled towards the ground then hopped up, crashing down on all fours. He spread his wings and bolted forward, black flames tearing up the ground in his wake.

He smashed the barrier behind Yukari with his fist and sent a wave of flame up the wall, where a couple pillars burst off to try and smoke her.

She shielded herself with a barrier and didn't even bother looking. Neither back, nor down, as Mew immediately rocketed off the ground and tried to knock her head with an uppercut.

She slid into a gap and then reappeared behind Mew, thrusting her parasol into his back to pin him against the wall.

Mew opened his own dark rift to slip behind her and pin her into the wall with a kick. Then she went into another gap, appeared behind him AGAIN, and swung her parasol down atop his head.

Mew threw his claw back, stopping the parasol and ramming a spiral flame orb into her gut. She went flying away until the flames dissipated, leaving a nice scorch mark at the front of her dress that she gently brushed off.

Mew returned to Light Form and began rapidly filling the air with light slashes. But more importantly, put shadows on the ground.

He returned to Dark Form and plummeted to the ground, fusing his claws with the shadows. Sharp dark spikes stabbed upward all the way to the ceiling, keeping Yukari from cowering out with her gaps.

She instead used a rather...interesting method to deal with them. She opened a pair of gaps and used bent street sighs as swords to slice through the the darkness, discarding and replacing them after one use.

She did so until the light's presence faded, and Mew had no shadows to rely upon.

He pulled his hands out feeling more than a little agitated at his lack of forward progress. But this felt like an opportunity he'd been needing, and he took it without hesitation to attack full force.

He neared Yukari, his drive to push forward still at its peak. She then fanned her face and whispered, "Border of Light and Dark."

In the near blink of an eye Mew found himself swinging his katana at a street sign she wielded like a sword. He gazed blankly over himself, now back in Light Form.

Having caught him confused, Yukari flexed her powers again and turned him back to Dark Form, his momentum continuing to push him into her sign. She swung it at his neck, forcing a pained gasp to expunge from his lungs as he hurtled all the way to the other wall.

She then stabbed her sign through a gap and a dozen of them spiked out behind Mew, propelling him back over to her, where she used her parasol to whack him atop his head.

He crashed into the ground, forced to bend dangerously close to it. He heard his knees crack under pressure, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to spring back up to try and uppercut her under the jaw.

She pulled back slightly and Mew redirected his strength into his feet, whipping around to kick her in the face.

He was forced back into Light Form right at the moment of impact, and though there was a resounding crack, not even Yukari's smile changed in the slightest.

Mew gripped his katana and swung it around out the sheath but was forced back to Dark Form, losing his range advantage. Yukari leaned her head back, leaving the tip of his claws to graze her nose like a breeze.

She withdrew into her gap and reappeared atop the arena. Gesturing her hand out, she shielded herself from below and then summoned gaps below the barriers.

Flashes of light and dark forewarned of the coming rain of rays bombarding the battlefield. Mew was feeling less than confident that he could prevail against this attack with Yukari holding his control between forms hostage.

Nevertheless he gripped his fists taut and weaved around the rays as he rose higher and higher. But when he got above the barriers Yukari had her parasol at the ready, striking him square in the chest with a piercing beam of gold.

The attack grazed his heart and made his body plummet further. By the time he recovered a beam of light scathed him down the center and shoved him down into the corner of the arena.

There two more rays hit in rapid succession, burning through his already dwindling stamina. He panted hard and cut open a dark rift, slipping into it before another ray could burn it away.

He sucked in some of the darkness around to try and recover some of the lost energy, only to then feel a chill up his spine.

"Hello." Whispered Yukari in his ear.

Before he could even consider turning she grabbed his shoulder in a paralyzing vice and flung him out this realm via her gap, putting him right in the middle of a massive ray of light.

Pinned to the ground for three seconds, he felt the darkness being shaved off him like it was his flesh, surviving only through the sheer grit his life of fighting had built up after all this time.

When the light faded Mew pulled himself up like his limbs were attached to strings and let out a blood-curling gasp, raising a hand to his throbbing head...Only to find he was wearing the grieves of his Light Form.

He then craned his head back and watched helplessly as darkness came crashing down upon him, with all the intense, cold hatred of the underworld behind it.

The energy cascaded out as a shockwave, mixing with the remnants of the light and spreading out partway up the walls. Mew still stood, but it was any wonder as to how. He looked like he'd just greeted the sun, and his eyes were hazed over, the life in them slowly flickering out.

His body forced up a cough of smoke and blood and his knees began to fall. He put one fist on the ground and fought the combined forces of pain and gravity that tried to hold him down, just to stand and look back up at Yukari.

She floated there, looking as dainty as a spring flower, but her heart as cold as winter frost. It wasn't a look of hate she gleamed at him, but rather one of disinterest and perhaps, disappointment.

She waved her fan before her smiling face and remarked, "The story nears its end. It does my heart no joy to be the one to close this book forever, but..."

She gestured the fan at him once more to say, "This is the price that must be paid upon those who seek the 'truth'."

Mew's hands rattled, the effort he put into closing them into fists rippling up to his brain like a sharp bolt. He grit his teeth and forced his head up, raising his tattered wings off the ground as blood dripped out the sides of his mouth.

"I-Its...not over...yet!"

"So has been said before," Yukari said, sounding rather amused, "By the one before you. At least, his words shared the same sentiment, though perhaps with a lot more frustration than what you feel now."

Mew took one step forward and his muscles spasmed, spitting blood out at the seams. He held his ground and pulled his fists back, trying to draw upon the power of darkness while standing in the light.

But the darkness fizzled out, his mind in pain at the thought of even trying, given what became of him before.

"_I-If I could just use Chaos Form like Riku, I'd win...!" _Mew believed this with utmost certainty, but the more he believed in the possibility, the more it broke him up inside. His smiled curled into a scowl of frustration as he felt the weight of his past failures catch up to him one at a time.

He only survived Mr. Reality because of the Gaia Temporis. He only bested the Leviathan because of outside forces. Joe Dark would have ended him had "D." not intervened. He failed to finish Gravitus off. He could not truly defeat Alex on his own. He failed against Justek without Riku's assistance. He was only an obstacle against Ba'al. And Beerus was prepared to end his life like it was any of the others he had snuffed out.

And now, without a scar to her name, Yukari was set to end his life swiftly and beautifully.

It crushed his soul with immeasurable weight, and with it his arms fell to his sides as he let out a lifeless gasp and felt his face collapse upon itself in despair.

"_I couldn't be there for Shina...I couldn't reassure Riku...I've failed Maria, I've failed Auris. I can't even defeat the person in front of me...!" _Tears rolled down Mew's cheeks as he pleaded to an unknown power, "What the HELL am I even good for...?!"

"Do you sincerely not know the answer to that question?" Yukari suddenly chimed in, closing her eyes as she continued on with a pitying whisper, "The answer to that has always been with you. If you cannot even acknowledge that 'truth', however, then your life truly was as wasteful as you believe it to be."

Mew stared long at her face as she shook her head and peered her eyes open slightly, flicking her fan shut to give him her full attention, "You were created to blend in with humanity, and to that extent I must commend how well of a job was done on you. This rage, this frustration, it feels as genuine as can be."

"But it comes with all the flaws and weaknesses," She said bluntly, following through with a playful giggle "Though, that is what I love about you all."

Gaps began to spread open around her slowly, guided towards Mew with the gentle wave of her hand, "It is a shame our first official meeting had to be our last, Phoenix of Rebirth. But this game has reached its conclusion, and you only have yourself to blame for making the wrong moves."

Mew stood completely still with his head hung and his body feeling limp, thinking to himself, _"Maybe it would be better if I didn't burden anyone anymore..."_

"_Do you really believe that, Mew?" _

Mew heard a voice from out of nowhere and opened his eyes, finding himself in the dark recesses of his mind. He looked around but couldn't find anyone, even though with such a familiar voice it should've been easy to see them.

"_Come on. You're not supposed to be the mopey one. You going to let that witch tear you down too?" _

"A-Alex...?!" Mew could hardly believe what he was hearing. He must really be going crazy...

"_The answer's always been with you. Think about it. What's the strongest thing you've got?"_

Mew stayed still and stared at his hands.

"_Idiot, try a little more inward." _

Mew laid a hand on his slowly beating chest and murmured, "My...heart?"

The voice went silent and Mew found himself back in reality, staring up at Yukari.

The Youkai had paused, her skin feeling cold and a creeping sensation crawling up the back of her neck.

"Impossible..." She whispered, in turn, summoning even more gaps to her aid.

Mew stared wide-eyed up at the gaps and felt a spark of determination in his heart. Gripping his fist against his chest, his stare became a glare.

"_I understand now. My heart is connected to so many others. I've felt their emotions, and they've felt mine..." _Closing his eyes, feeling no sense of dread, fear, or pain, he connected both light and darkness with the beat of his soul, _"It doesn't matter how far away we are. Our bonds still keep us together. Maybe I can't keep my own emotions together...But I don't have to do this alone."_

As his thoughts went deeper and deeper into his memories, he began to see flashes of the people he's come to meet along the way, their spirits radiating with their strongest emotions.

"_Riku's worries."_

"_Joe Dark's determination."_

"_Auris' sorrows."_

"_Maria's mischievousness."_

"_Alura's curiosity."_

"_Saturn's enthusiasm."_

"_Gabriel's tranquility."_

"_Solaris' grumpiness."_

"_Lunis' optimism."_

"_Mars' empathy."_

"_Neptune's love."_

"_Jupiter's spirit."_

"_Mr. Reality's longing."_

"_Shina's cheerfulness..."_

"_Kairi's patience..."_

"_My stubbornness, and..."_

At the end of the path Alex's silhouette came to him through the fire and flames of his soul, holding his hand out and inviting him with a smile.

"_Alex's rage."_

In his head, all their voices echoed as one as he thrust his open, the left glowing white, the other glowing black, "TOGETHER...!"

A pulse of power exuded out of Mew's body, wiping out all of Yukari's gaps and shredding up part of her parasol as she held it out in defense.

Then, enveloped by bands of light and darkness, Mew's body began to levitated off the ground. Yukari grimaced, watching as cracks formed all over the barrier, and a single bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face.

"Well well, its not often I get to feel surprised." She commented amusingly.

The chrysalis began to unravel, the tremors radiating off Mew contained only within this confined space. And from the radiating light and darkness unfurled a pair of Phoenix wings, one black and one white, attached to his back.

A leather two-colored "X" was strapped over his shoulders and thighs with three rivets etched through it. Underneath it is a long coat, gray with a slight tint of red to it, with the collar around his neck popped up, looking and behaving like lingering flames. Attached to the left part of the belt of his nylon stitched pants was one sword with two blades, both made of sleek, crystallized light and darkness.

The light in his eyes solidified and he turned them upon Yukari, grabbing hold of the hilt on his new sword with confidence.

"You were right, Yukari, the 'truth' I needed was inside me all along!" He drew his sword out and the calming wave of energy unleashed from it healed the wounds in the barrier instantly.

He then gripped the handle tighter until the second blade popped off into the grasp of his other hand. He swung them both down and spread his wings out, a gust of wind pushing out from his feet.

Yukari sat atop her gap, giving this child her full attention with only a smile to show for it.

"Maybe I'm not the toughest, or the smartest. I make dumb decisions, say dumb things, and hell, I'm a hopeless, jobless single father! Not exactly the best looking resume for an Elemental Overlord, but frankly I don't care!" Mew's eyes were fired up with determination as he declared, "I'll do everything I can with my weak self to save those close to me, so that they can live out their dreams in a brighter tomorrow! I'll protect them, as their sword, AND THEIR SHIELD!"

He took his sword up before his face, then swung it down, unleashing a fiery red aura around his body, "My bonds give me strength, and give them theirs!"

"Here I come...YUKARI!"

**Phoenix of Rebirth Reborn: Mew Whiter (Chaos Hope Form)**

Yukari withdrew her smile and pointed her fan out. But the very second it graced the air Mew was off, his movements twisting the fabric of time and space around the path he traveled.

He appeared behind her and her heart skipped a beat as the cold touch of his dark blade tapped the back of her neck.

She glanced back and tried to retreat into her gap, only for a bolt of darkness to pierce through it and drag her out into the open.

She spun around and floated in place, brushing the spot she was struck, only to find a hole had been burned into her clothes.

Narrowing her glare towards Mew, she thrust her fan forward and called forth the wrath of the heavens to smite him from above. He swungs his blades up and lashed them down, smashing the energy into a splatter across the sky.

Yukari braced herself against it with a barrier only for it to crack at the seams immediately, whereas Mew's follow-up swing of air finished the job.

He then extended the length of his blades with energy and whipped two thick waves of it across the arena. He then plunged towards where they cross, the warping speed dragging the energies into Yukari while he emerged on the other side.

It took a second for her body to comprehend the pain it was experiencing, and the energy hadn't even hit yet. Her body erupted and tossed her higher, before gravity then took her to the floor.

Mew flipped back and connected his swords together into a miniature railgun, fusing light and darkness into one powerful blast from the cylinder.

Yukari struggled to hide away in her gap when the world looked like it was coming apart at the seams around her. Even in the sanctity of her realm the eyes that watched over her were squirming slightly, their presences being twisted by the force of Mew's attacks.

Yukari chuckled, though not with her usual enthusiasm, "This is a little exciting, I must admit."

She rose out of the ground through one of her gaps and pointed her parasol in the air, firing off a golden beam at Mew.

Mew deflected it without even looking with his foot and then dove down to greet her. She hopped away, pressing her entire body against the winds he kicked up on impact so her parasol could be poised in his direction.

He shifted to the left in an instant, then all the way to the right, her parasol barely keeping a bead on him before suddenly, he was directly in front of her and smiling.

He slashed both blades up to dice her parasol to ribbons and force her body into the back wall. Mew then stabbed both blades together end-to-end to create a long javelin, dragging in the light and darkness from other realms to feed its power.

Yukari's eyes widened and she summoned twenty tiers worth of barriers, some of her own making, others stolen from other worlds. The best defenses she could have mustered, all standing between her and her opponent.

But as a last resort, she was prepared to seal Mew's weapons away within her gap forever.

Mew flung the mighty spear without hesitation and it immediately shattered through five of the barriers in the first assault. He held his hand out, grasping it with his raw determination as the shockwaves reverberated out towards the arena's barrier and began breaking it apart.

Yukari watched the spear be shredded taking upon the pressure the barriers put on it. But it continued to advance without an end to its charge in sight. Halfway through her defenses her body began to tremble. Three-quarters of the way through and it was only half-gone, and her body began to sweat.

She knew this cold feeling where her heart once stood. It was fear, a fear of death, nonetheless.

Down to the last three barriers, Yukari's smile was gone, and she extended her hand to put her all into fueling the final barrier. It blossomed like a beautiful spring violet, growing to be greater than the rest of the barriers combined.

The spear crashed into the center of it and cracks immediately formed on the surface. Yukari's nose bled, and she squeezed her hand into a fist to tighten the aegis' defenses.

Mew retaliated by shoving his hand forward furiously and squeezing his own fist, condensing the rest of the spear down to a perfect, seamless form.

Yukari's hand recoiled over her head right as the last barrier went down, filling her sights with visions of pink glass, which soon morphed into cherry blossoms. She saw herself as she was long, long ago, running through the roads of yesteryear's tomorrow, holding onto the hand of an old friend with brown-ish hair and a black hat.

This flash of the past ended as reality came crashing down upon her. The lance struck the gap she had laid in its path, and shattered a massive gash through the dimensions before finally being stopped.

Yukari was sent recoiling off the wall and the lance broke into its two halves to return to Mew's hands, as he leaped forward for could be determined as his final attack.

Yukari could move, but felt there was no point to trying. Time slowed to a crawl, making Mew move at a normal pace in her eyes. With but less than a second before he rendered his judgment with the manifestation of his spirit, Yukari pondered the irony of this moment.

"_To think, I buried you in the deepest abyss...Only for your light to rise, shining brighter than ever before." _

All she could see behind Mew was the spirit of Alex Whiter, mirroring and guiding his brother's actions with an intensity in his eyes she would almost consider...nostalgic.

"_Destruction...The flame of rage meant to burn all worlds to ash."_

"_Balance...The spirit of a warrior meant to unite all elements together once more."_

"_And Rebirth...The soul of empathy meant to resonate with those around him, invoking their own personal rebirth."_

"_I did everything right. And I would do it all again in a heartbeat. There is no consequence worth undertaking when it comes to protecting that which you cherish the most." _

"_I guess today...You understood that lesson more than I ever did, Mew Whiter." _

Mew cleaved right down the center of her body right as time resumed. Yukari froze there, letting blackness rupture free from her wound, with her body beginning a slow, painless descent towards the ground.

"_...So. This is what karma feels like. Its very...liberating."_

The barrier around them shattered, and slowly Yukari turned her head to the left.

There she saw that brown-haired girl from her dreams clutching her hands against her chest and crying out in a muted voice.

And, with a smile on her merry face, Maribel Hearn reached her hand out towards this person and whispered, _"I'm sorry...Renko."_

Yukari crashed and tumbled along the ground, her black mass dispersing into mist around her. Mew descended to the ground and with one brief gasp of relief, his body reverted back to its base form and he walked on up to his defeated foe.

He pointed his sword at her and grinned as she began to turn her disheveled head up.

Before he could make a cool comment he was suddenly whacked on the back of the head and grimaced, turning around to find Reimu was the culprit.

"Ow, what the...I forgot you guys were even here!" He rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head.

"You don't get to exterminate this one. That's my job." Reimu said, putting her foot down for once in her life.

Marisa stood by with her hands behind her head and an excited grin on her face, "Looks like you guys had a big fight in there! Too bad we couldn't see any of it."

"I-I wasn't going to kill her!" Mew proclaimed, utterly baffled.

"Of course not," Yukari said with an amused chuckle, propping herself upright with the help of yet another parasol from out of nowhere, "This one isn't like that."

"Eugh...!" Marisa recoiled with shock, flailing her hands before her body.

Mew turned to Yukari and saw that her scar was spilling out a black mass filled with eyes similar to what lied hidden in her gaps. With half her face gone like that her smile looked really unnerving.

Mew stood there squirming with a pale look in his eyes as Yukari's scar was stitched back together by goop colored like the clothes and skin she wore. And then she was back together, good as new.

Reimu calmly tapped her gohei over her shoulder while the Youkai turned her head and smiled, "Awww, were you worried about me, Reimu?"

"Feh...! Go back to sleep you gap hag." Reimu said, her face twisted up in annoyance.

"Heh heh heh!" Yukari giggled like a little girl.

Mew dispelled his sword and then crossed his arms gently before his chest, "Alright, you promised."

Yukari turned towards him and with no animosity given she nodded her head and said, "Yes, and I shall keep my word."

She gestured her parasol to the right and opened a gap as tall as her, stepping one foot into it while remarking rather eerily, "Are you sure you're ready for what's to come next?"

Mew brushed his shoulders up and murmured, "No going back right?"

He began to step into the gap when suddenly Reimu began tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, "Hey, Yukari."

The Youkai turned her head over her shoulder as the shrine maiden told her, "When you get back, we need to **talk**."

Yukari closed her eyes and sighed, "Yes. I agree."

She then turned to Mew and said, "Shall we?"

Mew nodded and the two entered the gap together. Now, all that stood between him and the future...was a 'truth' he might not be prepared to learn.

_Next Time: A Vow, a Secret, a Poison_


	82. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81: A Poisonous Truth**

One last breath before the end, that's what Mew was allotted before he reached his ultimate destination. He had put a lot of ideas in his head about what the "higher-ups" residency was like. He expected to be greeted by a massive starry expanse with newly forming galaxies far beneath his eyes. He thought the fires of creation would burn brighter than any sun in the skies above him. That all manner of elements new and old would stretch before the lands like an endless sea.

What he got was...nothing. And disappointment.

His first step out of Yukari's gap made no sound for there was nothing for sound to be made with. All his surroundings were perfectly blank and white, a canvas with no work put into it.

This was pure nothingness, which all of creation will someday break down and become. Every life, every planet, every soul, will not even carry the memory of its existence.

Here, in this infinite void, Yukari stepped up behind Mew and giggled, unfazed by surroundings that have become a natural playground for her to step around in.

"Welcome to The Outside, the realm that borders the Omniverse." She introduced the place with a residual tone of calm in her voice.

"The Omniverse?!" Mew said, grasping just how big a scale that put them on at the moment. Looking down immediately for any sign of other universes, his actions amused Yukari.

"Oh don't bother. You won't find anything here on your own," She then gracefully stepped forward past him, plunging the tip of her parasol into the ground, and offering him one look back, "So, have you made your final preparations?"

Mew clutched a fist over his beating chest and nodded slowly, "I'm ready whenever."

Yukari smiled and tapped the ground three times. Her hair rose like in the middle of a squall, and a violet aura surrounded her, "By my rite as one of the Four Guardians, I request the presence of the 'higher-ups' immediately."

A subtle ripple went through her surroundings, and the air began to turn calm and warm. Mew looked around a bit, before suddenly finding his head forced front-and-center as a gleaming source of light appeared far, far away.

Slithering forth from the nothingness it called its domain, the light manifested into a physical shape: A serpentine dragon whose length seemed to have no end in sight. Its jaw was rugged, its snout rectangular. A two-pronged mustache draped past the sides of its face, appearing like milky waves of cosmic gases. Its scales on its face were like a reflection of the morning dawn, while the ones on its back reflected the appearances of the millions of worlds he had breathed life into.

The dragon had no arms or legs to speak of, nor a mouth to speak forth from, and in a rather way undignified show of its majesty, it had no horns either. But it needed none of these to strike Mew's nerves cold as the blackest of space could. Its eyes were haunting like a red giant seen from up close, and its pupils consumed all around it like a pair of black holes.

"S-So...big!" Was all Mew could muster, and that was truly an understatement. He was being pushed down just by looking at this entity from afar. If the entity got any closer, its presence alone would warp entire galaxies around itself.

But the entity was still, only waving its elongated body a minuscule amount, and keeping its eyes focused solely on the two of them.

"_**Yukari Yakumo, what is the purpose behind this summons?" **_The entity spoke and just like that, it felt as though a thousand cosmos' would bow to it.

Yet Yukari playfully twirled her parasol up before her head and met the creature eye-to-eye from this distance, "You come alone, O' Great Creator?"

"_**There were affairs the other two needed to attend to, I alone will suffice." **_

"As well as you should. You are the perfect candidate to answer this boy's questions." Yukari turned aside and stepped back, putting Mew in the limelight.

Mew dropped one knee and bowed his head like a knight to a king, "I-I've been looking forward to meeting you, u-uhhh...!"

"_**You...!" **_This almighty entity showed momentary surprise, not rage, not disappointment, and upon this emotion's passing he resumed his sagely tone, _**"Raise your head, Mew Whiter, Phoenix of Rebirth."**_

Mew slowly stood up then frantically brushed off the front of his shirt before shoving his hands behind his back and stiffening upright.

"_**No need to be so rigid child," **_The dragon said, sounding a little amused, _**"I am Futanji Shinryu, the Arbiter of all your Worlds and the one in charge of the 'higher-ups'." **_

The dragon's voice then cracked a little as he inquired, _**"I...presume that Sarajin told you about me, correct?"**_

Mew flinched and then stuttered back, "W-Wrong guy, I never got to speak with him."

"_This is a lot more...pleasant than I was expecting."_

Futanji let out another sigh and then wobbled his head, _**"Yes, I was mistaken. A pity, at that, that he is not."**_

Mew blinked a few times until the dragon's sterner voice made him stop, _**"So, why have you come before me?"**_

"_Is...is this really the same being who's wiping out entire worlds and timelines?" _Mew's doubts were clouding his determination, but once he shook his head he was back on track instantly, _"No, focus, you might be getting deceived. Still, I..." _

Mew's heart pounded as he took a couple steps forward, fighting the monstrous pressure the one called Futanji exuded so that he may stand eye-to-eye with him as Yukari just had.

"Futanji...Uhhh, do you mind if I just call you Futanji?"

"_**If that makes you comfortable, certainly." **_The dragon replied, amused.

Mew's eyes widened and he swallowed briefly in hesitation, "O-Ok then uhhh...Futanji."

Mew swallowed even harder and then with a heart-wrenching gasp he stiffened his head upright and stared deep into the dragon's eyes, his whole body fighting hard to stop shaking.

"I...I want to make a request to you, if you're willing to hear me out."

"_**Go right ahead."**_ He said without hesitation.

Mew raised his right arm out and drew his sword into his hand. Futanji floated there, waiting, anticipating, but all Mew had to show was his blade. No fighting spirit, no aggression, none of that.

"If you could just promise not to destroy my home at all, then I'll become the next true Elemental Overlord, just like Sarajin was."

Futanji laid frazzled, Yukari in turn whispering in intrigue, "Such boldness. However..."

Futanji breathed his heaviest sigh to date, his head bobbing like that of a tired old man's. Through his withered maw, came a release of regret, _**"So that is what this is all about. I suspected such a topic would come to my ears eventually, ever since Justek Arcavira made his move. But to think that you would also come at me with such a brazen request..."**_

"_**Unfortunately, I have to deny said request." **_

Mew's eyes popped wide-open and he dropped his arm to his hip while wondering aloud, "H-Huh? W-W-Why not...?!"

"_**Because of a promise I made to Sarajin not so long ago." **_The dragon said, his tone nostalgic.

"...**You** made a promise to **HIM**?" Was the last thing Mew expected to hear from the omniversal observer and it was kind of throwing him for a loop mentally.

"_**I empathize with your surprise child. There is much you do not know about Sarajin, and in turn, nothing you know about who I am and what I do. Which has led to this misunderstanding, and our meeting here and now." **_

Mew dispelled his sword and waved his hand out, his eyes permanently glued wide-open in disbelief, "Misunderstanding is an understatement! I assumed the old Elemental Overlord was your slave, but you're coming off like you two were-"

"_**Friends. Yes," **_It seemed like the mighty dragon was smiling, an act far more unnerving than his natural presence gave off, _**"The most unlikely of them, but friends nonetheless."**_

Mew stared at the ground with his mouth agape. Throwing his hand into the air he plopped onto his rear and laid his hands flat by his hips. Feeling thoroughly drained all over he found himself saying out loud, "I-I was expecting there to be more resistance in coming here. Like, I had you pegged as some quick tempered demon with a big foreboding appearance..."

"_**Some see me as such, others see differently. The perception of my form changes according to the nature of the soul," **_Futanji wiggled his head closer to the ground and whispered, _**"Tell me child, what shape do I take before you now?"**_

Mew stared at Futanji and told him instantly, "You...look like a dragon of some sort."

"_**Then you gaze upon my true form and are welcomed," **_Futanji seemed to smile some more, _**"For mine is the shape of a friend."**_

It was a lot of sweet talk and honesty but how much of it truly came from the dragon's heart and not only his tongue? Mew stared at the entity that could end entire universes and found it hard to believe that anyone with this sort of attitude could ever commit such heinous acts...If they were being sincere. For all he knew they could just be saying what he wants to hear. It'd be easy for an omnipotent being to do so.

But for as easy as Mew made it sound, he went along with the dragon's kindness anyways by asking him, "So then...what was the deal you made with Sarajin? And...what does that have to do with me?"

"_**It has everything to do with you. You and your brothers," **_Futanji admitted, _**"Sarajin made a fatal mistake long, long ago that cost him his right to live. But out of respect for his selfless acts, I went along with all his requests regarding how his punishment should...To choose a world of which to lay his powers to rest...And also, the place where his successor would one day come to take them."**_

"_**He chose to carry the weight of all his sins alone on one condition...That his successor would not be interfered with. Hence why this is our first meeting, child, and why I cannot have you replace him." **_

"Really?" Mew said, taken aback.

"_**He wanted to train his successor alone, learning from his mistakes to ensure that the same tragedy would not happen again..." **_Futanji sighed, _**"But it seems he was mistaken with his successor, and it nearly cost everything...And in a way, it still did. His soul has been lost, dragged under by the Phoenix of Destruction's flames."**_

"_**In a way...this was my failure." **_

Mew stood up and waved his hands out, "You had nothing to do with what happened with Alex!"

Futanji turned his head ever-slightly and chuckled, _**"You warm my heart with your words, child...But you are mistaken."**_

"_**For it was my decision to trust the Phoenix of Destruction's worth over my instincts that set him free from our trial, and unleashed him back unto the world." **_

"T-Trial?" Mew stood agape.

"_**For the crime of the destruction of the Marvel Universe." **_Futanji stated plainly.

Mew had to close his eyes and shake his head viciously to get over what he was hearing, "S-S-So that was true?! Alex actually...?"

"_**That matter remains uncertain. We suspected foul play from another, but have been unable to determine the source," **_Futanji sighed, _**"But given the true nature of the beast, I wonder how much of our suspicions were true, or mere deceit..." **_

All this had Mew thinking out loud, "What happened is terrible but like...Why would anyone be judged for that?"

As Futanji turned his head so that only one eye was on him, Mew felt a chill down his spine and lowered his voice a tad, "I-I mean, you guys destroy entire worlds...Don't you?"

Futanji was silent, the lack of any presence in the room suddenly making the air feel more stale and inhospitable. Finally the dragon breathed new life into this void, and did so with a major sigh.

"_**Of that, there is no misunderstanding involved. We 'higher-ups' govern the nature of all worlds and timelines under creation...And that includes both creation, and destruction." **_

Mew's heart was stung and he immediately lashed out with, "But why?! You're killing so many people and-"

"_**You think me ignorant of such matters...?" **_Futanji raised his voice just a little and Mew's skin began to crawl off his flesh, _**"When my scales beat as one with the hearts of all worlds I created? Does my form appear so hollow, that I do not ache when blood is spilled, or my children poisoned?" **_

Mew didn't budge an inch. It could be argued he wasn't even looking, or thinking.

Futanji relaxed, and the void relaxed with him. Mew breathed out deeply while the dragon remarked, _**"Forgive me for raising my voice." **_

One thing Mew knew for sure. That came from a genuine place in the dragon's heart. So he had to ask again, more carefully this time, "So why...?"

"_**Why...?" **_The dragon had to pause for an extended while to think, _**"I find myself asking that a lot more than I'd care to admit." **_

"_**...I sense there is a lot weighing on your mind...The guilt and pain of your loved ones, and a great confusion in your own heart...And I am to blame for that?"**_

Mew stood up and looked at the dragon's eyes, seeing a glint of regret muting out his sun-like irises, "I just want to know that we'll be safe."

"_**A sense of security is the greatest gift one can receive..." **_Futanji bowed his head in a nod and murmured, _**"You are owed the truth, if you will allow me to speak it."**_

Mew gave a half a smile and shrugged, "Its half the reason I came here."

"_**Very well," **_Futanji settled in the air gently and looked at Mew directly, _**"It all starts from the beginning, as all things do."**_

"_**Humans call the creation of the universe the 'Big Bang'. In truth, that event is known as the 'True Birth'. The energies that forced itself outward, creating the atoms and molecules that would become the building blocks of the universe...Were in actuality, the shell of the egg of which I was born from."**_

"_**I was forced into being by the 'True Birth', and with my creation...Came a shadow."**_

"_**Akumu Jigokuryu, an entity of unquenchable malice that fought for the right to own all of creation. We fought bitterly as the universe was born beneath us. Blood spilled to form the cosmos, and from his wretched bones came forth the first demons, as my scales shed the matter of which the first angels were born."**_

"_**The outcome was decided only by a hair's thread, as in a decisive moment, I locked my jaw around Akumu's neck, and twisted his head immobile. But the deed had already been done. Creation's beginning was already proving to be its end."**_

"_**Our blood had spilled across the vast void our battle took place in. Mustering the powers of creation within me, I began to shape the first worlds by instinct, and fill them with life. In turn, I gave them protection, shielding them from the harsh toxicity of my blood. Yes, what all life refers to as space is merely our blood, hardened black from age. And the stars you gaze lovingly at in the night sky, are the electrons that stirred in my blood."**_

"_**When all universes had been shaped by my will, I encapsulated each of them in their own bubble, keeping them from interacting with one another through deception of the highest caliber. The universe you know is vast, yes, but not nearly as infinite as you may have once thought. One with the proper will or imagination will find their universes to be much smaller, much more easily traversed. Thus, travel to other universes tends to be very, very difficult for all but the brightest few."**_

"_**And these clusters of smaller universes are bound together into one big universe with Akumu's bones acting as the spine that binds it together, his imprisonment acting as a permanent solution to an unstoppable problem."**_

Mew took this pause as a cue to ask him a question, "So all the worlds are...connected to you?"

"_**Through my blood, yes," **_Futanji then remarked, _**"And with it, comes weaknesses." **_

"_**The destruction of any world wounds me temporarily, as does the erasure of the stars, as Justek Arcavira demonstrated to you not long ago. And then there is...The Poison."**_

"...The Poison?" There was a dreadful feeling settling in Mew from the dragon's words and Yukari, having been rather silent up until now, began to twist her hands around her parasol.

"_**Yes, The Poison. A phenomena that digs its roots into the hearts of any world it touches. We do not know its origin exactly, but we know what carries it..." **_Futanji's pause added more to the sense of dread in the void before we uttered, _**"'Blanks'."**_

"Blanks?" Mew's skin suddenly turned cold, like a part of him felt as though he _recognized_ that word.

"_**There are many ways in which a 'Blank' can be referred to as. In terms according to humans though, you could think of them as a 'self-insert'." **_

Mew closed his eyes partway and stuttered, "S-Self-insert? Those are like...original characters put into other fictional worlds right?"

"_**The principle remains the same for our reality as it does for your writing. An 'Author', as we call them, creates and disperses their 'Blanks' among our worlds. Through these 'Blanks', an 'Author' can corrupt the very nature of the world they appear in, twisting the minds of its inhabitants to feed an ever-growing sense of grandeur."**_

"_**But in doing so...they give birth to The Poison."**_

"_**The nature of the soul is malleable...To an extent. Just because a being does not show love does not mean they cannot express it. But an 'Author' is ravenous. They cannot accept normal love. They must be worshiped through their 'Blank'. They must do so, even if it means devolving the object of their affection into a drooling, depraved creature. But that is just one way an 'Author' exerts their corruption. Other 'Blanks' are made to be the strongest, shattering the fundamental rules placed upon each world so that they can be seen as 'Gods'. Others deny the reality before them and set out to create their perfect world. To them there can be no flaws. Everyone in the world must act, speak, and live perfectly."**_

"_**But no matter the intent, what they do is wrong. These worlds unfold as they do for a reason, I know as I was born to govern them."**_

"_**But The Poison seeps off the corrupted bodies, drenches the ground they walk upon, and slowly but surely it spreads to infect the entire world and all those who inhabit it. By then they are no longer my children...They have been lost to the 'Author's' control."**_

"So then...you have to destroy them?" Mew was taking things in stride pretty well all things considered, "Couldn't you just remove The Poison before it spreads?"

"_**If only it were that simple. The Poison spreads fast once it is unleashed upon the world itself, and my connection to the worlds causes me to become paralyzed."**_

"_**That is why our numbers are three. While I am incapacitated, my other two colleagues work to try and stop the spread of The Poison by hunting down the 'Blank' that has infected the world, and then containing it in The Outside for eternity."**_

"_**The 'Authors' are unaware of our presence at first, so it is easy to track them down with some powerful magic. Then, someone with the ability to control or stop time is able to render them catatonic so the 'Author' cannot connect to them again. If we succeed in stopping the 'Blank', the 'Author' rarely attempts to try again...Though we do not know the reason why."**_

"...And if you fail, that's when the world needs to be destroyed?"

"_**Its a calculated cost," **_Futanji noted, albeit with a heavy sigh, _**"Because The Poison does not discern between boundaries, or time, or space. Once its fully taken hold of one world, it seeks to spread itself out towards others. It swims through the bloodstream, corrupting everything in its path."**_

"_**But it always moves towards the center of everything, as if...Heeding a call."**_

"_**Think of each individual timeline as the root of a tree..." **_To aid in his example, Futanji summoned a glowing abstract effigy of a tree directly in front of Mew. One of the roots was grimy and purple, representing The Poison.

"_**One root accidentally sucks up The Poison, and over time it crawls up towards the main body..." **_The Poison follows along with Futanji's words, making its way up to the trunk. But when it arrived there, suddenly it began to spread out in a radial pattern, touching the others roots beside it.

"_**It does not stop just because it reaches the top. It spreads to the other roots, other timelines, and infects them as well." **_

"_**And in time..." **_The whole tree wilted with purple darkness, _**"All would become The Poison." **_

Mew stared, his eyes shaking as the image of the corrupt tree was withdrawn, "That's...that's terrifying."

"_**Many timelines have had to be trimmed off to save the omniverse. More than I would care to admit. I have had to watch...so many lives perish due to my decisions, or lack thereof. I wish I could do more, save more lives...But time and time again I find myself powerless against The Poison." **_

"_**So my children suffer, so my children cry, and I can provide them no savior..."**_

The dragon hung his head and looked away, drawn into his own sense of powerlessness. It was an almost...human response.

Mew hung his head for a moment and then looked at Futanji sternly to try and cheer him up, "But we're still here. So you must be doing **something** right, yeah?"

Futanji nudged a little closer and seemed to be trying to smile, _**"...It is true that The Poison and thus the 'Blanks' have been appearing less and less over time. The measures we've implemented to fight against it have certainly helped. But there is always this lingering sense of dread that one wrong move could lead to the end of everything."**_

Mew looked the dragon straight in the eyes and was starting to see less of an omnipotent being, and more of a tired, withering old man who just wants to lie down and finally rest. The majesty of its form did well to hide the scars its guilt had created.

In a strange sort of way, Futanji's feelings towards the world felt similar to Riku's.

Mew closed his eyes and thought about all that he's heard up until this point and commented so far, "I think I'm starting to piece it together now. What happened to Beerus' world is that you had to stop a 'Blank' from spreading The Poison, but-"

"_**That is incorrect," **_Futanji intervened, _**"Some worlds' actions threaten the boundaries of their universes' all on their own. My two colleagues tried to warn them of such dangers, but the Zenos did not take kindly to that. They destroyed thir universe all on their own, but Beerus blames us for that because we were present."**_

Mew fluttered his eyelashes and then wagged his hand around, "Soooo, just tell them that...? Heck, if you brought any of this up to Auris or Justek they might've understood what happened with Sarajin."

"_**Again, were it so easy," **_Futanji lamented, _**"Though I appear normal sized to you now, I am bigger than the true size of your universe. I cannot manifest my presence without threatening to tear apart multiple universes. As for my colleagues, well, their presence is allowed back into the world only in an emergency, as with the Dragon Ball universe."**_

"_**And so ignorance breeds misunderstandings, which becomes the catalyst for more death and destruction."**_

"_Guess even omnipotent beings have a lot to worry about." _Mew thought, sympathizing with the dragon's strain.

"_**While Sarajin was around that burden was lessened a bit though." **_

"Oh?" Mew was curious.

"_**He offered to help keep the worlds in order, allowing us to put our efforts into better finding and stopping The Poison," **_Futanji chuckled like a dragon half his age, _**"I didn't even ask him to do that for me. He just did it on his own, and that was that."**_

"Sounds like Sarajin was a really great guy."

"_**...Indeed he was. He shall be missed."**_

Mew began to cross his arms and took a moment to think. This was a lot to take in all at once. He was now in the know about something very few knew about...And he didn't quite understand all of it. But the principle of the matter was very clear. There was something terrible going on in the universe.

He waved his hands out towards Futanji and asked him politely, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help out with The Poison?"

"_**I would not go back on my word to allow it," **_Futanji paused with a huff of air, _**"But I acknowledge your sincere desire to help, young Mew. I wish there was more I could do to reassure you."**_

"Haaaa..." Mew laid his hands down and sighed, "Yeah, same here..."

"**After all this time you're still like this, Mew."**

Mew perked up while Futanji outright gasped in surprise. A holy light descended from up high, carrying with it a brown, tattered cloaked man with ghoulish hands and a face hidden behind shadow.

Futanji bowed his head immediately, while Yukari begrudgingly did the same. Mew, however, blinked a few times and then suddenly recognize the figure in question.

"Hey! Chronicler! Its been a really long time buddy!" He raised his hand in a friendly manner.

"_**YOU STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY! BOW YOUR HEAD, CHILD!" **_

Futanji's roar shoved Mew's skin, muscle, flesh and bones right across the void for miles, only for it to immediately snap back and leave him standing paralyzed with his skin completely devoid of color.

The Chronicler laughed and gestured a hand dismissively towards the dragon, "Easy, Futanji Shinryu, the boy and I have met before."

"Yes, we are quite...**acquainted** with each other."

Mew shook his head and stared at Futanji continuing to bow in reverence, then stared gawking back up at the Chronicler, "W-What's going on...? Why is Futanji bowing...?"

The Chronicler smirked and levitated a little closer to the ground, "In my earthly guise, you knew me as the Chronicler. But here...I am God."

Mew recoiled and began stuttering like wild, "G-G-God? As in the big guy? Capital 'G' with a halo, God?"

The Chronicler bowed his head in answer, and Mew threw his hands down and immediately tried to go for a bow, "Holy shit man, I'm really, really sorry! I thought you were-"

"Calm yourself," The Chronicler's voice breathed calmness into Mew's nerves, "You've had a long day. And learned a lot too. How does it feel now, having come this far?"

"Uhhh, I'm not sure exactly," Mew replied, feverishly rubbing the back of his head, "...You were **really** God this whole time?"

The Chronicler chuckled, then descended straight before Mew, "Its admirable that you wish to help stop The Poison. But you do not need to concern yourself with that."

"Why?" Mew wondered aloud.

"Yes, indeed," Yukari interjected with a foul smirk, "Why?"

The Chronicler paid her a moment's glance and then floated up to Mew, placing one of his hands on his shoulder. Mew tried looking him directly in the eyes, but found his vision clouded up with static within the man's hood.

"You've done so much for this universe already. Mr. Reality can live a life of peace. The Dark King is no more. Justek Arcavira has been put to rest, and with it, you have allowed the 'higher-ups' to continue their mission. Gravitus' empire has crumbled, Joe Dark can live out dreams, and the Seven Deadly Sins pose no threat anymore."

"You and your friends have gone far and beyond the pale. All of Sarajin's mistakes have been corrected...Its only a shame that he's no longer with us. I would have gladly undid his punishment and allowed his soul to return to his body."

With one solid pat the Chronicler retreated to the air, bathing in his own holy light, "You have more than earned a life of peace and happiness Mew. Should the day come to fight again, I know you'll be ready. But for now, you should return home, and be with the ones you love."

Mew dwelled on God's words for a moment while rubbing the back of his head, "Well, I guess I did sort-of accomplish what I set out to do to begin with..."

"You can bring reassurance to those around you at long last. And isn't that the greatest gift of all?" The Chronicler said, seeming to smile.

"..." Mew perked his head up and nodded with a smile back, "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

"Futanji," Mew directed his attention towards the dragon, who craned his head back up slightly to look at him, "Thanks for having this talk with me. I know you made that promise and all but if you ever need any help in the future, seriously, just give me a call."

"And Yukari." Mew turned to the Youkai, who took a moment to turn to him and hum in response.

"Sorry for beating you up and having you take me here," Mew said with an awkward grin, "But uhhhh, can you send me back home now? I think I've worried a lot of people in my absence."

Yukari closed her eyes and with a lofty gesture to her left, summoned a gap for him to enter, "This will take you right back to Sancturia. Fare thee well, Mew Whiter, may we meet again someday."

Mew nodded his head and then walked towards the gap, waving back towards the Chronicler, who waved in turn.

The gap sealed tight, and with his departure Futanji no longer had reason to be here.

"_**I must return to my duties. If that is quite alright, Almighty God."**_

"You're dismissed, Futanji Shinryu." The Chronicler said with a gesture of the hand.

And so the mighty dragon dispersed into light and vanished from sight. Thus, leaving only two: The Youkai, and the "God".

Yukari had gotten behind the cloaked man when he wasn't looking, now standing back-to-back with her hands slowly twirling her parasol around, and her eyes staring icy cold towards the ground.

"Such a beautiful farce you put on display there, 'God'."

"Yukari Yakumo..." The Chronicler's voice became far less dignified and more scornful, taunting the lady with no hint of remorse, "Still hanging around, pretending to be relevant?"

"What a laughable dismissal, from a liar and a coward," Yukari closed her eyes and smiled, "'Do not concern yourself with The Poison', spoken from the mouth that spews it the most..."

"Ha!" The Chronicler was quite amused, "You think I'm evil just because I express my creativity upon your worlds? So is an artist evil for painting their thoughts? A musician evil for putting their emotions into words?"

"No," Yukari disagreed, "You are evil because you put the lives of others beneath your own. There is no worth you see in any of us beyond being tools for your amusement."

"This, coming from the great Phantasm herself?" The Chronicler laughed some more, "And this is why you're irrelevant. You've been reduced to barking. Your bite...is no longer a concern."

"You continue to talk big but you've long since lost," Yukari tore him down with her words, "I have dealt with your Phoenix of Destruction, and with it, you no longer have the tools necessary to tear this world down."

"Indeed. Alex Whiter has been discarded. He is of no use to me, nor are Mew and Riku," The Chronicler held his hand in the air dramatically, "I will let them live their lives the way they please. It is of no concern of mine...I do wish them happy times ahead though, they will certainly come to miss them in the days to come."

"You discard your tools yet you still cling on desperately to victory?" Yukari pitied the man with a shake of the head, "Just admit that you have lost, and leave us alone."

"Ha ha ha...you foolish, foolish Youkai," The Chronicler swiped his hand down and laughed some more, "This is only the end of Act 2. And so far, everything has gone according to plan."

"...You make for a terrible liar." Yukari said, her hands twisted around the parasol.

"Do I? Then...I guess you won't believe me when I tell you..." The Chronicler made a sharp turn and clutched tightly onto Yukari's shoulder to whisper in her ear, "The Phoenix of Destruction is still at my disposal. Alex Whiter was always just a _decoy_, and you FELL for it."

Yukari felt a chill across her skin, her hands tightened further around the parasol.

The Chronicler slithered away smirking, "And another thing. You claimed I have **three** 'Blanks'..."

Gesturing his fingers out and wiggling them in one at a time, he closed them all into a fist and chuckled, "Seems to me like you miscounted. There's always been **four**."

Yukari made a sharp turn and thrust her parasol against the Chronicler's neck, raising her voice just a couple decibels higher in disdain, "It doesn't matter what plots you scheme, 'Author'. I will stand against you every step of the way."

The Chronicler pushed the parasol down on one hand and grinned, "You had a taste of power, Yukari Yakumo. But that's all it was. A taste, a suckle off the teat...!"

I control the words. I write the story. You wish to stand against me, when I can see all through the eyes of my creations?

Impossible.

You're nothing more than data to be manipulated.

While here...I AM your programmer, your "God".

"And that, is NO lie," He brushed her parasol off with ease and began to move forward, dispersing into a fine mist, "Now, if you'll excuse me...I must claim a secret someone's been hiding, and then...I will begin the third Act of my Fiction Assimilation Plan."

And when he was gone, Yukari drooped her parasol to the ground, her eyelids heavy with the taste of defeat...For now. She raised the parasol over her shoulder and smirked, "Then I shall prepare for you as well. After all..."

She smiled wide, _"There's some secrets even you can't see."_

She disappeared into her rift, both her and the Chronicler unaware of one more observer who had sneaked their way inside of here.

It was the silver-haired seer, Alvis, perched in the air with one knee bent close to his chin, a curious smile present on his face.

"And thus, thanks to Yukari Yakumo's efforts, we've finally escaped the Cycle of Destruction," He narrowed his gaze with uncertainty and doubts, "But this is only the beginning of the end of everything."

He stood up and tucked his hands in his pockets, "However, we can only rely on the saviors who have yet to appear to change the outcome."

He closed his eyes as he craned his head back, "Yes...we could still wind up repeating this cycle over and over again."

"Or perhaps..." He opened his eyes and took upon a more optimistic outlook, "This shall finally be the future that we've worked so hard to create...Dream Weaver."

_Next Time: One Last Truth_


	83. Final Chapter

Mew walked out of the gap Yukari had opened for him and found himself right back in Sancturia, just as she promised.

And she even conveniently left him out in front of the Aurora household. Though, maybe he's counting his blessings a little too soon on that part.

He looked back and the gap was gone like it had never been there to begin with. He raised his hand wearily towards the space it was and murmured, "Maybe could've put me a little further out from here..."

He drooped his hand with a hefty sigh and then tucked both hands in his pockets to face the door. There was a dim light visible through the windows. And as a matter-of-fact, it was nighttime now. How late, he couldn't tell, just that some stars were visible past the clouds and the sun was hiding away.

But he's been gone for far too long regardless. Even a blind man could see what was coming next for him.

"Well," He laid out a heavy sigh below his chest and then raised his head trying to strut confidently towards the front door, "Better get this over with."

He peeled back the cloth door and headed on inside. The first footstep upon the ground alerted everyone to his presence.

And the number of people in the house had nearly doubled since he left. Now Joe Dark, Alura, Lunis and even Solaris of all people had settled in to the melancholic atmosphere glued inside the house.

Riku was still in the same spot moping a little less than before, and he was the first to notice that his brother had returned. Lunis was in the middle of leaning up to him, probably to comfort him.

Solaris was leaning against the side of the couch but the moment he heard Mew he tilted his head over his shoulder and looked exasperated by his presence.

Gabriel was off to the right with his eyes closed but letting out a sigh and turning his head away from Mew in shame.

Alura was...herself. Nothing to see there. But Joe Dark? Hoo boy, he was **staring** at Mew, like a killer about ready to pounce.

And then there was Kairi. She was on the couch opposite of Riku's with her face buried in her hands and Auris sat down trying to comfort her by rubbing her back.

Yet when Mew walked in she slowly withdrew her hands and looked up at him. Her eyes were awe-struck and dim of vigor. There weren't any proper words to describe the rest of her face without coming off as insulting to this grieving sister.

Auris stood up first and foremost, staring at Mew with her eyes seconds away from tears. She dried her eyes off on her sleeve and then tried to smile, having noticeable difficulty making it look in any way natural.

"W-Welcome back, Mew." She whispered.

Mew pulled his hand up and waved briefly to the crowd, "Hey."

Solaris crimped his biceps with his fingers and pulled off the couch, remarking sardonically towards Mew, "Yeah. Welcome back. Have fun out there?"

Mew tensely swallowed and then with a hasty, nervous grin he looked at Gabriel again, who withdrew his head even further away.

"_I-I guess he couldn't keep it up forever..." _He looked back at Solaris just in time to see the others rising to attend to his return.

Solaris waved his hand out viciously towards him and yelled, "I expected this kind of hooky behavior from someone else! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"He doesn't think, that's the problem." Alura chimed in, focusing her cold eyes upon Mew and this time, they seemed a little nippier than usual.

"C-Can I explain myself before-"

"Explain what?" Joe Dark remarked with scathing disdain as he lanced up to Mew out of nowhere, grabbing and hoisting him against the nearby wall by the collar of his shirt.

Gritting his teeth he growled, "How you abandoned all of us without a word, when Shina was upstairs crying her heart out because she lost her child?!"

Mew started sweating as Joe Dark's knuckles cracked. He through his hands up and told him, "I-I got a very good reason for leaving-"

"There's no such thing you bastard!" Joe Dark grunted and shook Mew against the wall, hoping to rattle some sense into his dumb brain, "I tolerated your loftiness for this long because you're my brother and I thought you were more mature than you let on! But this...? This time you've crossed a line, Mew!"

Mew squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth as Joe Dark wound his fist back.

"Joe! Stop!" Suddenly Kairi barked out an order, and Joe Dark's fist heeled behind his back. He looked back alongside Mew to find Kairi standing up and slowly making her way over.

Her frazzled hair was hung over her eyes but she had a wide, ever-present frown.

Joe Dark spat at her face as she walked up beside him, "He deserves what's coming to him!"

She threw her hand tightly atop his shoulder and moaned without any hint of emotion, "I said, **stop**."

Joe Dark's whole body trembled, and reluctantly he let Mew go, though his body was still full of rage.

Mew patted his shirt down and chuckled in relief, "Whew, thanks for the save Ka-"

It blinded him at mach speed. For a brief second his vision went dark, followed by a terrible, stinging pain coming off his right cheek. He lost all balance and collapsed, sliding back first down the wall.

His ear started ringing like a high-pitched siren, with his eyes staring blankly towards the ground on his left. He slowly panned his gaze upward and saw Kairi's fist, the skin torn off the knuckles and beginning to bleed.

She righted herself upright and stared down with both her eyes trembling, the tear ducts red and swollen and her lips curled into her mouth.

Mew felt minuscule beneath her gaze, and for once, he was out of words to say.

She tightened both her fists and muttered "Bastard!" tearfully. Then she raised her right foot and tried to shove it through Mew's skull, only to intentionally miss and put a hole through the wall next to him.

Mew's heart plummeted, and Kairi pulled her foot back, having scarred up the leg a little.

She then grit her teeth and shouted, "Just go die already!"

Then she turned and ran right out the front door. Gabriel sprung to attention and made a move for the door yelling in a panic, "Kairi, wait!"

"Leave her be, Gabriel." Auris stilled him with such few words.

She walked around the couch and remarked, "I'll go after her."

"...Yes, that's probably for the best." Gabriel sunk back against the wall quietly.

Auris then kept walking until she was a step before the door, upon which she tilted her head towards Mew and whispered, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Mew, rubbing his sore cheek as he began to stand, told her sincerely, "Yeah..."

He tried smiling but the pain forced it back. So instead he chuckled dryly and told her, "We'll talk privately about it later, ok?"

She left it at that and walked out the door. Meanwhile, Mew struggled to keep standing, his knees feeling about as tough as gelatin right now.

He looked at Joe Dark staring bitterly at him and then, taking advantage of this long, awkward pause he pleaded quietly to him, "NOW can I explain myself...?"

Joe Dark crossed his arms together hard and grumbled aloud to himself for a bit, "You've got one last chance."

Mew breathed a heavy sigh and then gestured forward, "Riku, are you listening?"

Riku raised himself up on one arm, sounding like he had just gotten up from a very long nap, "Yeah, brother?"

Mew crossed his arms and smiled, once again forgetting all about the pain response. As he embarrassingly rubbed his cheek he remarked, "You don't have to worry anymore, we're going to be fine."

Riku's eyes widened and he gasped "What?", prompting Mew to nod and tell him, "Yep. I went and had a nice talk with the 'higher-ups'."

He closed his eyes and chuckled, "Turns out there might've been a few instances of miscommunication going on..."

"What are you saying?" Riku pressed further.

"I'm saying our world isn't suddenly going to be erased or anything like that," Mew grinned through his pain and said with a little bit of boasting, "Yep! Your diplomat of a brother sorted it AAAAALL out."

Joe Dark was left scratching his head in frustration and confusion, "I-I'm lost, who the hell are the 'higher-ups'?"

But Riku's more ecstatic voice overwhelmed his brother's confusion, "Y-You really went and did all that...for us?"

"I did it for all of us!" Mew stated proudly.

Gabriel remarked in disbelief, "I honestly can't believe you pull you off."

Joe Dark turned his head back and forth while muttering, "Wait, 'us'? Who's 'us'?!"

Mew promptly ignored him as he walked on up to Riku and patted him on the shoulder, looking him proudly in the eyes and keeping his voice from cracking, "You two can go and live whatever life you want in peace. Think of it as like...an early baby shower gift."

"You two?! BABY SHOWER?!" Joe Dark grabbed and flipped Mew around by the shoulder, his expression a natural mess of confusion at this point as he repeatedly jabbed Mew in the chest, "Are you trying to throw me off to avoid a beating, Mew?!"

Lunis leaned in to Riku's ear and whispered, "Riku, maybe we should...?"

He waved his hand back at her and replied, "No, I-I agree..."

He was fighting back the tears as he stood up and got the gang's attention with a couple rigid cough.

"Everyone..." Once he made sure Joe Dark especially had settled down, he helped Lunis stand and they cupped their hands together, "I'd...like to make an announcement."

"Lunis and I, well..." He turned and looked up into her silvery eyes with a smile, "We're...going to be having a baby."

Joe Dark's hands dropped and he was left staring and gawking at Mew's rather smug smile. He then stood up growling before squeezing through his humbled mouth, "C-Congratulations...?"

"I...I don't know what to say..." Gabriel interjected, his voice no more than a whisper, yet full of nothing but the utmost joy. He walked up to the two and looked right at Lunis specifically, "It feels like just yesterday you were that little girl tugging my hakama and asking me questions."

He closed his eyes and smiled, "I wish nothing but the best for your child."

"Ga...Gabriel." Lunis raised a hand softly upon her cheeks and blushed.

Mew slipped out from underneath Joe Dark and tucked his hands in his pockets, letting out a little chuckle as the unease in the room began to fade bit by bit.

But as he craned his head back he sensed a great source of discomfort up above stronger than the rest.

"...Time to make things right." He let out a long sigh and then began to sneak his way up the stairs while everyone was distracted by the news of the new baby.

He went right to Shina's room and tapped the side of the door twice.

"Can I come in...?" He whispered, to no response.

Nevertheless, he opened up and went inside. The lights were on but everything was quiet. Shina was lying in her bed wearing a sky blue gown, her back against the head of the bed while her sheets were crinkled up and halfway down her legs.

There was a broken glass of water on the wall opposite her bed and a plastic tub that looked like it had been punched laying on the ground.

Shina's eyes were vacantly staring forward, her hands upside-down by her hips while the chest of her gown was wrinkling from being dampened.

Mew paced his way to the edge of the bed and knelt down so she'd get a good look at him out the corner of her eyes.

"Hey." He said softly. No response again. She was looking catatonic. No smiles. No frowns. No movement. Nothing.

She used to be so full of life and now she was just...drained of it. There was no spark to be ignited. No fire to fuel her soul.

She might never recover from this day. She might never want to.

...But Mew had to try. Not for his sake or her sake, but for Kairi's.

So even if it was painful for her to see his face, Mew lifted himself up and put it in the center of her field of vision while saying to her, "Shina? Shina, its me, Mew. I'm here...I'm here now."

Her eyes and lips trembled a little and she gave off one small blink. Mew slowly pulled back, watching her blink a few more times before finally turning to look at him directly.

"...Mew." She whispered, for a brief moment showing a glimmer of life in her tired eyes.

Mew waved his hand up and partway smiled, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed.

Shina smiled. It _seemed_ sincere enough.

"I'm glad you're here."

Mew smirked and said with a slightly gruffer voice, "Kept you waitin', huh?"

She giggled briefly. Mew narrowed his eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

She quivered and her face briefly looked unsettled. She turned her head away, her hands shaking as her fingertips dug into the blanket.

"...Its alright. I'm not upset." She murmured.

"Shina," Mew settled on a long pause, tapping his finger on the bed sheet until he could muster up the courage to say, "...What happened with the baby anyways?"

Her grip on the sheets tightened and her face made it look like she had a miniature heart attack.

"I-I'm sorry." Mew retracted his words but it was too late.

Shina stared down at her stomach and kept her eyes shut as she took a long, deep breath in and out.

"I don't know..." She whispered, "I don't know."

"..." Mew hung his head and murmured, "I-I'm really sorry...about...what happened."

Shina pulled her head back and began to smile, touting a positive take on the situation, "Its fine, Mew. I...I probably wasn't ready to be a parent anyways."

She grinned and chuckled, and Mew felt disturbed looking at her clearly forcing these words through her mouth.

"I didn't even know how to change a diaper, heh heh! Plus there would've been all the drool, and the crying, and..." Shina quivered, her smile instantly wiped off her face.

She stared down at her open palms without blinking. One single tear forced itself free and dropped on top of her palm, which she squeezed around her fist as tight as she could.

Mew reached out and put his hand on top of hers. She turned to him and partway smiled as she asked, drained of hope, "Mew, what have I done wrong?"

Mew pulled his hand away and shook his head vigorously, "Y-You haven't done anything wrong."

"...I just," She pulled her hands together against the center of chest and squeezed them tight, her whole body trembling as she gasped a wail of woe, "I just can't seem to hold onto anyone I love."

Mew was defeated by that answer in a swift, precise, and tragic fashion. He started to feel himself tear up a bit as well in frustration.

And **yet**, he felt he couldn't retreat. Not until he gave back some hope to Shina.

Brazen, emboldened, Mew looked Shina in the eyes and waited a few moments before telling her, "I avenged Alex just a while ago."

Her eyes perked up and she slowly panned her gaze towards him. Mew looked away, tapping away at the edge of the bed as he spoke, "Yeah...I went and gave Yukari Yakumo a thorough ass-kicking."

He faced her and said following an exasperated gasp, "I-I mean I didn't go solely for that reason but lets face it, the part of me that wanted revenge got it."

Shina, to his surprise, frowned and turned her head to face the window.

"...Shina?" Mew called out.

"...I...I felt something strange when I lost the baby," Shina strained between her lips, "It was a voice...calling to me."

Mew had chills up his arms as he inquired further, "What...what was it?"

"I...think it was Alex." She admitted without hesitation, and that chill in Mew's arms went cutthroat towards his heart. He laid a hand on his now rapidly beating chest as she echoed the words she heard.

"He said...'I'll come back soon'."

Mew hung his head and thought, _"Could it have really been him...?"_

No, it couldn't have been.

Mew shook his head and looked at Shina. But before he opened his mouth she said, "Mew."

She pulled her head back around and stretched her arm out as far as it'd go to reach his shoulder. She smiled, a little more sincerely this time, "I'm glad you came up here, but...Sometimes, there are battles you can't win with kind words alone."

Mew reached out to her hand and held it gently, feeling like he didn't have any answer to that.

"This...is just...something I **have** to handle on my own," She said, her voice breaking down along the way, "I-I'll never be **over** this. But I..."

She pulled her head back and sniffled, "I'm going to try and learn how to be happy again...Someday."

Mew had just one thing left to say, and it resonated now more than ever, "We're all here for you, Shina."

She closed her eyes and nodded with a whisper, "I know, you've given me that comfort today."

She then creased out a smile and chuckled, "Now, Mr. Mew, don't you have someone else you need to go have a chat with?"

Mew lingered on that question one second too many, as Shina then applied a fierce vice grip to his shoulder and said with an understated tone of annoyance, "You should probably get right on that champ."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Mew thrust himself upright and turned away, slowly walking his way out of the room while rubbing yet another sore part of his body.

"_Guess her sister complex isn't ever going to change..." _Mew drew his hand down and wiggled it around, _"She's right though. I need to find Kairi."_

He headed down the stairs and right as he reached the bottom, Auris came walking through the front door. Immediately locking eyes with one another, Mew asked, "Any luck?"

Auris shook her head and muttered, "Her trail's run cold. I worry she might have exited Sancturia entirely."

"Oh shit...!" Mew grit his teeth and felt totally responsible for letting this happen.

Auris then started to walk by in front of him, brushing her hand up beside his face and whispering, "Maybe we'd have some luck if we retracted her steps...All the way back to the beginning."

She turned and gave a not-so-subtle wink.

Mew nodded and acted natural, "I'll go out and try to find her."

"I appreciate it, Mew." Auris continued on her way, towards where the others were sitting around and talking, trying just a little bit to be more positive.

It wasn't much but, the sentiment was there.

Mew let this happy moment stick in the back of his head and smiled. For all the pain they've all gone through, this one picture was worth every word.

But there was a key figure missing...And to bring them back, he was going to fight the hardest, and possibly last battle of his life.

He walked out the door and through the quiet streets of Sancturia staring up at the stars. Somewhere out there, a boy set out on a journey to fulfill a destiny he never expected, and changed a bunch of lives that he never could've imagined meeting.

All those hard-fought battles came with their victories and their losses. There will be those who survived, and those who will never come back...

But those who are still alive now can be grateful for what he had done for them, even if they don't realize that.

Mew hung his head with a sigh and smiled, tucking his hands into his pockets as he went straight to the one place he knew he needed to be.

After a few minutes of silent pondering he lifted his head up and found himself at the Pyramid. And sitting against the side of the entrance with one knee held between her arms...Was Kairi.

Mew approached her slowly until he knew she'd be able to hear him.

"I knew I'd find you here." He joked, inciting her to lift her head and immediately glare at him.

Mew stopped where he was and the two stared at each other from this long distance. Kairi pulled her face down behind her leg and grumbled, "Go away...!"

Mew lifted his hands from his jeans and sighed, "Can I start with an 'I'm sorry'?"

She poked her eyes out from behind cover, glared, then put them away.

Mew felt a shiver across his skin and tucked his hands away, "I'll take that as a 'No'."

He took a couple steps closer and asked her politely, "Can't we talk like grown-ups for once? Please?"

Kairi pulled her head up briefly to give her rather blunt opinion on that, "After what **you** pulled?"

"...I admit, it was wrong to let Gabriel lie to you all about where I was, but-"

"This isn't about Gabriel, Mew!" Kairi suddenly sprang to her feet with her fists beside her hips and her nostrils flared.

With a couple huffs like a bull ready to charge, she started to run on up to him, a hand laid flat atop her chest, "I didn't even realize what was going on until Maria suddenly wandered into the house saying 'Mama, where'd papa go?'"

Mew swallowed deep and grit his teeth. Kairi stomped her feet into the ground a few feet in front of him and leaned in, her accusing whispers building up to a much bigger storm, "And you know WHY it took that long? Because I was **busy**, trying to **comfort** my sister, after she lost her **child**...!"

"While you were off doing god knows what, god knows where!"

"I-"

"I don't want to hear excuses!" Kairi pushed her finger into his chest and told him, "You should've been **here**! For her! For **US**."

Mew raised his hands with an uneasy grimace and remarked, "You're right. You're completely right."

Kairi grit her teeth and threw her hand down, turning away while murmuring, "I shouldn't BE right."

She threw her hands on her face and then let out a massive grunt of agony as she threw them down, "Time and time again you keep proving me right and I can't TAKE IT anymore!"

"I shouldn't have to rely on a coin flip as to whether or not you come back, Mew!" She turned around and laid her hand back on her chest, "What you're doing to me is torture! Its not RIGHT!"

Mew closed his eyes and put his hands on the back of his head. Feeling her rage, and pain, thrown out even more intensely than what she gave to Gravitus, he didn't flinch.

"...Kairi, I know what this is about." Mew said with a tender look forward.

"Do you?" She gnashed her teeth together and lunged her body forward at him, "Do YOU?!"

"Yeah, you-"

"Why would you now when you're always so stubbornly idiotic, moronic, a real hot-blooded jackass and, AUGH!" Kairi threw her arms down and squeezed her eyes shut, her face as red as a beet, "My chest aches when you get hurt, but you don't care! I cried when you almost died, but you joked it off! Do you understand any of that?! Do you know WHY I feel this way, Mew?!"

"Kairi, stop beating around the bush and-"

"WHY AM IN LOVE WITH A BULLHEADED IDIOT LIKE YOU?!" She screamed to the high heavens.

"T-Tell..." Mew trailed off, his pupils dilating and his jaw left fully agape. Choking on his own air, he gasped up in disbelief, "W-Wait...You said it."

Kairi opened her eyes narrowly then squeezed them down harder, letting out a strained grunt deep inside as she rattled her fists in the air.

"You...you actually said it...I-I..." Mew turned aside and rubbed the back of his head, "D-Did I actually hear that right? You...actually, really, sincerely do love me?"

She opened her eyes open and with them wobbling wet with tears she thrust her head up and shouted, "You...you're wrong!"

She then stubbornly turned away, folding her arms against her chest and insisting through a raspy breath, "...I **don't** love you."

Mew turned to her and waved his hand down in confusion, "But you JUST said-"

Kairi turned back around and threw her head down to tell, "How can I ever love someone who treats their life as expendable? You're never going to stop fighting! Never going to stop getting into trouble! I try and I try and I TRY but I know I can't change who you are, so what's the fucking point?! You don't even care! You'll just laugh it off later, I...I-I can't do it! I can't do it I can't do it I can't DO IT!"

She clutched her fists against her chest and threw her head down at a scream, "I won't wind up like Shina!"

Mew found his hand slowly rising to his chest, which was now in pain, like a wound was lanced through his heart by a spear, a spear of long since pent-up emotion. And with a deeply pronounced sigh, he tucked his hands in his pockets, fought past the resonance of her sorrows and cut right down to the heart of the matter with few words, "Ok Kairi, I hear you."

She slowly lifted her head up after a long pause and stared into his eyes and his smiling, tired face, "As of this moment...I'm done!"

With a mere shrug he said, "That's it. I'm done. You want me to stick around? From now on, I'll be here all the time for you and Maria."

Her jaw dropped again while Mew kept going on and on, "Besides, I think this Elemental Overlord's done enough thrill-seeking to last a lifetime. Maybe it won't be so bad to settle down and try starting a family."

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, "Yeeep. I think we've wrapped up just about everything important anyways."

He turned his attention towards Kairi with a gaze as soft and comforting as cotton and began to whisper, "I'm sorry for ever hurting you. I swear, I never meant any harm. All I ever wanted was to make sure everyone I cared about could live a peaceful life. I guess I just...never considered how much some people would care if I was gone."

Mew grinned, "A year ago I was all alone, but now? You guys are an irreplaceable part of my life. I wouldn't trade any of you away for the world."

His grin turned a little sheepish as he began to nervously rub the back of his head, "A-And truth be told, I...might have been in love with you for a while now too, its just..."

Suddenly he was pushed back by Kairi throwing herself onto him and embracing his waist in a tight hug. Her trickling tears seeping into his shirt as she tilted her head and murmured, "P-Promise me you won't go away."

Mew held his hands up and then after a long pause put them on the back of her head and told her, "Yeah, I promise."

Only to curtly shift over to, "BUT! On ONE condition."

Kairi's eyes widened and she mumbled hesitantly, "What?"

"I don't want 'peace time' to translate to 'lazy time'," Mew helped pull her head back so he could look her in the eyes and show just how serious he was being with this, "I still want to keep up a dedicated training regimen so that we won't be rusty if some bad guy decides to invade."

Kairi pouted and turned her eyes aside to mutter, "Haaa, fighting's a part of who you are, I guess I just sort of have to accept that, don't I."

"Hey look on the bright side," Mew grinned and laughed, "At least this'll be a good excuse to help you burn off some weight."

"AH...!" Kairi gasped and pulled right out of his hands, throwing her fists down and exclaiming, "I-I'm not fat!"

"I didn't say you were but like," Mew pinched down at the side of his stomach, "If you were to just work on your abdomen a little..."

"You're starting this relationship with one foot in the grave, mister!" Kairi growled through her teeth, "And you wanna talk work cause boy howdy, if you want to keep training then YOU are going to get a job first, Mew!"

"Ok sure." Mew said immediately, leaving her mouth agape.

"I think I've settled on becoming a race car driver."

Kairi's eyes narrowed and she slapped her forehead hard with a groan, "A race car driver."

"I mean it...makes sense right?"

"Mew, I mean a REAL job." She bemoaned.

"What? Race car driving is totally a real job!" Mew said, his eyebrows slanted and his tone offended, "You work, you get paid-"

"You get to speed around at 100s of MPH in cool cars!" Kairi cut to the straight and narrow of the matter.

Mew wagged one hand up and said nonchalantly, "Ok so that's maybe 75% of the reason I want to do it, so what?"

"You're such a child!" She said with a laughing smile.

After a brief pause Mew looked her in the eyes and smiled back, "I did miss this. Us bickering a bit over silly shit."

He then extended one hand out towards her and said, "Shall we head home?"

She hesitated to reach out and take his hand, but right upon latching on she pulled herself right in closer and pressed her lips against his.

Mew's eyes bulged as the warmth of her skin melted into his. Time kept moving on, but they were trapped in their own moment. A moment that could have lasted forever, if they wanted.

Slowly, Mew closed his eyes and pushed his lips into hers. They kissed for a solid minute, and Kairi was the one to pull away.

The two turned their heads away from each other and Kairi let out a gasp, "O-Oh wow...!"

Both their hearts were fluttering and Mew's cheeks were rosy red as he wiped his moist lips onto his sleeve and continued to stare into the distance.

They paid attention to the warmth radiating off their cheeks as they locked eyes with one another again. They then stared down at how tightly they held their hands together, and both pulled them away at the same time.

"L-Lets not let this get out of hand...!" Kairi hastily admitted.

"Yeah, no, **totally** agree!" Mew grabbed onto his hand and grit his teeth nervously, "I ain't ready to commit like Riku and Lunis have."

"W-What about Riku and Lunis?" Kairi gasped in exasperation.

Mew put his hand behind his head and chuckled, "You'll see when we get back. Come on, lets go."

He took the lead back towards the house while Kairi was left fluttering her eyelashes as she followed him.

Mew had a pleasant, relieved smile as he craned his head back and looked up to the stars. With one last bit of daring left in his determined soul he asked...

"_Well universe..."_

**Final Chapter: "What's Next?"**

**CLASH OF THE ELEMENTS CHRONICLES**

**THE END.**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Epilogue to be uploaded relatively soon.


	84. Epilogue and Final Thoughts

**Epilogue: Days of Past, Present, and Future**

_There are many stories that have been told. Many unheard, many unseen. _

_Words weave an endless tale, a spiral of passion, stretching beyond the nether._

_**We**__ come from a world where passion is discouraged, and obedience is rewarded. But I won't bore you with that. __**You**__ came here to escape from all that, right? _

_You may be weary, but don't be._

_**I**__ would never lie to you. Nor mislead you. You do not need to stay, in fact, I am appreciative of those who have even stayed this long. _

_There's still many words to weave, many tales to tell. For making it this far, I shall reveal some truths that would otherwise be obscured. _

_From the past..._

"Hm hm hm hm hm!" Within the cold, classy halls of a sanctum, the empty air was filled by the leisurely hums of a young girl.

A young girl, barely the age of 13, with an appearance that definitely made her stood out among her peers. She had striking pink hair, brighter than the sky at the last moments of sunset. Her long hair tied into youthful twintails that bounced atop her shoulders as she walked.

Her small body was wrapped up in a thin fabric pink robe with a sash of silver sliding off, unkempt at the waist. The robe was adorned with faint, silver flower prints.

She walked with parchment in one hand, and a lead-tipped object in the other. Having filled the parchment with scribbles attempting to be writing, she hoisted the paper in the air with pride and shouted, "There! All done! I hope he comes!"

She lowered the paper underneath her armpit and then reached for a bracelet attached to her wrist. Only for the parchment to be whisked out from under her arm.

"What? Hey!" The girl spun around, a rather intrusive, rotund chest being thrust right into her face.

The girl pulled back with a groan and red all over her face, staring up slightly at a girl with short, teal hair. This girl, dressed in a robe of similar color with tiny pink clouds prints, squinted at the parchment held in her black gloved hand.

"What do we have here...?" The bigger girl taunted with her intrigue. Then, flashing a smirk, she gazed down at the littler girl and shook her head, "How shameful, writing a letter of invitation to one of those...**Buzzards**."

"He's **called **the Elemental Overlord!" The little girl started bouncing and flailing her hands towards the parchment, as the bigger girl slowly stretched her arm out of reach.

"Elemental Overlord?" The bigger girl had to keep herself from bursting into haughty laughter, "You have your head in the clouds. He's just a simple, peasant boy from the sky."

"So what, I want to see him!" The little girl stopped bouncing and threw her body against the bigger girl's, stretching her arms over her shoulders and clawing at the parchment.

"Ugh! Curse you and your big dumb chest, hand it over!"

The bigger girl puffed her chest out with pride to throw the little girl off onto her rear, then knelt down and waved the parchment before her face with a luxurious smirk.

"Maybe stop being a savage for once and I _might_ consider it, little sister."

Then, with a flash of a smirk, the little girl suddenly disappeared from the ground and so too did the parchment in the bigger girl's hand.

Coughing up a gasp of disbelief, the bigger girl turned around and saw the littler one holding the parchment before her chest, only for it to vanish, surrounded by a sphere of warping energies, in the blink of an eye.

"Auh...!" Gasped the flustered bigger girl, who threw her fists down and shouted, "Father's going to be so upset when he finds out what you've done!"

The little girl tilted her head back and continued to smirk, "Nah, the only one he'll be mad at is you. You're the big sister, you're supposed to be the responsible one!"

"Mmmmrrr...!" The bigger girl's face started to turn red, then she spun around and threw her hand towards the ground.

The little girl fully turned towards her and leaned out, pressing her fingertips against her chin and snickering, "What are you going to do now, sis?"

"I'm going to have Gabriel escort me to meet this so-called...'Elemental Overlord', and ground his lofty ambitions," The girl began to waltz off, clearly angered, "YOU, are going to stay here."

The girl kept walking and let out a huff.

The little girl closed her eyes and shook her head with a few pitying clicks tucked her hands behind her back and slowly walked ahead.

"She knows I won't do that..." Craning her head back with a beaming smile she remarked, "That's Auris the Stiff for you though. Hehehe!"

_From the present..._

There are secrets in the shadows. Truths hidden, to be cast into tomorrow by the light.

The dusty venue of the Sanctum of the Ten Sages is quiet, but not abandoned. Not today.

A dark black mist creeps through the halls towards the crevice in the back, slipping through the empty hall, all the way towards the very back.

Its an abandoned one, a soul denied of heaven and hell. Long has it wandered, long has it waited for its opportunity to strike.

And now the path is clear for it to fulfill its desires.

No longer shall it be abandoned.

For **I** am here for it, as I always have wanted to be.

So the creeping shadow moves, slithering away from the fire-lit altar and into the cracks in the very center of the room. It infuses itself with the coffin hidden below, and with every percent further that it becomes one with it, it begins to regain its voice.

A voice of sorrow. A voice of confusion. A voice of loss. A **howl** of vengeance.

"_All...shall pay...All...shall suffer...I want to ruin...bring ruin...I am ruin...I am destruction...I am...__**Chaos**__..."_

"_Must...pay...must...hurt...All of them...All of them...Every last one of them..."_

"_Evil...__**me**__...must...PERISH...!" _

_And also...the future._

Imagine, if you would, a nice, steaming hot plate of scrambled eggs.

These eggs have been left in the pan for the perfect amount of time. Their yolks looking like sizzling gold, the whites nice and soft.

Yes. A perfect, **hot** plate of scrambled eggs, sitting there, steaming, waiting, **wanting** to be eaten. There has and never shall be a more desirable plate of scrambled eggs in the history of forever.

Keep imagining it. Put it in your memory forever. Cause soon, it'll be gone.

All of them. A plate of six, count them, six, perfectly crafted scrambled eggs, is about to disappear.

Who is the culprit, you may wonder?

What ravenous soul would coldly scarf down so many eggs in record time, without taking in air or water to help digestion?

"Ah!" With a satisfying release the culprit slapped their plate down on the table and licked up any scraps off their lips with one rotation of their tongue.

Any spare grease from the butter was wiped on the back of one their fingerless black gym gloves.

They then swung to the right and threw their hand in their air, shouting with an intense, urgent tone carrying a hint of playful femininity, "LEEEEEEOOOO! Get your butt in gear, last one to school's gonna hafta clean dad's bedroom!"

There was no time to wait, the person turned and sprung right out the front door into the open, crisp morning air.

This hyper-energetic devourer of eggs was a teenage girl on the cusp of her high school years. Her skin had a light caramel tan and her eyes were glistening blue like sapphires, while her long, frizzy hair extended down below her shoulders.

Stretching her hands high to greet the sun she cracked her bones and let out a gasp as a warm-up.

"Yahoo! Good mornin' morning!" She cheered blissfully while waving up at the sun peeking out behind the clouds.

Her clothes weren't the best for this sort of early-Fall weather. She had on a teal sports jacket with the number "1" embroidered onto the back and a pair of brown running shorts that looked like they were struggling to fit around her taut calves.

The girl had a mostly lean and athletic body and the work she put in to maintain was mostly reflected on the fiery look in her eyes and the scuff marks up her bared legs.

She thrust her head down and slanted her brows. She then pulled down the zipper of her jacket to reveal a dark-blue sports bra and her toned abs to the world without a care.

"Alright..." She hyped herself up by punching her fist into her palm, the wind kicked up pushing the halves of her jacket back like a pair of bird wings, "High school sports, I'm coming right for ya!"

She then ran forward and vaulted right over the wooden gate, breaking into a sprint down the crosswalk. In her wake she left behind her home, a two-story house with a rather..._familiar_ homeliness to it, which now sat in the middle of these suburbs surrounded by a bunch of other nice, homely houses.

_A book is closed shut before your eyes. You have seen all that I want you to see, for now._

_But another opens. For as one chapter ends, another begins. _

_And I, the Chronicler, shall be the sole ferryman on this journey._

_You have the freedom to come and go, but I never said that is the same as the freedom to interfere._

_This isn't your world to take part in anymore._

_I am the sole ruler of all fiction you've ever seen, heard, or written._

_Now, and forevermore...The stories of this universe are __**mine**__._

_And I shall NEVER let them go..._

**To be continued...**

….

….

….

**Final Thoughts:**

So you're still reading yeah? Alright, good.

This marks the end of the Chronicles segment of Clash of the Elements. Its been the longest journey so far, at least as far as a single entry goes (Cause if you add up all the time for Part 4.5 it took nearly two and a half years to do).

And boy...was it TIRING.

I will not hide the fact that I took a ton of breaks during the writing of this part. Some were justified, others were me being lazy.

A lot of it boils down to roadblocks when it came to writing tougher chapters that required a little more patience and thought over how characters should be handled and the development of their relationships.

I DID have an Outline for this story...But the problem with it was that it was written nearly a year and a half before I actually got to writing Chronicles and was never updated along the way.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, a lot of things actually. Starting off...

**The existence of the Part 5 and 6 rewrites:** A lot of stuff I did during those rewrites actually wound up changing how certain parts of Chronicles went down.

**Coming up with new ideas for later:** It goes without saying that its physically impossible sometimes for everything in a story to be planned all at once. I came up with some ideas during Chronicles, sometimes WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CHAPTER that wound up having a domino effect on later chapters. The biggest example of that being...

**The Lust and Envy Arc:** That four chapter story with Neptune and Priscilla fending off Lust and Envy of the Seven Sinful Leviathans was not planned to be in Chronicles until roughly a couple months before I wrote it. Why? Well, I came to realize in my outline that I had Lust and Envy just dropping in to bother Macros and then they never showed up again. That would have been very stupid, and pointless, especially with how much the two characters expressed their revenge. So I worked in something to address that while also furthering Neptune and Priscilla's stories by tying them to Macros' plotline, but I'll get into that more a little later.

However, this wasn't the only last minute addition to Chronicles...

**Beerus vs. Thanos:** Originally, this wasn't even a full fight. It would have been a cutaway moment at the end of the chapter where Macros discussed what happened to the Dragon Ball universe. Basically, the end of what you read now would've been all you saw. That's not only a disservice to Thanos as a character to just be a throwaway jobber, but it also does a poor job showing why Beerus should be a concern for the heroes soon after. So I made the fight and boy, I'm sort of glad I'm not popular cause I can't imagine how reactions to that fight would've gone had it been more mainstream. I'd like to think I represented bother character's fighting styles and personalities properly, and how they both would converse given their circumstances in this universe. But yeah, this was a last minute addition almost, bet that's surprising to hear eh?

And finally, one other thing...

**Improving My Own Writing: **I've been at this for almost ten years now. I'm not the best writer still but what I put out now is definitely a far cry from the days of making Luigi say "Damn" or Mario threatening to murder a kid for carrying a knife. Yikes. But this is still a problem as far as the progress of things go. I'm now thinking a lot more about how things are paced, how characters should sound and act, the battles themselves...Well ok, the battles still need work for pace but that's just a hard thing to do in this medium. I'm trying!

But yeah, that added to a lot of delays for chapters where things didn't "click" just right.

Another thing with that is the change in my desired tone for Chronicles. My original outline for the story had a lot more of a jokey feel to it. There's still certainly comedic focused chapters and the story was never fully devoid of levity even during serious times but like...Some of the things I had originally planned for characters to say and do was really tone-deaf to the situations they were involved in. So a lot of stuff was cut out and put on the floor to flounder and die. That whole PTSD episode Samantha had in the double date chapter? Yeah, you really don't want to know how that was going to go before...

There were a few other things that changed too like certain chapters (Saturn confronting her past) being split in two that added to the length but otherwise it was mostly just a matter of choosing to carefully think more about...You know, keeping a cohesive world together.

Now then, I want to talk more about Chronicles itself. Specifically the characters involved but first some talk about the whole general story.

Why Chronicles isn't labeled as a "Part" like the others is for one simple reason. There's really not a unified storyline to the whole shebang. We jump from story to story with different antagonists or perhaps no antagonists at all.

Part 4 and Part 4.5 use a multiple story format but they are both unified by a single storyline (Riku's journey of being an Elemental Overlord and Alex and Shina's quest for the Cosmos Drive).

Chronicles is also just a story meant to be about practically everyone still alive at this point in the tale. Even if its just for one chapter, I tried to give everyone some focus to go around. The first half is more action packed but the second half is more relaxed, slice-of-life affairs which I hadn't really done much of up until this point. I think I did well, all things considered, though not without some problems which I shall get into starting now with the characters.

I'll start with some of the more minor roles in the story then work my way up to the main characters.

**Mr. Reality:**

The alien with reality bending powers and a remnant from honestly, the weakest Part of the story. He didn't get any development, he just got his powers removed and got to return home to live a happy life again with his wife and kids. Its a pretty basic happy ending but hey, it also removed him as an easy solution to plot problems so win-win, right? I will miss the guy though.

"**D.":**

A lot was revealed about the parasite in Mew's head. His true form, and the fact that he's an ancient Aurian corrupted by the Realm of Darkness into becoming the parasite we know him as now...Or is that all there is to it? Though "D." is "D."one in the present, there's still a gap in his history to be explored. But for now, Mew can rest easy knowing he won't be taunting him in his sleep.

**The Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage:**

The Sage's purpose in the story was mostly to be an obstacle tying the history of the Aurians, and Kairi and Shina's plots together, though his existence and history also raised a lot of interesting questions about the background and answered a lot of questions. One of the biggest revelations being the origin of the Drives.

Anyone familiar with the names of the first Sages' Drives will recognize them as the Drive Forms Sora uses in Kingdom Hearts 2. Those are, indeed, the same Drives, just spat out from the Realm of Darkness after the worlds fell in the backstory. So in essence, the Aurians are carrying on the legacy of the Keyblade Wielders of old. Heck, did you ever notice how Aurians summon their weapons the same way a Keyblader does too? Hmmmm.

But there's also another revelation that came to light. The existence of a Goddess of Aura. The Sage comments that he believed the Goddess to be real but suddenly no one else believed him, despite his memories telling him that they lived. So was the Goddess real or not? Who can say. He really was a delusional bug man after all...

"**Dracula", "Vyvy", "Amor" and "Aava'ris":**

Four of the Seven Sinful Leviathans, introduced and dealt with solely in Chronicles. Of the four Ba'al had the largest presence, getting a full arc and his presence being crucial for furthering Joe Dark's development while also pushing Lunis, Solaris and Saturn's characters along too, along with being the father to one of the main characters, Alura. His released form sets the stage for a great threat looming in the background, and a rather tense final battle to keep the world from being his first meal in eons.

Aava'ris lived and died in one chapter, but I liked writing him and wish there was reason to use him more. As he got punked by Neptune and Priscilla he never got to go into his Leviathan Form, but if you're curious as to what it would've been...Basically, his centipede body would've grown a bit and spread out throughout his realm of gold, turning all his treasure into a giant dragon that'd serve as a mockery of Futanji's appearance, with his body acting as the creature's spine. Giving the amount of wealth he amassed, he would've been considered the biggest Clash of the Elements villain to date, even bigger than Mr. Reality's leviathan form. His title in that state would be "Aava'ris of the Endless Hoard".

Vyvy and Amor are a pair attached to each other whether Amor likes it or not. Though not full main villain status they are the first female main villains not originating from a video game. I uhhh, don't really have any other thoughts specifically regarding them. I am proud of their Leviathan form designs though, moreso Vyvy's.

The Seven Sinful Leviathans are important to the backstory of the entire universe but as individual characters the one with the most importance is Macros/Pride, though he has a section all to himself. But that means five of the seven have been seen. So what of Sloth and Wrath?

Well...forget about ever seeing Wrath in person. They aren't dead or nothing just...their power was so great that even restraining them would've been damaging to the universe. So when he was dropped into the mortal plain, their body was completely obliterated, leaving behind only an ethereal form. Wrath now floats from planet to planet, drawn to those with great rage. It hovers around them but never really feeds off of or feeds into that rage. He's been a presence to the likes of Asura from Asura's Wrath, The Hulk, Jin Kazama from Tekken, and even Alex Whiter for a time.

As for Sloth? Well, no surprise he'd be slow to show up...

**Aurians Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus:**

The Planetary Aurians that got the least amount of focus. Mars did have that one chapter regarding his origin and then patching up his rocky relationship with Jupiter but otherwise, neither half of that pairing really went through a major arc. Not to say they didn't go anywhere, but that part is covered more in Saturn's segment.

Mercury, both halves as a matter of fact, along with Uranus are, however, not really focused on much. Michael needed to save his sister, and circumstances allowed him to accomplish that. That's really all there is to it. There's no deeper meaning to be found from his journey, and nowhere else for him to go or develop...At least as far as Chronicles is concerned.

Uranus is in a similar boat. Now she's free to be in control of herself after years of being a puppet to insane dreams. Yep, she can live her life as an immortal child.

...Wait, is that really a GOOD thing?

**Aurian Pluto:**

Pluto had few chapters worth of appearances but he made some advances during them. He's not someone I'd call a villain perse but rather an antagonist, especially right now. But throughout his limited screentime he's certainly come to gain some begrudging respect for Mew and has shown to actually care a little for Saturn's goals, just not necessarily the methods. But he's still got places to go. Prison is a good place for someone like him to recollect and refocus. Perhaps he'll make something of himself someday...

**Gabriel:**

Gabriel didn't have an arc. He had that fun chapter where he learned to loosen up a little certainly but its not like that developed him, it just showed him finding new things to do. Still, I really like Gabriel as a character. He's tough but not unfair, wise but still has his faults. He makes a good figure for the other cast to turn to for help and his chemistry with Mew, subtly building up over the course of Part 5 and Chronicles, leading to their confrontation at the end, was, I feel, a good pay-off for both of them. And yes, he absolutely did steal Hakumen's technique. As he said "That's a story for another day".

**Neptune and Priscilla:**

These two pretty much have to be discussed together because they are joined at the hip all the damn time. But man, I love my smooth-operating little gambler and her lesbian half-dragon wife. All the chapters for them were a treat to write and I had little if any hesitation doing them up.

...That being said it should be stated that Neptune did not really go through an arc because, well, she's already gone through it by the time of this story. Killing Aava'ris and ending that part of her sordid past was the end of it. The whole Lust and Envy thing didn't develop her so much as reinforced her love for her wife and how strongly she'll fight to defend what they share. Well, and also how Neptune is very good at scamming the Sins, given her track record is currently 3 out of 4 of Leviathans scammed. Not to mention her and Priscilla pretty much beat more Sins in a shorter amount of time than Mew and his crew did with ONE Sin. Now you see why these two had nothing to do with the Ba'al. Really when push comes to shove Neptune will help her allies, as shown with helping Michael get his sister back, but she'd rather cuddle with her dragon wife and live lavishly in her casino.

Priscilla's a rough and tough girl and she knows it. She did have something of an arc about worrying over Neptune losing interest in her, but Neptune's determination proved that that is nothing to worry about ever. The Lust and Envy Arc was Priscilla's time to shine at long last, having been mostly kept at bay from partaking in bigger fights. I don't generally tend to bring up power levels for this series despite keeping a consistent tier list in the back of my head of who can beat who, but as far as Priscilla goes she's definitely stronger than Gravitus using his Space Drive while in her Scourge Draconis form. But loyalty to him certainly kept her from ever acting out.

But yeah, these two are some of my favorite characters in the series thus far. A pity their appearances will dwindle for a bit after this. But hey, wonder what'll come of Neptune wanting to make them a child? Hmmm, who knows, knowing her whims.

**Samantha Jeremiah:**

A character introduced in this part, though her father has been a very important character in the background of the story for a long time. Her parts in the story tackled a few issues like PTSD and coping with loss, but mostly she was a fun loving, rambunctious soul who easily got under our favorite Sun God's skin.

She was never created to be a character who solely existed to be Solaris' squeeze. Though, at one point, she was a much different character. More frail than strong, she actually would've been a victim of Solaris' flames in Part 6, but I felt that making a relationship grow out of that was a lot harder than what it was now. As she exists now she still helped bring out more of Solaris' better side but that's for his section to cover.

She's also the second person to be told about the greater narrative by our heroes. Clearly a decision Solaris will come to regret later. Nah, not really. The one thing Samantha never learned throughout this part is how much of a bastard her father truly was. Or rather, how much of a bastard he came to be.

Another point to Samantha's existence was to show that Prometheus, Judas Jeremiah, was just as human deep down despite his tired existence of recurring life over and over again. It showed that, yes, Prometheus was a bastard, but Judas Jeremiah was a loving and kind father and husband. It doesn't excuse what he did, but it explains how he got to using those desperate measures.

**Julius Talbain, Zeke, and Jeff and Stewart:**

The other normal humans introduced in this story, though of the four Julius is obviously the most important.

His purpose in the plot is to be a grounded, experienced soul who could nurture Alura into a more normal person comfortable with her feelings while helping Joe Dark readjust to normal life. His wisdom normally had a profound effect on the two and he was a positive influence overall, and shall continue to be even now that we're past Chronicles.

His existence also tidies up a few plot holes regarding Joe Dark's survival at such a young, vulnerable part of his life, but that was just an added bonus. His role as a father figure is more important, of course.

Zeke was there to continue humanizing Prometheus while also explaining some of Samantha's...combative nature. Zeke is half-Japanese though I never really had a point where I could bring that up since he was mostly a passive presence in his few appearances. Still, I like him, wish he could've been used more. Maybe later? We'll see.

Jeff and Stewart are dumbasses, through and through. But deep down they both have their own hearts of gold. Albeit its hard to see Stewart's with all the horniness surrounding it. Though ironically if it wasn't for his...rather interesting experience with women Alura might have never gotten the courage to try and confess to Joe Dark.

Still, its good for Alura to have had a couple friends to interact with so she wasn't fully attached to Joe Dark's hip all the damn time. But that's something to cover more in her section.

Though enough wiggling around with the minor crew, lets get to our main characters, shall we?

**Lunis:**

Lunis had a lot of appearances throughout the story but not really a chapter focused solely on her. She didn't have a character arc in Chronicles because, well, her first appearance was basically the end of her arc at the time. There's a lot to unpack with her as far as what she got up to in the past but well...We'll get to that someday, not to be subtle at all.

Far as Chronicles goes though if there's one thing to describe what she went through its..."Belief". Whether expressing her curiosity, being tricked into fanservice on the beach or just sitting around reading books Lunis brings positivity to her surroundings and believes in the best in the people around her. Its her belief in that that pushed Riku forward and ultimately how she was able to break Solaris free from the shackles of revenge that tied him down.

She's very strong-willed and not stupid so much as she was ignorant of a lot of things. But when she finally learned more about her new home she settled in very fast, so fast its like she had lived there all along, and she definitely was shown to have the easiest time getting along with humans even if her appearance tended to scare or arouse people.

But now at the end of this story she's going to be a mother to Riku's child. How will that go? Hmmm, something to look forward to, I suppose, eh? Her, as with a lot of character's stories, are not done just because one arc is finished. Though speaking of love interests...

**Kairi Aurora:**

Alright lets get one thing out of the way here. Yes, Kairi is a tsundere. I tried to avoid falling into the pitfall of having her physically abuse Mew for no reason at least (The one time she did that, he totally deserved it though.)

But that being said, she actually had very few focus chapters compared to the others. Its more due to the circumstances her character was put in during this part. She got to save her sister, and now got to spend time with her again. But ultimately despite being the Neo Drive wielder and thus one of the strongest characters in the story...She's still a high school girl. So once summer was over it was back to the books for her, which kept her from really participating in any antics since she's the only one stuck in school besides Maria.

Still, she got the focus back where it counted by continuing to develop her relationship with Mew and come to confess her feelings in the climax of the whole story. She also showed that she learned from Auris' parenting by being a good mother to Maria...Even if that little gremlin didn't make good use of that advice a lot of the time, but hey, it can't always work out.

So if there's a word to describe Kairi's arc...Its "Tolerance", learning to put up with the antics around her and understanding why her friends and loved ones act the way they do.

Though on the subject of Aurora family members...

**Auris Aurora:**

Auris' arc can be described in one word "Loss". She was forced to confront the loss of children past, the possibility of losing children now, and the loss of her husband reflecting in Mew appearing to follow a similar path. She's also lost her clairvoyance, and with it, a loss of confidence in what's to come.

But with this added vulnerability came a more open, personable person. She participated willingly in Mew's beach antics and acted more warmly towards her daughters, along with helping Maria and Gabriel trying to adapt to a life without Gravitus.

She comes out of this story having experienced positive growth and feelings for the first time in forever. Though there's still a lingering guilt over her hand in what happened to Sarajin...

Oh and speaking of guilt. No, I won't keep doing this.

**Shina Aurora:**

Shina's arc word is "Guilt". She blames herself for the death of Alex Whiter and the failure to save Kairi, on top of later feeling like something SHE did doomed her baby's birth.

...That's a tough topic to talk about right now, I got to admit. And I have some guilt of my own to get off my chest.

I feel really, really bad about how I handled Shina's story in Chronicles. For as much as things changed in the outline as far as adding things and changing things go...Something got removed in the process.

There was going to be a chapter focusing on Shina trying to learn how to be a parent and the struggles that come with it, having her learn to bond with Auris through their shared experiences in the subject. But...I got cold feet by the time came to write the chapter.

I'm single, I'm a virgin, I have no real experience with pregnant women or anything like that. I don't know what its like to carry a child inside of you, to witness a child being born before your very eyes after hours of intense, laboring pain.

So I definitely wasn't qualified to write about the experience and I knew it wouldn't reflect well on me to commit to the subject matter without coming across as insensitive. So I cut that chapter out, which had the consequence of leaving Shina without any focus chapters after the pregnancy was announced. Which in turn, made her losing the child either more cruel or less impactful.

Its a complete mistreatment of a character who has already suffered a lot both in terms of the story and my inexperienced writing.

I want to assure you though that Shina will be fine. She'll cry a lot, as she should, but someday she'll be able to walk and smile again. She won't be the same as she was, but that's a big part of growing up, isn't it?

**Maria Whiter:**

On a more brighter note though lets talk about our little red-headed child. Her arc was more about "Innocence", both regaining and losing it.

She got her body back pretty early on but then became a background element until she accidentally got aged up a couple years fighting one of Ba'al's minions. From there she was giving a more normal environment to live in thanks to Mew and Kairi's kindness, and came to see them as a mother and father...Well, sort of.

See the thing about Maria is that she's an imp. A little shit. She loves to tease and prank others. She does have some sincere admiration for Mew and Kairi but when she goes and calls them "mama" and "papa" she's teasing them to get them flustered, and they totally buy it.

Still, her overall personality is best demonstrated in her biggest focus chapter "Maria vs. the Bully". Bullying is a hard topic to cover for a lot of people. I personally had experienced it when I was younger, so I came into this at least with some experience.

While Maria had the right to get back at Kris for being mistreated for no good reason, the prank war escalated out of control very quick. It showed that Maria still needs to develop a sense of restraint for these things, she's very young and doesn't know self-control.

But also, that she's definitely got a kind heart. If she really hated Kris that much then she would've left the school after walloping her, no questions asked. But she stuck behind and tried to help her and, through some conversation, came to recognize and help Kris with her own problems.

That's not to say all bullies lash out because they have problems at home, hell no. Some kids are just irredeemable shits who'll never grow out of being the big man.

But by taking a page from Mew's book and treating Kris like a person instead of a nemesis, Maria has secured a friend and helped give her a better life to look forward to.

...The three of them are still a trio of little shits though.

**Solaris:**

Hey remember that time Solaris set fire to most of Canada by accident? Ah, good times...

But on a more serious note, Solaris' arc was all about "Humanity". Ironically, we saw the perspective of human life more through his eyes than any other character. And that's the point. He learned that humans aren't as weak as they appear, even though they can be very violent.

His attitude as a whole didn't really change too much. He started this story as a rash, quick-tempered moron quick to speak his mind...And ended this story as a slightly less rash, quick-tempered moron quick to speak his mind.

But what is important is that he learned to use that lack of hesitation to be more empathetic towards others. When he heard Samantha lost her dad to a fire he was quick to blame himself. The fact that they both had dead fathers helped them bond quickly. He also worried about her when she had that PTSD moment.

Ultimately he's in a better place now. He's suffered enough humiliation to cover his bad temper. The most major thing left unaddressed by Chronicles is how the hell he got to be this way to begin with. Clearly Lunis turned out just fine around Justek, so why was Solaris so different? Hmmm...

**Aurian Saturn:**

"JUSTICE!" Burning bright in her heart, she is the heroine of the stars! But...what exactly defined her "justice"?

As it turned out, it was a mistake she made long, long ago that killed millions of people, including her family. Ever since she worked hard to ensure those mistakes would never happen again. Her "Justice" is also "Repentance", and as she discovered the hard way, Gravitus exploited her "Justice" to meet his own ends.

The harsh truth of this along with being forced to confront her past on multiple occasions showed the true face behind the mask, so to speak.

But even though she's scared deep down, she'll keep pressing forward towards tomorrow. A heroine's job is never done, and so let us entrust her to keep fighting the good fight.

**Alura:**

Alura's arc word is "Emotions". She came into this story a completely emotionless mannequin and though now not the most bubbly person around, at least she's able to express things like happiness, anger and love a little more clearly now.

As far as characters go she was probably one of the most fun to write for. Her lack of understanding things led to some funny moments while the conflict of her growing to admire and love Joe Dark, wanting to not be left behind, and struggling to make something of herself, was some powerful stuff.

She had the strongest character growth of everyone in Chronicles, though obviously a lot of that had to do with the fact that she just showed up here and thus had some catching up to do.

But now she's in a good place in life...As long as Jeff and Stewart aren't too much of a negative influence on her development. Then again, there's more people to worry about doing that than them in her circle of friends. Hahahah, hooo boy, poor Joe Dark...

SPEAKING OF THOUGH.

**Joe Dark:**

"Direction". That's a perfect description for him.

He's spent so much of his life wandering, lost, going from purpose to purpose until suddenly...He found himself without one. His sole reason for living no longer lived, and worse, was the wrong target of his aggressions his whole time.

The story begins with him trying to escape from life to die alone, but through Mew's stubborn heart Joe Dark not only finds himself wanting to have a second chance at life but also embracing Mew as his family...As much as he never wanted to admit that for the longest time.

Ironic, given his pairing with Alura, Joe Dark had very strong character growth of his own. He embraced the power of love to destroy Ba'al, became willing to make sacrifices to save a friend, confronted the ghosts of his past, and became determined to make a better future for everyone.

Along the way he started to become a little less aggressive and snippy all the time, but he's a far cry from the guy who would always scream "WHIIIIITEEEER".

He's found a direction in life. His direction. And he'll do what he can to follow that road. Good luck to the possibly someday future President!

**Riku Whiter:**

Riku's arc focused on "Doubts". He started this story uncertain of his ability to be of use to his brother, and over time, he grew to realize that he has people who believe in him and want him to succeed. He began to step out of his brother's shadow and grow as a person both physically and mentally.

He's still the straight man to Mew's antics but now he's more willing to be humbled or play along with sillier events. The Riku as we saw him in Part 6 would never have wanted to go have a hamburger with his brother after a battle.

His relationship developing with Lunis was a subtle aspect. You could definitely see the bond growing if you read back and pay close attention to their moments. Its not something meant to be overt like the others were, at least not until they actually had sex on Christmas.

And no, before anyone asks, I have not written any sex scenes. You could ask me to try, but only if you want a good laugh.

Ultimately though Riku's doubts actually resurface near the end but in a different way, as he finds himself in Shina's shoes sort of having become the father of Lunis' child. He finds himself feeling far more helpless and resorts to breaking down and begging Mew for an answer.

Its because he learned to rely on others that he even had the courage to say such things, and his courage was rewarded, even if it wasn't in the way he could've expected.

He's earned the right to rest easy now. His daughter will be born someday as a nice, healthy baby. That, I can spoil ahead on.

**Mew Whiter:**

Yukari put it best. One of Mew's strongest traits, and the basis of his arc in this whole story is "Determination".

No matter what stood in his way, from the primordial darkness embodied, to the fragments of the Devil's sins, to the God of Destruction, the Phantasm of Gensokyo, and even the creator of this universe, Mew continued to stand on his own two feet and do what he believed was right for the right people.

He never gave up, on anyone, or anything...Until the very end.

See, Mew's arc was both a deconstruction and reconstruction of his determination shown in previous parts. The deconstruction came from showing how his stubbornness and grit in battle, risking his life, affected the people around him, especially Kairi. And it was reconstructed when its shown that despite how much of a risk his determination is to his life, he could find a way to utilize it positively, by being there for other people and invoking change in their views and lives.

His determination changed Joe Dark. His determination ended Solaris' cycle of revenge. His determination inspired Kairi to save Shina. His determination gave Maria a family. His determination broke through Auris' tough exterior. His determination reassured Riku. And finally, his determination helped him avenge Alex, and put an end to two-thousand years of truths kept unspoken regarding the "higher-ups".

So finally, having pushed his determination to the edge of creation, there really was nowhere higher for Mew to go. So for the first time, he willingly gave up a hot-blooded life of seeking battle and adventure and chose to give Kairi the peace of mind he had been robbing from her, and settle down as one happy family alongside her and Maria.

Mew's ultimately the true main character of Clash of the Elements, even if Alex Whiter began this story and has had the most screentime. But if you look at his story from start to finish (Even Part 3), he doesn't really have a big change in his character. We just start unraveling more layers to him as time goes on.

The one thing I want to still comment on regarding him is his stance on bonds.

He's very happy to have others around at home and despite all the people shacking it up there at one point he was enjoying it, deep down. But when people start leaving one by one he's visibly upset by it, but really makes no effort to say so.

He's of course happy for everyone moving on but he definitely has this feeling like he's being left behind again because of it. This feeling could be part of the reason he's so willing to die for them, as maybe a part of him feels like he's that expendable in their lives.

But in truth he's the glue holding his group of friends together. And that's what he realizes by fighting Yukari, giving him access to the Chaos Hope Form...Which shall never appear in the series again.

Yeah that was just a one time thing born of very, very specific circumstances. Mew will never have that form of anything like Chaos Form in his life. But...maybe he can figure something else out. He is clever...for an idiot.

…

And that's about it for the characters. Holy shit that went longer than I expected.

I know I'm missing a few like Macros, Futanji and Akumu, along with cameos from other series such as Beerus, Thanos and Yukari. But I don't feel the need to get into any of them right at this moment, the former especially. Just important to say that all of them still have roles to play going forward...and back.

What do I mean by that? Well...

**What's Next?:**

A question proposed at the very end of the story. Well, there's a lot to unpack with that.

First off, the length of this story. This was a long one. 82 chapters in total, taking roughly 9 months to write, 8 if you discount all the breaks.

And I'm tired. I admit I pushed through quite a bit on the last stretch just so I can wrap this part up finally. So there won't be ANYMORE new Clash of the Elements content for the remainder of the year.

Though notice I said no "New" content. Throughout the next month or so I plan to reread ALL of my story. Yes, every word, every chapter, every Part 4. And by doing this, I plan on writing up a summary for each and every story up until this point in chronological order.

Parts 1 – 4 are very outdated in terms of writing style and the like and while I'd love to go back and redo them...That's just a lot more work, especially for the Part 4s. Maybe someday but right now its not in the cards.

But the information in them is still relevant to this day, and I'd like to help make it easier for readers new and old keep track of some of the important bits for later.

...There's also another reason for this though.

Next up on the dossier is another big project.

We're going to be going to the past, to the days of Sarajin's era, when the Elemental Tribes lived and breathed on the planet of Genestasia, which we saw briefly at the beginning of Chronicles.

Yes, the next chapter of the story takes us to the past. Part 0...Subtitle to be determined later. Yes, you heard me, this story doesn't even have a subtitle yet.

Or a lot of stuff ready for that matter. I not only have to write a new outline for this story, but I also have to prepare profiles for at least 30 something characters, and documents for the new locations that the story will be centered around.

That's why there's not going to be any more new content for a while. This is going to be a big undertaking. I want this to be a story that not only can stand on its own, but also pay-off a lot of elements brought up in prior stories to those who have managed to stick around all this time.

So I need time. Lots of it. At a minimum I want to say I'll be ready by 2021, but I'll go a little into the year if need be. This is a passion project for me more than any other part, I'll actually be a little upset if I don't do it right.

At my estimate right now though, Part 0 might wind up being as long if not longer than Chronicles.

After that though? Well, we'll see in the future.

Everyone who reads this, I hope you take care of yourselves and stay strong for the rest of this year. Its been tough, but I know we can survive.

This is our story. Don't let someone else write the ending.


End file.
